While allergy testing can be illuminating, the “gold standard” in figuring out if foods are causing your inflammation (which can lead to everything from autoimmune arthritis, to an irritable bowel, to acne), is by cutting out the culprit foods for about a month and see how you feel when you reintroduce them. So, before you begin an elimination diet, make a list of everything you notice in your body, however subtle or long-standing the symptom has been. This assessment will allow you to notice the important changes when they happen on the diet. New habits take 21 days to form, as the yogis say, which is also why a 23-day elimination diet is important. We want these new habits to remain intact. That said, your grocery list should comprise of: See how you feel over the next 48 hours. If you have no reaction after two days, eat that same food again for a second time, and notice how you feel. From there, it’s up to you whether or not to re-incorporate that food into your diet on a regular basis. Once you’ve made a call on the first food you reintroduce, pick another one and follow the same steps. No blood test can tell you what life without a particular food will be like—the key here is experimenting. When you find out for yourself, you could be saving yourself a lifetime of inflammation, annoying symptoms, and in some cases, chronic diseases. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Berzin went to medical school at Columbia University and later trained in internal medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital. She is also a certified yoga instructor and a meditation teacher, and has formally studied Ayurveda. Dr. Berzin writes for a number of leading wellness sites, and speaks regularly for organizations including the Clinton Foundation, Health 2.0, Summit and the Functional Forum, on how we can reinvent health care. She’s also a mindbodygreen courses instructor, teaching her Stress Solution program designed to help you tune down the stress in your life and tune up your energy and happiness.
