TLDR:
Elimination diets can bring short-term relief for IBS, but they often stop working because they only remove irritants, they don’t fix the root causes driving your gut issues.
To truly heal, you need to address deeper gut dysfunctions like low stomach acid, dysbiosis, mineral depletion, and a burnt-out gut immune system.
When you calm inflammation, restore minerals, and rebuild your microbiome in the right order, your digestion can finally function as it’s meant to and food freedom becomes possible again.
💬 Ready to stop guessing and start healing?
👉 Watch my free training where I walk you through my 4-step Restored Gut Method — the same process I use to help clients rebuild digestion, restore energy, and finally enjoy food again without fear or discomfort.
You’ve cleaned up your diet. You’ve cut out gluten, dairy, maybe even FODMAPs or tried carnivore.
And yet, you’re still bloated even after eating “clean”, can’t poop without miralax, or running to the bathroom after meals.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in this cycle of “doing everything right” but still feeling awful… you’re not alone.
Many of my clients come to me after months (or years) on elimination diets that used to help…until they didn’t.
And that’s because elimination diets were never designed to fix what’s driving IBS in the first place.
Let’s break down why restrictive eating only brings temporary relief — and the missing piece no one talks about when it comes to lasting gut healing.
🌿 Why Elimination Diets Stop Working
Elimination diets like Low FODMAP, AIP, Whole30, or even Carnivore can bring short-term relief by reducing common irritants, lowering inflammation, and giving the gut a temporary break.
But here’s what most people (and even many practitioners) miss:
➡️ You didn’t develop IBS because of food alone. Food reactions are symptoms, not the root cause.
Behind every case of stubborn IBS, there are deeper imbalances silently driving symptoms:
⚡ Low stomach acid → food isn’t breaking down properly, leading to bloating, gas, reflux, and that “food just sits there” feeling after meals.
💧 Mineral deficiencies → your gut doesn’t have the raw materials to make stomach acid, enzymes, or keep things moving, causing constipation, sluggish motility, low energy, and poor hydration.
🛡 Burnt-out gut immunity (low Secretory IgA) → when your gut’s first line of defense is depleted, you experience food sensitivities, frequent colds, and feeling reactive to “everything you eat.”
🦠 Dysbiosis (imbalanced gut bacteria) → too many harmful bacteria and not enough beneficial strains trigger bloating, irregular bowel movements, brain fog, and skin issues like acne or eczema.
🔥 Inflammation or infections (like H. pylori, parasites, or yeast) → ongoing irritation fuels reflux, abdominal pain, fatigue, and unpredictable digestion.
When these deeper issues go unaddressed, your gut stays symptomatic and reactive and the moment you add foods back in, symptoms come roaring back.
That’s why so many people get trapped in the cycle of eliminate → feel better → reintroduce → flare → eliminate again.
But know this, your gut isn’t broken. You’re just missing the data and the sequence your body actually needs to heal.
🔍 The Missing Piece: Root Cause Clarity
Studies suggest that people with IBS have underlying imbalances like dysbiosis, not just food sensitivities.
Which is why one of the first things we do with clients who want to get off the restriction rollercoaster is start with functional testing because guessing will only get you so far.
Functional stool testing and mineral analysis reveal what’s actually going on beneath the surface:
🧠 Is your gut immune system burnt out?
Low secretory IgA means your first line of defense is depleted. This makes you more reactive to foods, microbes, and environmental triggers — and keeps inflammation high.
🦠 Are there inflammatory or histamine-producing bacteria overgrowing?
Overgrowths like Klebsiella, H. pylori, or histamine-producing strains can drive bloating, reflux, and skin flares. These are often coupled with low beneficial bacteria, making your gut even more sensitive.
💧 Are you low in minerals like sodium, potassium, or magnesium?
These minerals are the spark plugs for digestion. They support stomach acid production, bile flow, and motility meaning your gut literally can’t “run” without them.
🔥 Do you have low stomach acid, enzyme or bile output?
Without enough digestive enzymes, acid or bile, your body can’t properly break down food, leading to gas, constipation or loose stools and inflammation, even on a “clean” diet.
👉 Read more on why stool testing matters here: Functional Stool Testing : The Gut Health Test That Finally Gives You Answers
For example, one of my clients came to me after years on the low-FODMAP diet. She was eating less than ten foods and still constipated and bloated and struggled with reflux.
