“How do I start reintroducing foods that I’ve eliminated without triggering a flare?” It’s a great question and one that my community has asked me repeatedly to address. The problem is that by blaming diet over and over — food fear is created. And let me tell you from personal experience — food fear is very real (and awful). Because your skin is like a sponge and requires so many nutrients, increasingly restrictive elimination diets can put you on the path to nutrient deficiencies. And make you more socially withdrawn and food obsessive. Many can feel like a victim of food and like a constant failure (because you aren’t being strict enough). I’d like to offer a very different perspective on food fear. So let’s breakdown how many are ending up with food fear and some practical steps to start walking yourself out of this food restriction hole! In this episode: How you end up with food fear from eliminating food from your diet What happened when Jodi solely blamed food for her rashes What if it’s not food that’s triggering rashes (but something else)? Are food sensitivity tests helpful (or cause more harm)? My recommendations to begin reintroducing foods Quotes: Thinking that diet is the only thing you can change to improve your skin is a very dangerous and shortsighted idea. The book industry has focused so much on empowering people around elimination diets that it has inadvertently misled them to believe that the thing that will fix their skin is food. And that ultimately food is the enemy.