New Podcast Feature: Navigating Elimination Diets in a Healthy Way
I was asked by the incredibly knowledgable Rachel Evans (phd) to appear on her podcast and talk about the risks of elimination diets when it comes to our relationship with food.
If you are someone, like me, who has in the past been professionally advised to remove food groups for the sake of your physical health (e.g. gut health, IBS, fatigue, chronic illness or M.E / CFS) - as a mode of recovery or health management, I wanted to talk about the issues that we can face when we have to adopt a strict dietary regime and the toll it may take on our mental health and unique food relationship.
I know that for myself, I would feel anxious to leave the house, feeling judged for what I was (or wasn’t) eating, and faced fears of how different foods might trigger my chronic fatigue illness or incite a crash and exacerbation in symptoms (e.g. brain fog and digestion).
𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀. 𝗪𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱:
What is an elimination diet and why might someone do it?
Understanding the difference between food allergies and food intolerances, and how intolerances are like shifting sands (they do not always need to be life-long!).
Diet culture and why elimination diets have become a recent trend
Avoiding nutritional deficiencies when embarking on an elimination diet
Mindset, NLP and shifting our physiology when it comes to food
Reintroducing foods when on an elimination diet
I also highlight the importance of flexibility when it comes to elimination diets, which is something I really advocate in my clinical practise. I think it is important to always assess each person on a case-by-case basis and consider where the priority really lies: is it a question of prioritising physical symptoms, or is it a question of mental health and how a particular diet might affect somebody.
These two factors must be evaluated before I will advise any form of elimination diet in my practise, and I believe that understanding the interplay between mental and physical health are paramount when dealing with any form of dietary regime.
𝗪𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀!