On a personal level, we think reintroduction is the hardest part of any elimination diet. We’ve done a handful of Whole30s and always struggle with it because when 30 days are up, we are mentally done and exhausted - so trust us we get it, we know you want all the pizza/chips/cheese/pasta after the past 10 days.
Part of the reason we made this Challenge 10 days was because of that. Ten days isn’t that long, and at 10 days, you feel so great, you want to keep going so there’s more incentive to do reintroduction right. And guess what? We’re still here! So you have our full support and can stay accountable.
You’ve eliminated all these food groups, now it’s time to see how your body responds to them, one by one. You definitely don’t have to reintroduce all of them, if you are happy going dairy-free and know it causes issues for you, you can certainly skip it but start with making a list of which foods (not food groups) you want to reintroduce to your diet. Be specific.
We recommend you start with the big ones, the ones that most people are sensitive to, but this is your challenge so you can decide. For most adults in the US, that means dairy, gluten and grains.
How does it work?
To properly identify which foods you’re sensitive to, you have to try each one by one. So, for example, if you want cheese back in your life, you would try that on day 11. You have to stick to the Challenge-approved meals and ONLY add cheese, so no pizza. So, you would have your normal challenge-approved breakfast, lunch and dinner and add some cheese to one or all meals (i.e. add some to your eggs or toss it in your salad).
Then, for the next two days, you go back to being 100% back on the challenge. Here’s where you really need to pay attention, how’s your stomach? Are you bloated? Is your poop normal? How’s your mood? Any acne? We highly suggest you take notes, even on your phone, to keep tabs on anything out of the ordinary.
Feel good? Great, welcome cheese back into your life with open arms! Not so great? Now you know that you are probably sensitive to cheese. This doesn’t mean your can NEVER eat cheese again but every time you do it, it’s causing stress on your body and digestive system and over time, can develop into serious problems so try to limit it and make it really worth it.
This is how reintroduction works. You would then move on to yoghurt, milk, whey, then on to gluten and beans and legumes. We know, this sounds super tedious but it’s one-and-done. You try, you evaluate and then you know and knowledge is power when it comes to your body. Once you know how you react to foods, you can truly know when things are worth it, how to feel your best and that freedom is worth more than any chocolate cake in the world (because you can have that too!).
What if you can’t figure out any effects?
Another really cool test you can do is called the Coca’s pulse test, and while it’s not 100% accurate, it can give you an idea of what foods may trigger some reaction if you aren’t feeling anything obvious in your body. Usually, you should have Nutritional Therapy Consultant (that’s us!) do it for you for best results but you can try it at home. Here’s what you do:
Sit down and relax
Take your pulse for 60 seconds, write it down
Put a pice of the food you want to test in your mouth and leave it there for 15-20 seconds
With the food still in your mouth, re test your pulse for 60 seconds
If your pulse went up 6 beats or more, you probably have an allergic reaction to that food. Pretty cool right?
A note on allergies vs. sensitivities vs. intolerance
Allergies are an immune response in your body. Symptoms include rash, hives, swelling, trouble breathing and can be life-threatening. If you have leaky gut or intestinal permeability, some food may end up on your bloodstream and cause an immune reaction because it’s not meant to be there but that doesn’t necessarily mean your allergic to that particular food - it just means your body is reacting to food particles in places it shouldn’t be.
Sensitivities and intolerances are way more common and are a digestive reaction to food. These cause a digestive response in your body and are not life-threatening. Symptoms include bloating, gas, diarrhea, eczema, etc. and range from mild to severe. When you are intolerant to a food, it means you are not properly breaking it down and digesting it so it causes stress and distress in your digestive tract. You may have lactose intolerance for example, which means you don’t have the right enzymes to process it OR you may be sensitive to a food because your digestive tract isn’t working properly and you can’t break it down.
Remember that knowledge is power, but also remember that your gut microbiome (that’s the bacteria in your gut) changes every 24 hours, so every little piece of healthy that you’ve been putting in your body these past days have radically changed your gut into a powerful machine. And just like the microbiome changes, our sensitivities can change over time as well. If you find out that you are sensitive to beans, for example, it doesn’t mean that you will be sensitive to them your whole life. Sometimes, with a little gut healing (that’s where we come in as health coaches), you can safely incorporate those foods back into your diet.
Another note on reactions, reactions to food can range from physical to emotional to mental, here’s a short list of things to look out for:
bloating
gas
diarrhea
constipation
aches and pains (all over)
fatigue
foggy brain
memory issues
depression
anxiety
acne
eczema
trouble sleeping
feeling groggy
Literally anything can be caused by a reaction to food, that’s why its important to take notes on it about how you feel right now, and how you feel once you start reintroducing, think of it like a before and after picture!