Anybody ever tried the diet or information given at this site : http://www.foodintol.com/default.asp ?

Is the information similar to the IBD Remission diet or is there a difference? I was considering joining this group but it cost about $100 US for 2 months of membership and want to know what is offered and if it is helpful before I invest yet more hard earned money.

Hi Ian,

I went and checked out the website. Kind of hard to ferret out exactly what protocol they're recommending, but as the company sponsoring the site is called No Whey - I am assuming they get you to use an elemental product that does not contain any whey protein. And from some of the testimonials, it doesn't look like it contains any fructose either.

Their program is probably very similar to the food clearing and reintroduction program run by a company I talk about in my book (who've been in business for over 10 years now). Their product also contains no whey protein - only free-form amino acids. But it does contain fructose. Anyway, if you want more information (they charge for their instruction manual) you can check it out at:
http://www.nutramed.com
I have no affiliation with them though, I simply throw it out there for information.

Anyway, the basic premise underlying all these types of programs is that you go on an elemental (pre-digested) shake product for a period of time (usually around 10 days) to clear all food residues, etc. from your system. Then you introduce and test foods one by one and note any reactions. Elemental diets used in this manner typically do not contain any protein source other than free-form amino acids (e.g. no soy, rice or whey protein) - in order to test for allergies to protein sources.

The drawback of these diets is that you will probably lose weight whilst on the elemental, food-clearing phase. This is because free-from amino acids must piggyback on a dipeptide bond protein (like whey) in order to form muscle tissue - and in these diets, there is none.

So, if you're overweight, then this would be good way to test for food allergies or intolerances. But if you're not, it could lead to some serious weight loss and weakness.

Which brings me to your question about The IBD Remission Diet. It does indeed contain instructions for using the elemental diet as a clearance phase, and then contains a detailed Food Reintroduction Chart that you can use to introduce foods one by one - starting from most likely tolerated, to most likely to be triggers.

However, The IBD Remission Diet is not as "pure" a clearance platform as these other programs (mentioned above) since the product I recommend contains both fructose and whey protein - which some people are indeed intolerant to. It also probably does not contain as much detailed info on step-by-step testing as these other programs - since that's what they specialize in.

Anyway, hope that helps you out a bit. And hopefully you'll hear from someone who's actually done this program!

all the best,
Jini Patel Thompson
author of "The IBD Remission Diet"