Food Allergies & Sensitivities

Autoimmune Protocol (AIP)

AIP diet is an elimination protocol that helps identify and manage food sensitivities by removing common inflammatory and allergenic foods. It provides a systematic approach to understanding individual food triggers.

Key foods: Grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, coconut oil, fermented vegetables, bone broth, leafy green vegetables, turmeric

How does Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: By systematically removing potential trigger foods and then carefully reintroducing them, the diet helps individuals identify specific food sensitivities while providing a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory dietary approach.

Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet eliminates the most common food allergens and sensitivities including gluten, dairy, soy, and peanuts, making it highly effective for those with multiple food intolerances. By focusing on whole, unprocessed foods and eliminating grains and legumes, the diet removes many compounds that trigger adverse reactions in sensitive individuals. Many people experience resolution of chronic symptoms like headaches, skin issues, and digestive problems when these triggers are removed.

Key foods: Wild-caught fish, grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, sweet potatoes, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, berries, tree nuts like almonds and cashews (if tolerated)

How does Paleo Diet assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: The diet eliminates gluten and other grain proteins that can trigger immune responses and increase intestinal permeability in sensitive individuals. Removal of dairy eliminates casein and whey proteins that are common allergens, while elimination of legumes removes lectins and other anti-nutrients that may cause digestive distress. The focus on whole foods reduces exposure to food additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients that can trigger sensitivities or pseudo-allergic reactions.

Elimination Diet

The Elimination Diet is the gold standard diagnostic tool for identifying food sensitivities and intolerances. By systematically removing the most common allergenic and inflammatory foods for 3-6 weeks, it allows the immune system to calm down and the gut to heal. When foods are reintroduced one at a time, reactions become clearly identifiable, enabling precise identification of problematic foods.

Key foods: Sweet potatoes, quinoa, wild-caught salmon, leafy greens like kale and spinach, blueberries, carrots, olive oil, lentils

How does Elimination Diet assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: Removing common allergens and inflammatory triggers allows IgG and IgE antibody levels to decrease and intestinal permeability to normalize. The gut lining repairs itself in the absence of irritating proteins, reducing systemic inflammation and immune activation. Upon reintroduction, specific immune reactions to problem foods become evident through symptoms like digestive distress, skin reactions, or fatigue.

Whole30

Whole30 is specifically designed as an elimination diet to identify food sensitivities by removing the most common trigger foods for 30 days, then systematically reintroducing them. This protocol eliminates gluten, dairy, soy, legumes, and other common allergens and inflammatory foods, allowing the body to reset and symptoms to clear. The structured reintroduction phase enables individuals to pinpoint exactly which foods cause adverse reactions, making it one of the most effective dietary protocols for identifying food sensitivities.

Key foods: Grass-fed beef and lamb, wild-caught fish and shellfish, pastured eggs, variety of vegetables including nightshades and non-nightshades, fruits like apples and pears, compliant nuts like almonds and cashews, seeds like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, coconut products

How does Whole30 assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: The 30-day elimination period allows antibodies and inflammatory markers associated with food sensitivities to decrease, giving the immune system time to calm down and the gut lining time to heal. When foods are systematically reintroduced one at a time, any immune or inflammatory response becomes clearly identifiable through symptom recurrence, allowing individuals to create a personalized diet that avoids their specific trigger foods while maintaining nutritional adequacy.

Gluten-Free Diet

A gluten-free diet directly addresses gluten-related food sensitivities and wheat allergies, eliminating a major category of food triggers that cause adverse reactions. This diet is essential for managing these specific sensitivities and often serves as a foundation for identifying other food intolerances through elimination protocols. By removing gluten-containing grains and focusing on whole, unprocessed foods, the diet reduces exposure to common allergens and additives found in processed wheat products.

Key foods: Single-ingredient whole foods like fresh meats, fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, rice, quinoa, legumes, nuts (if tolerated), seeds

How does Gluten-Free Diet assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: The diet eliminates gluten proteins and wheat components that trigger immune-mediated (allergic) or non-immune-mediated (sensitivity) adverse reactions, preventing the release of inflammatory mediators and reducing gut inflammation. By emphasizing whole, naturally gluten-free foods, the diet also minimizes exposure to additives, preservatives, and cross-reactive proteins found in processed foods, allowing the immune system and gut to stabilize.

Raw Food Diet

The Raw Food Diet eliminates many common food allergens and sensitivities by removing processed foods, dairy, and gluten-containing grains in their conventional forms. The emphasis on whole, unprocessed foods reduces exposure to additives, preservatives, and inflammatory compounds. However, raw nuts and certain raw vegetables can still trigger sensitivities in some individuals.

Key foods: Raw fruits, raw vegetables, sprouted quinoa, raw coconut, raw seeds, fermented vegetables, raw herbs, cold-pressed oils

How does Raw Food Diet assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: The elimination of processed foods removes common additives, preservatives, and modified proteins that can trigger immune responses. Sprouting and fermenting processes can reduce anti-nutrients and break down complex proteins, potentially making foods more digestible and less likely to cause reactions in sensitive individuals.

Canine Cooking

The diet eliminates common allergens and focuses on whole, single-source proteins and limited ingredients, which can help identify and manage food sensitivities. The careful selection of ingredients reduces the risk of allergic reactions and supports digestive health.

Key foods: Lean chicken, turkey, fish, sweet potato, brown rice, pumpkin

How does Canine Cooking assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: By using limited, whole food ingredients and avoiding common allergens, the diet helps reduce immune system reactivity. The single-source proteins and careful ingredient selection allow for easier identification of potential allergens and support the dog's immune tolerance.

Low-FODMAP Diet

The Low-FODMAP diet helps identify and manage food intolerances and sensitivities, particularly to lactose, fructose, and fructans, which are common but often undiagnosed causes of digestive distress. The structured elimination and reintroduction phases allow individuals to pinpoint specific carbohydrate intolerances and determine personal tolerance thresholds. This personalized approach prevents unnecessary broad food restrictions while identifying true problematic foods.

Key foods: Lactose-free dairy alternatives, gluten-free grains like rice and quinoa, low-fructose fruits like strawberries and oranges, well-tolerated vegetables like carrots and bell peppers, eggs and unprocessed meats, firm tofu, garlic-infused oil instead of garlic cloves

How does Low-FODMAP Diet assist with Food Allergies & Sensitivities: Many food sensitivities involve malabsorption of specific carbohydrates due to enzyme deficiencies (like lactase) or transporter limitations (like fructose transporters). The systematic elimination phase removes all high-FODMAP foods, allowing symptoms to resolve, while the structured reintroduction phase tests individual FODMAP groups to identify specific intolerances. This reveals whether symptoms are due to lactose malabsorption, fructose malabsorption, or sensitivity to specific oligosaccharides or polyols.