Further subdividing the reintroduction schedule

[Diane O]

Two questions regarding a further subdivision in a reintroduction schedule: in the reintroduction of peanuts/legumes - I want to subdivide the peanuts and other legumes (i.e. soybeans/peas/chickpeas/black beans). In this category is peanuts first, others second? Or the soybeans/peas/chickpeas/black beans first and peanuts second?

Second question: where in the schedule (if one has omitted tree nuts) should one reintroduce tree nuts (again, these will be one at a time)

Thanks in advance! Almost ready for the elongated reintroduction portion of our program!!!

[ShannonM816]

The order of reintroductions is totally up to you. I think the suggested schedule in the book is meant to be least likely to cause reactions to most likely to cause reactions, but you don't have to follow that, and especially since you're breaking it up into subdivisions, go with whatever order makes sense to you. The important part is to only reintroduce one thing you want to test at a time, to go back to Whole30 compliance (plus continuing to omit tree nuts for you, since that's what you were doing) for at least two days between reintroductions, and even if you don't seem to have a reaction to a particular food, you continue to leave it out for the rest of your reintroductions. 

[Diane O]

I’m freely able to follow the recommended order: we’ve cleared our calendar to stay on the Whole30 until reintroductions have been tried ... and then maybe beyond as best we can when the calendar picks up. I was just wondering if anyone had a recommendation for where most folks have inserted these in the scheme of things (which haven’t been an issue - but our health changed this spring - digestion issue) ... especially for the tree nuts, which might be a new issue for my husband. Before the wheat/rye or somewhere between legumes & corn?

[Jihanna]

If you're doing an extended reintroduction, it isn't going to matter as much where you put each item, as long as you've got the appropriate recovery time in between tests. The order suggested in the book is just giving an idea of how to accomplish reintroduction quickly, giving time to address each overall food group, in an order that is least likely to cause problems. That order isn't really necessary if you're following a longer reintroduction and doing specific foods within the groups, though. You don't even necessarily have to reintroduce all of your foods from a specific group in a row, and can instead kind of dance around and pick and choose, letting your reintroductions happen more naturally and less scheduled.

For me, I reintroduced peanuts, soy, garbanzo beans, black beans, peas, oats, white rice, quinoa, wheat flour, cow dairy in various forms, and maybe a few other things that I can't recall off the top of my head right now. I wrote out a nice schedule, which went right along with the meal plan for each week, etc... and proceeded to get off schedule as soon as peanuts went in, because I required 5 days of recovery instead of the 2 I'd planned to use. After that, I just had a list of what I wanted to reintroduce and kept track of how many days since the last one, and just wouldn't try something "new" until it had been 2+ days and my body felt ready.

The very last thing I reintroduced was dairy, because I knew beyond doubt that there was already a mild allergy and hadn't actually planned to reintroduce it at all (but then decided it might be good to know how it affects me, instead of just going out of my way to avoid it without knowing what would happen if I didn't). With that in mind, I think I might wait until the end for anything you feel might really be an issue, but ultimately it's up to you how it all gets worked in.

I will say that I found it easier to work my stuff in as side dishes, rather than incorporate it into the main meals, since leftovers using foods I'd rested meant that I wouldn't be able to eat the leftovers and still give myself recovery time  

[Diane O]

Extremely helpful. Thank you so much, Jihanna!!! You’ve given me plenty to consider - I appreciate it!!!