Family Health & Beauty Lifestyle

Eliminating the 7 High Inflammatory Foods

Many of you may know that I have been struggling with my weight for the past two years. It seems to be a constant battle that I can’t win, but I am determined to keep on trying! Back in February I wrote a post titled “Confessions of a Compulsive Eating Food Addict”, which allows you to get inside my head a bit, regarding my thoughts of food. While I do enjoy some tasty foods, and I have a love of eating out, I don’t think those are my only problems. I think there may be many factors and I would like to get to the bottom of them.

In the past 9 months, I have been to my primary care physician several times to see if she would test me for allergies such as a gluten intolerance, dairy, etc., and to check my hormone levels, because something seems to be off. Nearly two years ago, I was in and out of the ER with severe abdomin pain, which we never fully found the cause of. You would think that would lead someone to possibly consider testing for allergies or a gluten intolerance. My doctor continues to brush it off and say that none of those things would have anything to do with my weight. Partially because of my age (so she says), and partially because of ignorance. Doesn’t it just make sense to you that if you have some type of intolerance, it could cause your stomach to be inflamed, therefore causing weight gain? Now I already know I have stress in my life, which my doctor thinks is the number one cause of my weight gain, but I think there is more going on. I have tried diet after diet, and exercise, to no avail. Those things have always worked for me in the past. I’m not one of those people who is always sittin’ on their butt, watching tv, eating donuts, and wondering why I’m fat. I know how to work and I’ve done it many times before.

So, what did I decide to do? I have a friend who is a personal trainer and who is also very into nutrition. She has taken me under her wing and is determined to help me live a healthier, happier life. She decided to have me go off of the 7 high inflammatory foods for 2 weeks. This will not only likely result in weight loss, but it should help me feel tons better as well. I have Hypothyroidism and likely Hashimoto’s disease, and I guess gluten has very similar properties to the thyroid. This can result in Hypothyroidism symptoms even when on medication. It isn’t doing good things for my body! I decided to research this online a bit and found that it truly is recommended that people with thyroid problems eliminate gluten from their diets. That is the first thing I am getting rid of, but let me share with you the 7 high inflammatory foods; all of which I have officially eliminated from my diet (for now anyway).

  • Gluten
  • Dairy
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Soy
  • Corn
  • Peanuts

If you experience leaky gut, gut aches, fatigue, etc., it probably couldn’t hurt to try cutting back, or going off of these high inflammatory foods. At least give it a try and see if it works! Of course, it’s always wise to consult your medical practitioner before doing anything extreme.

Eliminating High Inflammatory Foods

Because these high inflammatory foods are found in almost everything (or so it seems), I decided to do some shopping in the health food aisle at my grocery store, and picked up some foods that I think I can eat. Looking at labels is super important, and I think I’ve come up with a few things that will help me not feel so deprived! The goal is to lose 5 pounds in the two weeks that I do this elimination diet. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes and what foods really are worth purchasing.

So far it is a big yes on the Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips (YUM), Udi’s Gluten Free Vanilla Granola, and the Erewhon Rice Cereal with Almond Milk.

About the author

Emily Buys

22 Comments

  • I am also trying to eliminate gluten and have so much to learn. The abdominal pain is my issue, and they took my gallbladder out two years ago to solve it- only it’s still a problem. And it’s worse. I am losing weight though and it’s mostly because I am afraid of most food. It can cause pain, nausea or vomiting. I am fed up with medical doctors telling me its stress or a one day flu so I am doing elimination also. And will hopefully find a chiropractor to help soon. I did start a probiotic and that seems to help. I will be following along to see what other things you find that are ok to eat.

  • Good luck. I have been thru this and eliminated many foods. I think it would be helpful if you eliminated as many packaged foods as possible while adding fresh veggies and fruits.

  • Agreed Karen! I purchased a TON of produce as well, but figured everyone should know that those foods are obviously okay to eat – unless otherwise mentioned.

  • So sorry you are having so much pain! I feel ya! If you go to the right chiropractor, they may be able to help some! Good luck to you Beth!

  • I commend you on your ambitions….. However, corn was one of the things you wanted to eliminate from your diet. Did you happen to look at the ingredients of the sweet potato chips??? They are based on sweet potatoes and CORN.

  • Good for you! I saw on your more recent post about this that you eliminated yogurt… what about yogurt that doesn’t have sugar in it?

  • It was the eggs / soy / corn / peanuts that surprised me! (Although I should have known… every time I eat one of the above, I get hot/cold/bloated/yada yada.) Sometimes the things we think are “good” for us do the most harm. Here’s to back to the basics! Thanks for your honest sharing & journey.

  • I went through all of this 5 years ago after my son was born. After countless tests and ER visits, I went to an allergist on my own as Drs thought allergies couldn’t possibly be the problem. Turns out I was allergic to all nuts and soy. Please consider being fully tested as you never know what item you developed an allergy to. I also had gallbladder removed but still was in a lot of physical discomfort and met a terrific chiro who helped align my spine to eventually eliminate most discomfort. I don’t think it’s only a 1 answer 1 fix but a combo of things that wear our body down by our 40’s. Good luck!

  • I’m doing this diet already. I heard it from a book my mom gave me, The Virgin Diet by JJ Virgin

  • Great post!
    As you stated, many of your problems are probably caused by stress. Also, today’s processed foods contain a lot of GMO foods, which (in my humble opinion) are the root cause for a lot of health issues our society experiences. Besides eliminating most processed foods and adding veggies and fermented foods, I highly recommend a book called Mind over Medicine, by Lissa Rankin.

    All the best!

  • I came across this blog posting on Pinterest! This elimination diet is based off Dr.Virgins book, “The Virgin Diet”. If you haven’t read it I suggest you do, very informative. My MIL introduced it to be awhile back & just started Monday. My beginning weight was 147 & in 3 days already down 5. I however am not feeling satisfied like you have been. I’m hungry & want to shove a box of peanut butter cookies into my mouth! I have found I can bake my own sweet potatoe chips with olive oil in the oven. I’m a huge snacker so it’s been difficult to wean myself from that grazing lifestyle. I’m lactose intolerant so I won’t be reintroducing dairy, but for anyone wondering why dairy can be a HI-Fi food. Cows milk was produced to make their calfs fat, we give it to our children to help them fatten up. Milk is also full of hormones, antibiotics & derived from cows that are eating GMO feed, a cow wasn’t made to produce milk year round. As an adult cows milk is not a necessary dietary need. 90% of corn & soy products grown in the US are GMO. Estrogen and/or progesterone naturally occur in soy products, it can throw off our natural balance in men, women & children. Hope it’s still working for you & I’m just hoping in 17 days I can sit down with a loaf of French bread 😉

  • GMO’s and added hormones that are in most store bought dairy products don’t help for sure! i have been researching this for a long time and i think i finally have the knowledge that it takes to do this! thanks for the great post!

  • K asked about accutane because GI problems are common in people who have taken it. Good luck; it looks like you’re on the right track. Love your blog!

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