I’ve been aware of the multiple risks surrounding elimination diets in general and those that are linked to the most popular “IBS diet”, the low FODMAP diet (which is why I don’t particularly endorse them). I’ve written a couple of blog posts about it in the past and you can read them here and here.
A new, very important reason has popped into my radar that almost no one knows about: elimination diets increase the risk of developing new food allergies!
This can happen both to children and adults and the risk of developing a new allergy (IgE mediated) is higher if you have had any other food allergies before, or if you have asthma or eczema diagnoses.
What happens, is that your immune system monitors all the different proteins in the gut and makes sure to let safe proteins be but attack and destroy dangerous proteins. The immune system gets to know the proteins in foods we eat regularly and labels them as friendly, but if you stop eating that food, the immune cells can forget that this protein was friendly and begins to treat it as foe.
Importantly, many of the new allergic reactions that were caused by elimination diets were severe, causing anaphylaxis!
This is a very important fact to consider when thinking about totally eliminating foods, especially if you already have allergies, eczema or asthma. When it comes to something like IBS, amount is everything, so total elimination is not usually needed, nor is it advisable. Especially with something like the low FODMAP diet, as those FODMAPs are actually really important for your gut microbes.
If you feel like you can’t avoid trying the low FODMAP diet or something like it, talk to me and we’ll discuss if it really is your only option, or if there’s a way to do it safely and not cause more problems than you already have. At minimum, if you want to avoid a food altogether, do it only for about 2-4 weeks so that your immune system police won’t forget those foods and start treating them as bad guys.
You’ve heard this before (I hope), but food doesn’t really cause IBS. If you notice that you are becoming sensitive to a food, it’s a sign that your digestive system is becoming sensitive, and the food sensitivity is just a symptom of a deeper problem. The fix is not to start avoiding one food after another, but to try to reduce the sensitivity itself.
In IBS, a faulty gut-brain axis is the cause of the sensitivity (read more here), and utilizing methods that aim to mend the broken communication between the gut and brain are perhaps the most important things for you to do.
I’ve got what you need. I designed my IBSwise online program to look at IBS from all angles and to give you the methods that work on the root cause of IBS, without making you radically eliminate foods. This program is for you if you are comfortable searching for information online and can take that information and apply it in your specific situation (I’ll help you if needed).
If you’d rather have someone tell you specifically what you should do next to ease your IBS symptoms, then hop onto a phone call with me to decide which 1:1 program fits your needs the best. I’m there for you every step of the way.
Anna-Kaisa
PS. If you’d like to understand the root cause of IBS better and get started with truly easing your symptoms, download my free ebook “The Secret Solution for IBS (Without Giving Up Your Favorite Foods)” here.
References:
Chang A, Robison R, Cai M, Singh AM. Natural History of Food-Triggered Atopic Dermatitis and Development of Immediate Reactions in Children. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2016 Mar-Apr;4(2):229-36.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2015.08.006. Epub 2015 Nov 17. PMID: 26597013; PMCID: PMC4789144.
Nachshon L, Goldberg MR, Elizur A, Appel MY, Levy MB, Katz Y. Food allergy to previously tolerated foods: Course and patient characteristics. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2018 Jul;121(1):77-81.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2018.04.012. Epub 2018 Apr 21. PMID: 29684569.
Sharma. H. How cutting out certain foods can trigger new allergies. National Geographic. 2025. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/health/article/elimination-diets-food-allergies-risk accessed 9/4/2025