Are you wondering why there is so much conversation around Elimination Diets? This is what it sounds like: "I am not doing dairy right now", "I need to avoid gluten for a little while", "my child can’t eat corn products", or the big one, "I CAN’T EAT ANYTHING AT THIS TABLE!" Welcome to the world of elimination diets. Now, I have to say, I don’t actually agree with the word Diet here as I don’t believe in diets at all, I believe in overall Lifestyle Change. However, elimination diets are popping up more now than ever because we just can’t tolerate foods like our ancestors.

First of all, we’re not exactly as active as those that grew up on the farm and had their very life dependent upon their daily activities. Secondly, the food we are eating is downright contaminated and has 70% less nutritional value than it did just thirty years ago. What this means for us is more refined and processed food. Relying upon the basics: corn, wheat, soy, and dairy, can get us into trouble because those ingredients, along with artificial colorings and flavorings, are the basic foundation for every packaged convenience food on the shelf.

For the past two weeks my three year old has been working through a diaper rash that won’t quit. After a week I knew it was food related and sought the support of Applied Kinesiology, or muscle testing, to see what is bothering her system right now in the moment. Turns out corn, dairy, wheat (though not spelt or gluten itself), chocolate AND rice are not agreeing with her. I knew corn would be a culprit as I looked back at the amount of popcorn we had been making on the stove for afternoon snack, but the others didn’t entirely surprise me either. She had tested negative for gluten and dairy while in utero, so I spent the year of pregnancy and my postpartum year without dairy and gluten and felt amazing. At 16 months she tested clear of any food sensitivity so we moved on in moderation.

Because she is still occasionally nursing, this means I, too, had to avoid the above foods for the 2-3 week cycle. Turns out wheat itself is a huge issue as when I reintroduced it, we were back to the diaper rash within 48 hours. Five days later it wouldn’t let up until we utilized acupressure to support her. The reason I am speaking of elimination diets today is because we are in the throes of the holidays when sugar (which would only suppress her system even more), homemade breads, and cookies rule gift-giving. After the initial shopping spree to pick up the foods and bulk items I would need to get us through the three weeks and got organized with a schedule of what to reintroduce and when, it wasn’t so bad and made me realize the holidays are as good a time as any to clean out the system a bit!

You may be wondering what we have been living on? Homemade granola, nuts, beans, potatoes, soup, grass fed beef and chicken, and lots of produce. My default snack (or breakfast in a hurry) has been a smoothie of Dynamic Greens (a fantastic phytonutrient/antioxidant powder that does NOT taste like grass!), almond milk, banana, and almond butter. It is packed with goodies and gives us a protein boost.