Her functional labs showed:
⚠️ Dysbiosis (imbalanced gut bacteria)
💧 Depleted minerals
🦠 Low digestive enzyme production
Once we rebuilt her digestion, supported minerals, and cleared the overgrowths, her bloating resolved and she started reintroducing foods without fear for the first time in years.
That’s what happens when your plan matches your body.
🌸 The 4 Steps to Real Gut Healing
Inside my Restored Gut Method, we focus on healing your gut at the root, not just taking away “problem” foods or adding in random supplements.
Here’s a brief breakdown of the process (you can watch my free training where I break down each step here → 4 Steps To Heal Your Bloating, Constipation & Reflux—Naturally)
Step 1: Calm
We first stabilize your gut and immune system: lowering inflammation, easing reactivity, and creating safety in your body so healing can begin.
Step 2: Mineralize
Minerals are the fuel behind digestion and detoxification.
When we replenish key minerals like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, your body’s own production of stomach acid, enzymes, and motility all improve naturally.
Step 3: Detox
Once your gut is nourished, we gently remove the “weeds” — bacterial overgrowths, parasites, or hidden infections driving gut symptoms. We don’t guess, we test so your plan is targeted and effective.
Step 4: Strengthen
Finally, we rebuild and protect your gut microbiome and lining.
This creates lasting gut resilience so you can maintain progress, without constant restriction or food fear.
🥗 Why Less Restriction Leads to More Healing: The Real Reason Elimination Diets Stop Working
Here’s the truth:
The longer you stay on a restrictive diet, the more your microbiome suffers.
When you eliminate entire food groups, your gut bacteria miss out on the fiber diversity they need to thrive.
This leads to:
- Lower microbial diversity: fewer “good guys” → more inflammatory bacteria sneak in.
- More inflammation: beneficial bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that regulate inflammation — without them, the gut becomes reactive and inflamed.
- Slower motility: low fiber and low microbial diversity = sluggish digestion.
- More stress and food sensitivities: the more restrictive your diet, the more anxious your body (and brain) become around food.
Healing isn’t about eating less — it’s about nourishing strategically.
When you support digestion, minerals, and microbial diversity, your tolerance naturally expands.
That’s when food freedom and true relief, finally becomes possible.
💡 The Bottom Line
If your elimination diet has stopped working, it’s not because you failed.
It’s because your gut needs more support than another “don’t eat” list can give.
Elimination might be part of the journey, but it’s not the destination.
And if you are reading this, you likely don’t need more restriction, you need restoration.
When you address the real root causes, inflammation, dysbiosis, low stomach acid, and mineral depletion, your body can finally do what it’s designed to do: heal.
FAQ: Elimination Diets, IBS, and Root Cause Healing
Q1: How long should I stay on an elimination diet for IBS?
Elimination diets are meant to be short-term — typically 4–6 weeks. Beyond that, restriction can harm your microbiome and worsen sensitivities. The goal is always reintroduction and expansion, not long-term avoidance.
Q2: What if my symptoms come back when I reintroduce foods?
That’s a sign the root causes — like inflammation, poor digestion, dysbiosis, or mineral depletion — haven’t been addressed. Testing helps uncover what’s really driving those reactions so you can fix them instead of removing more foods.
Q3: Can functional testing really help IBS?
Yes. Functional stool and mineral testing help to identifyl hidden imbalances that standard labs often miss — like bacterial overgrowths, low digestive enzymes, or burnt-out gut immunity — giving you clear, actionable data to finally heal.
Q4: What should I eat instead of eliminating everything?
Focus on balance and nourishment: protein + fat + fiber at each meal, and a variety of colorful plant foods.
If you’re struggling to increase variety after long-term restriction, working with a practitioner who specializes in root-cause gut healing is a great next step.
Q5: Is this approach just for IBS, or can it help other conditions too?
Because the gut is central to so many systems — hormones, immunity, mood, and skin — this approach often improves symptoms beyond digestion, like acne, fatigue, and hormone imbalances.
💬 Ready to stop guessing and start healing?
👉 Watch my free training where I walk you through my 4-step Restored Gut Method — the same process I use to help clients rebuild digestion, restore energy, and finally enjoy food again without fear or discomfort.
