Phase 3: Reintroduction of Foods

At this point in Phase 2 you should have added just about all of the food/food groups back into your diet. You may have discovered that some foods may trigger symptoms, which is an indication that you have a food sensitivity.

If this is the case, completely eliminate these foods and don't attempt to add them back in until you are in the Phase 4 – the maintenance phase – for several months. It can be helpful to consult with your practitioner or a nutritionist before adding an offending food.

Phase 3 is less than a week away. Just like with Phase 2, you'll be adding in only one food or food group no sooner than every other day. Here are some pointers:

• Decide what you'll be adding in first. This will help you to plan your meals for the week and your shopping trips. The meal planning tool is a useful tool.
   
• Download the Allowable List of Foods. We have a list that shows you the foods that you can add incrementally – Phase by Phase – on our web site. You can view it on the site and download a printable version to use as a reference. This is also helpful to bring with you when you're shopping.
   
• High risk foods. Phase 3 has some foods and beverages that pose a higher risk of triggering inflammation. These foods are indicated on the list in the book (page 154-155) and with two asterisks (**) on our web site. Proceed with caution when you add these foods back, and rather than adding the whole food group, it's really best if you add ONE food and wait THREE days and watch your body very closely for symptoms.
   
• Gluten-containing grains. Surprisingly the gluten-containing grains come back in Phase 3. If you have Lyme or other tick-borne illness, I caution you about these grains. Most Lyme patients can not tolerate gluten. You may want to consider waiting until Phase 4 or speak with your doctor before attempting to add any of these grains into your diet. If you decide to try them, add one grain at a time with at least three days in between (see the above bullet). Whether you have Lyme or not, these are the whole grains that are allowable. Wheat flour does not come back until Phase 4.

Congratulations on how far you've come. Once you get into Phase 3 and start successfully adding foods back, the diet becomes a lot easier because there is so much more variety. Additionally, it's easier to find store-bought foods that fit within the constraints of the diet as well as recipes from other sources.