Cut It Out

Bread, milk, meat... Entire food groups are now landing on the naughty list. Proponents say ditching them is a weight-loss short cut. The reality? Not so fast

- Karen Ansel And Gotlhokwang Angoma -Mzini

Does this script sound familiar: you invite some friends over for dinner and they happily accept. But then the whispers start: “Does it contain gluten? I’m no longer eating that... I’m watching my waistline!” The elimination of food is gaining momentum as a method for women to lose weight. People are removing gluten, dairy, sugar and entire food groups from their diets in an effort to slim down.

Friends who enjoyed a creamy pasta one night seem to have become sensitive the next. But the diet that was meant as a diagnostic tool for food sensitivities or intolerances may not translate to weight loss. The elimination diet’s primary focus is to help understand which food villains are making you sick (yes, they might be causing those afternoon headaches).

However, intolerances must not be mixed up with food allergies. “An allergy always involves the immune system and is measurable when it involves the Immunoglobulin E (IgE) [an antibody] part of the immune system,” says Dr Allan Puterman in Tammi Forman’s book Cooking For An Allergy-Free Lifestyle. Your immune system goes into full panic mode, producing loads of immunoglobulin antibodies that cause the release of histamine, which triggers swelling and, in sever cases, the blocking of the throat.

“A true food allergy can range from a mild condition to that of a life threatening episode,” says Puterman. Symptoms usually kick in within minutes of eating a problem food, but they are also relatively rare – at least among adults.