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I bought Dr. McDougall's "Digestive Tune-Up" book (those Bortons can't be real people, can they?) and decided to do the "elimination diet." The reason being that my "eliminating" leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not constipated, in fact I think that I go maybe a bit too much and think my stool may be a bit too soft (this is TMI, isn't it...well, there seems to be quite a bit of TMI going on in this site!)
Also, certain foods act as a diuretic to me. Some of these are clear, such as caffeine and hot spices. Other things aren't clear. I have a sneaking suspicion that certain fruits aren't agreeing with me, including mangos, melons, pineapple, and pears. It's a fruit cocktail conspiracy against my digestive system! Sometimes I get up 4-5 times during a night to urinate. Other nights not at all. So I want to identify the culprits and eliminate them...much like a dictator purging his party of traitors. I'm making a list!

The menu seems quite limited on the elimination diet, but luckily two of my favorite are on there: brown rice and sweet potatoes. I could probably make it a week on these two alone. Broccoli and spinach are also a couple of my favorite. One of the problems is that the fruit must be cooked. I went grocery shopping this morning and thought I should get some canned fruit. So I scoped out the peaches and the only two choices for me were peaches with corn syrup or peaches in pear juice. Pears aren't on the approved list! OMG, what to do!!??

I bought the peaches with the pear juice, hoping for the best. Although, considering that pears are on my "sneaking suspicion" list maybe that wasn't a good idea. After my dinner tonight of sweet potatoes and brown rice, I cut up a banana and put it on a plate, covered it, and microwaved for 2 minutes. I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, it looked like something very bad happened to the banana, like it was involved in some sort of car accident or something. But, it was quite delicious.

At first I thought that this elimination diet was going to take like 6 months to complete, but then I figured one week for the "clean up," then 2 days for each new food. So that means about 47 days to have 20 foods back into my diet (of course for all foods that I have a negative reaction to another 4-7 days to clean out the system.) What should I introduce back in first? I think maybe tomatoes, considering that I have 6 tomato plants in front of my condo...there's even one little tomato that's already popped out. I'll have to try my favorites first. I'm a bit concerned about onions. I love onions, but one thing I know is that uncooked onions give me indigestion. Garlic too. Hopefully the cooked versions will be okay, can you imagine stir-fry and pasta sauce without onions and garlic? Me neither! It's too terrible to even contemplate...the horror!...the horror!

I'm also afraid that my stinky buddy kimchee will go by the wayside. No longer will the pungent smells of gym socks fermenting under a teens bed all summer come wafting from my refrigerator.

But it should all be worth it to have a stool that I can be proud of... a stool that will allow me to declare, "I'm damn proud of my bowel movements!"

Good luck in your search. I've been doing the Elimination Diet to try and find the underlying causes of my eosinophilic esophagitis. EoE is where your food attacks your esophyagus, causing special white blood cells called eosinophils to build up on it like plaque on the inside of a artery. Alas, bananas and tomatoes were definite 'hits' for me, along with white potatoes and cheap uncertified oats. I already knew gluten, beans, legumes, and dairy were out. Garlic and onions tested OK, Thank God!

On the plus side, I found a recipe for a tomato-free pasta sauce that uses carrots and beets. I haven't tested beets or vinegar yet, but if they pass muster, I see some brown rice pasta with 'red sauce' in my future.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/no-tomato-pasta-sauce/

Kate

Thanks, Kate. I really hope that tomatoes aren't a culprit. I love them in the summer garden-fresh, and make my own pasta sauce.

So last night I had brown rice and sweet potato for dinner, with nuked banana for dessert. I had apple sauce for a snack. I didn't get up in the night to urinate. Of course, I couldn't fall asleep until 3:00am so there wasn't much time to get up

I had an epiphany this morning, though. Spicy food has always caused problems for me, even something as innocuous seeming as black pepper. After adopting the McD WOE in February I began using Mrs. Dash to cut down on my salt. I sprinkle it liberally on my white potatoes. Sure enough, one of the main ingredients in Mrs. Dash is black pepper. Oh, Mrs. Dash, you spicy vixen! Our affair is over!...Uncle Ben, Betty Crocker, and Aunt Jemimah all warned me about you and your dangerous ways...

For breakfast I had canned peaches and brown rice. Certainly not my normal breakfast, which is Grape Nuts (or the Kashi version) with almond milk, raisins, and bananas. No decaf coffee either. But that's a good thing, it really stains my teeth. I think I'll go back to herbal tea for a morning hot drink and stop the coffee habit anyway.

