A limited diet excluding foods known possibly to cause food intolerance, to which foods are added in turn to test for intolerance (allergy).
An elimination diet is a dietary regimen utilized to detect a specific food allergy or intolerance. Initially, food selection is extremely limited until symptoms subside. Then, individual test foods, like milk, are reintroduced one by one, with a few days between each reintroduction, to observe if any adverse reactions occur. The process of reintroducing a test food is referred to as a food challenge.
People following an exclusion diet are advised to maintain a daily log of their symptoms for at least a week before starting the diet and until the end of the program. It’s important not to undertake an exclusion diet without consulting a doctor, dietitian, or nutritionist, as it could lead to serious nutritional deficiencies.