Doing the low sulphur diet (with searchable foods list)

To embark on a sulfur elimination diet, allow 5-7 days, though expect to start seeing results within 1-3 days.

Leaving enough time for your system to settle is useful when determing sensitivity to sulfur, as reducing overall sulfur levels will occur over multiple days. But, you may want to expand your testing of foods, so give yourself a few weeks for challenges.

Some symptoms may worsen in the first couple of days on the sulfur elimination diet, so expect the unexpected and keep going.

The goal is NOT to exclude sulfur from your diet – you need it – but to work out if you are indeed hitting your limits for sulfur, and need to work on your sulfur pathway. Limiting sulfur is a short-term stop-gap solution to help reduce symptoms.

If you eat a LOT of sulfur-containing foods, perhaps you will find the sweet spot where you still get to enjoy your favourite foods, but just a little less to avoid symptoms.

Searchable sulfur foods list

Doing the sulfur elimination diet

Week 1

Ensure you have plenty of meal and snack options at hand, since the low sulfur diet is also low protein. Many proteins have sulfur-containing amino acids. This can mean you get hungrier and are less satiated when you do eat.

Include plenty of satiating foods like fats, oils and filling foods. Stay hydrated, and if you’re feeling hungry, drink a big glass of water. It’ll help temporarily.

Week 2

If you don’t notice any change in symptoms, sulfur is probably not your problem, so you do not need this diet any longer. Return to your usual diet and seek advice from a healthcare practitioner. There are other elimination diets you can try, if you’re sure there’s a problem, but you’re not sure which food.

If your symptoms do improve on the sulfur elimination diet, you can start to slowly reintroduce foods and see how you feel.

Sulfur: for 1-4 days, eat multiple servings of high-sulfur foods across each day. If your symptoms return during these days, return to a low-sulfur diet and wait for symptoms to calm down again.

Grains: If you want to test your tolerance to grains, test these separately to sulfur by adding them in alone while on a low-sulfur diet. Beware that quinoa and buckwheat contain sulfur. Wheat and other gluten-containing grains should be added separately as they can be a problem on their own.

Other foods (dairy, nuts, soy, eggs): If you want to test some other foods, try these one a time while on a diet that you’re not reacting to. If you suspect you’re intolerant to these items, remove them during your elimination diet and then reintroduce them to test. Use the same regime as above. Remember that these all contain sulfur.

Most grains are low in sulfur, but it’s very useful to avoid all grains until doing a challenge on each one, since gut microbiome imbalances and overgrowth due to starches in grains can be an issue for many who are sulfur intolerant.

Rice isn’t as problematic and can be eaten in small amounts – 1/2 cup per meal. If you don’t tolerate foods on the list that should be ok, please avoid them.

I’m sulfur intolerant – what next?

The main component we want to work on is your sulfur metabolism and detoxification. We do this using certain supplements and detoxification methods like Epsom salt baths (magnesium sulfate). Talk to your practitioner about your options.

Once you are actively supporting your sulfur metabolism and detoxification, you’ll need to work out what your tolerance is by increasing intake slowly and seeing where you hit the threshold and develop symptoms. With the right support, you should be able to eat many more sulfur-containing foods than you could in your sulfur test during week 2.

Low-sulfur meal ideas

Breakfast ideas

• Smoothie: 1 cup of water, 1/4 avocado, 1/2 banana, 6 macadamia nuts, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, honey to taste, rice/pea protein powder
• Fresh cucumber, celery, beet, carrot, orange or apple juice
• Fresh fruit (any allowed) and 12 macadamia nuts
• ½-1 sliced avocado with 1 orange, peeled and cut into chunks, drizzled with olive oil and sea salt
• Banana, apple with macadamia nut butter
• Sweet potato, grated and cooked in olive oil, sea salt and fresh herbs, smoked salmon/sardines for protein

Main meal ideas

• PROTEIN: salmon, dark meat poultry with roasted carrots, sweet potato, squash, other low sulfur vegetables, cooked in olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh herbs
• SALAD: Romaine or other lettuce greens with low sulfur vegetables, fruits, pepitas, sunflower seeds, avocado, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, fresh herbs
• RICE: Long grain, jasmine rice with crushed macadamia nuts and pepitas, fruit, cinnamon, rice milk

References

The Australian Food Composition Database

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