For lunch I had sweet potato and brown rice, and apple sauce for dessert. For dinner I had sweet potato, brown rice, kale, and a can of peaches for dessert. Also some apple sauce as a snack.

I have to say that my stomach is much more settled than normal. Not that I have a great deal of gastric distress normally, but there are usually rumblings and grumblings from my belly throughout the day.

Something else unusual is that I've only had one bowel movement today. Normally I'd go at least three times. But I'm not sure if it's because the food agrees with me more or if it's because I'm just eating less. I'd usually have a couple of bowls of cereal with fruit and almond milk during the day, and also a couple of pieces of toast. And maybe some popcorn. But since those things are verboten I'm sticking to the list of approved foods.

I'm just worried about adding back foods quickly enough...I have some basil growing out in front of my entrance and I want to eat it! So do I add back in tomatoes first? Then some basil? Or add white potatoes back in first since they were what I was eating the most of previously?

I think I can sympathize a bit now with people who went directly from SAD to the McD WOE..I feel like I'm missing out on so much food! But then again, continuing to eat food that you know will, or may, make you sick doesn't make much sense, does it?

Last night I had to get up multiple times to urinate. Maybe 4-5 times. It's confusing because I had the same foods that I ate on Monday and on Monday night I didn't have to get up at all! I had brown rice, sweet potatoes, kale, apple sauce, and canned peaches yesterday. Actually, I didn't have kale on Monday. Although I think it's unlikely that kale could cause that reaction. Another possible culprit is seasonal allergies that I have. They were acting up yesterday; sneezing, runny nose, and a sinus headache last night. I know that the seasonal allergies cause upset stomach and nausea. Prior to starting allergy shots about 8 years ago I spent one summer holed up in my apartment since I felt sick whenever I was outside.

This morning for breakfast I cut up a banana and put it on top of brown rice and nuked for 2 1/2 minutes. Then I stirred the banana into the rice. Delicious! Sweet, sticky rice. Something I never would have thought of doing before starting the elimination diet, and maybe now I'll have it as a regular breakfast.

I empathize with you!!! I too am on an elimination diet. I was so grumpy yesterday I could have eaten a cow. But my daughter helped me preserver and I made it through.

This is hard to do, but I am hoping this will help with some of my Fibro issues. I know in the end it will be worth it - that's what I will be saying when it is all over. The first foods I am adding back are the ones I know I cannot live without.

Dr.M's diet has worked in many ways already. My cholesterol went down 71 points in 2 months. Nothing to sneeze about.

Stick with it and hang in there. Look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Thanks knitwit...I like the name!

Tonight I got my cast iron wok delivered so I made some broccoli and had that on top of brown rice. With some applesauce for dessert and banana sticky rice for a snack. I'm really going through the rice, had to cook up another pot tonight. I'm just a brown rice fiend!

I can see a difference already, which makes me wonder if my gastric problems are from wheat. That never occurred to me before, but the only major thing I've cut out with the elimination diet has been my 2 bowls of cereal and couple pieces of bread each day. I certainly don't have any major reactions to wheat, but maybe just enough to cause indigestion and a loose stool?

Wheat is the one thing that's been consistent on my junk-food vegetarian diet and now on the McD WOE. I would miss whole wheat pitas and other bread items, but it would be much worse if potatoes or tomatoes had to be cut out of my diet.

Well, I'll find out when I start adding back in foods. I need to make a list and decide a ranking of what to add back in...

Since this diary is about "elimination," I just "eliminated" and what a big difference! Much time, effort, and material has been "eliminated" in the whole process! Just what I've been looking for!

I had to get up several times last night to urinate. Still not sure what the cause is. I had some applesauce before going to bed. Which begs the question: What if one of the approved foods causes an issue?

Also wondering if seasonal allergies could have an effect? The A/C fan was on last night. I finally turned it off and turned on an air filter. I seemed to get up less.

Bowel movement again this morning was very good. I also noticed yesterday that I don't have the normal rumblings and grumblings that I have in my gut usually.

