Being a vegan means that you don't eat any meat or dairy, but rather concentrate solely on plant-based options and non-animal products.

If you're eating a vegan diet and you want to try an elimination diet to figure out which ingredients may be causing you an allergy or health problems, you might be wondering which foods you could start by cutting out. Here are some tips for doing a vegan elimination diet and which foods you may want to cut out.

Start by eating limited foods

When you're on a vegan diet, it can often be easier to start an elimination diet by stripping everything right back and embarking on the journey with a limited number of different foods.

Many vegans choose smoothies, made using a limited number of ingredients, most commonly spinach, bananas, berries and other greens of choice. You can then add in extra foods and look for when you feel worse. This can help you to spot fairly quickly which foods are affecting you negatively.

Think about which foods to eliminate

There are various foods which are vegan but which can cause allergies and other health problems, so we'll consider some of the most common:

• Peanuts: Nuts are a great way for vegans to get nutrition, but many people suffer from peanut allergies or allergies to other nuts. If you suspect you have a nut allergy, this should be the first thing you seek to eliminate from your diet.
• Soy: Vegans are often big fans of the ingredient soy, using it as a substitute for all kinds of foods, including milk and yogurt. However, it has a bit of a reputation in terms of allergies, so if you currently have high levels of soy in your diet, this could be one to consider eliminating.
• Sesame seeds: Sesame seeds, oil and other sesame products can cause allergies. If you use this as a staple in many of your meals, such as salad or stir fry, eliminate it from your diet to see whether it makes a difference to your health.

A vegan elimination diet is certainly not impossible, and once you've overcome the initial struggle of cutting out foods to decide which ones do or don't work for you, it's fairly easy to find the answers that you need and then improve your health and wellbeing by avoiding it in the future.