How to reintroduce foods back into your diet

The ImuPro Concept focuses on 3 distinct ‘phases’: the Elimination, the Provocation and the Stabilisation phase.  Eliminating problem foods from your diet is probably the easiest step in theory (all you have to do is cut out your elevated foods according to your individual results), but many people find they struggle with phase 2: Provocation.  The Provocation Phase involves reintroducing previously eliminated foods back into your diet to check if there is a response.  Sounds easy enough, right? It can get a little tricky so we thought we would break it down for you and hopefully make the process a little easier to get through.

Provocation: Begin this phase after your 5-8 week elimination of IgG positive foods.

We recommend you begin with your favourite IgG positive food (the one you miss the most), regardless of what the level of reaction was.

Step 1: So you’ve picked your first food to reintroduce (for the purpose of this article, let’s say it’s gluten).  Begin by eating as much gluten as you can in one day from any source (perhaps on a Monday for simplicity).

Step 2: Then, do not eat any gluten for the next 2-3 days and observe how you feel (we recommend keeping a record in a food diary).

• If you have a reaction(*), this means that gluten is still a trigger food for you in which case you will need to avoid it for 1 year (this is to allow enough time for the IgG antibodies to break down completely).  This part is called the Stabilisation phase.  After 1 year of stabilisation, reintroduce gluten again and practice the same provocation test.
• If you do not have a reaction, you may consume gluten on a 4 day rotational basis (to avoid the build up of IgGs and developing another intolerance).

Step 3: Allow a wash out period of a couple of days before you try another food (this is to allow your body to recover before introducing the next allergen).

Step 4: Start the provocation again the following Monday with another IgG positive food and repeat the above steps.

(*) NB: a ‘reaction’ does not need to be a physical symptom, just a sign of inflammation occurring. A typical indication of inflammation is a very small overnight weight gain. On the day that you reintroduce one of your trigger foods, weigh yourself before going to bed and then again when you wake up.  If you have had a small increase in weight (as little as 0.5 kg), this is a sign that inflammation has occurred and thus that food has caused you a reaction.  Continue avoiding that food for the 12 month stabilisation phase.

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