Last night I had sweet potatoes, brown rice, and stir-fried lettuce for dinner (lettuce is actually quite good stir fried, although it's not something I would normally do, I'd rather have a salad.) I also had applesauce for dessert. I went out kayaking after dinner and had to urinate while in the boat and also when I got back in. Last night I had to urinate a few times after going to bed too. So I'm going to cut out the applesauce and canned peaches today, and just go with bananas for a dessert. Apples can give me gas and last year I ate a lot of peaches and was suspicious that they may be causing me to urinate frequently so it's best that I eliminate those two right now and if I want add them back in later to test.

I'm so excited about my bowel movements! (Yes, that's a sentence that I never thought I would type ) I have to think that it's the wheat that was causing me issues in the past, but I'll find out when I add back in some bread after finishing this first week. Before starting this elimination diet there's no way I thought that wheat was causing me any problems. The only other major food that I eliminated was white potatoes, but there were days when I didn't even eat those that I still had issues. But there weren't any days that I didn't at least have a couple slices of bread and some cereal.

I'm really looking forward to adding food back in next week. As much as I love sweet potatoes, I only used to eat them once or twice a week. I did go out and get some asparagus last night so I'll stir fry that for dinner tonight.

For breakfast this morning I had banana rice. For lunch, sweet potato and brown rice, with kale. And for dessert a nuked banana (didn't realize how good a banana is when you just nuke it for a minute or so.)

I haven't had any desire to snack during the day since starting the elimination diet. Before I would have pretzels or no-oil/no-sugar crackers (very hard to find!)

At night I was having applesauce or peaches, since deciding to cut those out I'll have bananas.

I feel very good with no gastro-intestinal issues. Although I have a swollen lymph node in my neck due to some sinus issue that I think is related to seasonal allergies.

I'll go for a bike ride after work and then have sweet potato, brown rice, and asparagus for dinner, with banana for dessert.

I hope that no lurkers to the site read this and think that this is the "normal" McDougall diet, "OMG, he eats sweet potatoes, rice, and bananas every day...how boring!"

No applesauce or peaches yesterday at all. Just had bananas for fruit. I only woke up once to urinate during the night. Of course it's too early to draw any definitive conclusion.

But after cutting out applesauce and peaches, I'm worried that I'm not eating enough. As much as I love brown rice, I can only eat so much. I went for a 34-mile bike ride after work yesterday, and after dinner when getting up from the couch I felt light-headed a couple of times.

So I decided to break the rules a bit and add some walnuts to my diet. This morning I ate banana, walnut, and brown rice for breakfast. If I experience any change in my digestion I'll cut out the walnuts.

I also nuked a couple of sweet potatoes that I can eat during the day at work. I hope to bike ride after work today too.

Last night for dinner I had roasted sweet potatoes, brown rice, and kale, and banana for dessert. I also snacked on some walnuts. I think it was a mistake getting the walnuts!Looking at the back of the package what a mega-huge amount of fat in these things, 1/4 cup is 20g of fat! Nuts are a weakness for me. I used to buy bags of nuts and grab handfuls and snack on them.

Last night I had to get up a few times to urinate. Still not sure what's causing it. Could the walnuts have an effect? Is it my sinus/allergy problems?

I think I'm going to add white potatoes back into my diet today, one day before the "official" 7 day cleansing week. I have to admit I'm having a hard time eating such a limited amount of food, with only salt as a condiment. Yet, I highly recommend this because I have had a great improvement in my digestion and bowel movements, which I'm pretty sure is due to the elimination of wheat. For that alone it's been worth it.

For breakfast I had banana rice, for lunch I had Yukon Gold potato on brown rice, with some gluten-free bread. I had the same for dinner.

I'm breaking the rules of the elimination diet because I'm adding foods in a bit earlier than I should, and also adding more than one at a time. Which means that if I have any issues in the next couple of days I'll have to cut out both the potatoes and bread, and add each back one at a time.

But if potatoes cause any issue with me I'll be both disappointed and shocked. I'm Irish after all...we're genetically disposed to eat potatoes!

The bread is the first gluten-free thing I've ever bought. Whenever I used to see gluten-free products I used to think, "Those poor people who have to eat that stuff...it must taste terrible!" The bread doesn't look like much but it actually tastes really good. It's made with brown rice flour, millet flour, and fruit juice (and a couple of other ingredients.)

I won't know definitively if wheat is a culprit until I add it back into my diet, but I'm pretty sure right now that it's a guilty party. I love wheat bread and also whole-grain cereal...I'll miss it if I have to cut it out but not as much as I would miss brown rice and potatoes.