Food Intolerance Treatment

The gold standard food intolerance treatment is the elimination diet in which the food is no longer consumed in any form. There is no dietary intake of the food in whole or component form. For example: if one was intolerant to corn then corn would not be eaten as whole kernel corn, corn-on-the-cob, creamed corn, corn syrup, corn meal, popcorn and other ways corn is used in food. Additionally, ingredients such as cornstarch would be avoided in other foods. Then research of each processed food that is consumed would begin in order to eliminate foods that contain corn derivative ingredients. The goal is total elimination of corn in the diet to ascertain whether or not corn was the food causing the intolerance.

 
There may be a time after an intolerance is identified, and the offending food has been eliminated from the diet for some time, that the sufferer may have reason to try again to eat some foods that contain the offending ingredient. If this is so, then there may be some additional experimentation needed to determine the threshold of consumption of the offending ingredient at which symptoms begin to manifest. For the best health outcome, total elimination is the goal.

Since dairy products are an abundant source of calcium, dairy avoidance presents an issue where one would need to conscientiously consume from other sources.  Eating replacement foods high in calcium is important.  Oranges, broccoli, almonds, and many other foods contain calcium, but supplementation is often a good idea as well. An 8 ounce glass of skim milk contains about 300 milligrams of calcium as compared to 1 fresh orange which contains about 52 milligrams of calcium. The minimum recommended daily intake of calcium for an otherwise healthy person is 1,000 milligrams. That’s about four 8 ounce glasses of milk compared to 20 oranges!

While it’s not 100% fool-proof, an easy way to test for a sensitivity is to take note of what foods you are eating and how they make you feel afterward.   Then eliminate the food from your diet entirely for 21 days.  This means more than just not drinking milk with cookies.  No dairy of any kind.  No cheese, no ice-cream, no whey protein shakes—total elimination.  After three weeks see how you feel.

Yes!  Fruit-Puree butter, Vegetable Oil spreads, Rice Oil spreads and extra virgin olive oil are all safe alternatives.  Margarine—while not dairy—is not a  healthy alternative due to the high content of transfat it contains.  Our favorite butter alternative to butter itself, because it tastes the best, in our opinion, is Earth Balance Buttery Spread.  Delish!