So you’ve been diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) – now what, right? The food sticking in your throat, the heartburn that the medications wouldn’t take away led to your EoE diagnosis. Now you want to know what causes your case and how to find relief.
For most patients, food exposure is why you are experiencing the EoE symptoms and avoidance is what you need to do to get relief.
How do you identify the culprit(s)? It can be harder than you might think.
We used to do blood or skin allergy testing. Unfortunately, the accuracy of those tests is poor.
The best way to determine what food(s) is causing your symptoms is to use an Avoidance Diet that reintroduces food one at a time. For most patients, a six food family avoidance diet is completed. The recommended foods to avoid at the start of this diet are:
1) Milk
2) Egg
3) Wheat
4) Soybean
5) Peanuts & Tree Nuts
6) Fish and Shellfish
Now don’t get us wrong, we understand that avoidance diets can be difficult. The biggest question our patients have encountered are, “What do I eat?” We found most patients would simply not even start! Without trying, how can you get better?
Based on these types of struggles we developed a four-week diet plan with all the meals laid out for you in a book called, “A Six Food Family Avoidance Diet for Eosinophilic Esophagitis.”
This diet is done best in conjunction with your gastroenterologist and their team. They decide how long to do the avoidances, when repeat upper endoscopy scoping may be needed, and when to add back the foods. Once the correct food(s) to avoid are identified, you will need to avoid them for the long term.
Avoidance of food(s) is one treatment option for Eosinophilic Esophagitis. Some patients need medications to get good results. For example, some have significant inhalant allergies that need to be treated.
Talk to your gastroenterologist about the best treatment option for you. If you’d like more information about “A Six Food Family Avoidance Diet for Eosinophilic Esophagitis," CLICK HERE.
Working together you can find relief!
