I generally recommend a rotation diet when a food elimination program is necessary. Personal food allergies have given me over 29 years experience with a rotation diet.
Usually an elimination diet is not lower in kcals but consists of foods that are thought to have a lower probability of causing allergic reactions. Most of the elimination diets that I see published are still full of things that are possible allergens for many individuals. The diet should ideally be different foods than are eaten ordinarily by that particular person.
Frequently a person will experience “withdrawal” from a food that they are allergic to when they successfully eliminate it. Therefore, they may experience increased symptoms for about 4 days. This may lead to a feeling that they are "toxic" or that they are ill. They may experience extreme cravings for the foods to which they are allergic. The foods they crave the most are typically the very ones that are causing them problems. They may experience a rather dramatic weight loss due to decreased fluid retention when they are no longer eating an allergic food. They may also not eat as much for a short period of time when they can't have their favorites. I have had thin young children actually gain weight within a couple of weeks after milk was eliminated and they began eating other things. The parents had been concerned for the first couple of days that they might "starve" because cheese was the only food they liked. Overweight adults do usually experience long term weight loss on a rotation diet but I certainly haven't had any complaints about that.
Some diets that eliminate all processed foods and further eliminate any food that has commonly been eaten more than three times a week, have been successfully used to lower the allergic burden. Some authors call it the “Cave Man Diet” to help people get the concept of no processed foods. For example corn, corn syrup, cornstarch, and corn oil are such pervasive ingredients that they are almost impossible to avoid when any canned or processed products are used. Soy is another insidious ingredient for many allergy prone individuals.
Foods need to be reintroduced gradually so that reactions which may occur can be pinpointed accurately. A rotation diet may be even more helpful in determining problem foods. Most individuals with food allergies react to several foods and some react to almost everything. Discovering the triggers for symptoms is tricky.
My favorite books include recipes:
Freedom from Allergy by Ronald Greenberg, MD and Angela Nori (This book
givs a really good explanation of an allergy rotation diet and why it
works. It also gives a brief discussion of behavior, mood and nervous
system symptoms. )
ISBN 0-9680302-0-3
Five Years without Food, The Food Allergy Survival Guide by Nicolette M.
Dumke ( This doesn't have anything to do with anorexia but is a joke about how people feel when they can't eat their favorites. Some of the reactions to food allergy seem to cause a reluctance to eat, since there is an awareness that foods make you feel worse. In some cases however the very foods you crave the most are the ones you are sensitive to and are the ones you should avoid.
ISBN: 1-887624-04-X
Susan Parker Leigh, MEd, MS, CCN