Goal: Reduce the inflammatory and toxicant load before adding active support. The first week is about removing inputs, not adding outputs.
⚠️ Practitioner-approved start. Review this week's plan with your functional medicine practitioner, OBGYN, or REI before beginning. If you're on hormonal contraception, seedisclosures.md.
| 🥗 Diet | Begin elimination diet (no gluten, dairy, soy, corn, eggs, sugar, alcohol, caffeine) + cruciferous vegetables daily |
| 🏠 Environment | Switch to glass/stainless food containers; replace personal care products with paraben/phthalate-free; install a water filter |
| 🚶 Movement | 30 min walking outdoors daily; gentle yoga 1–2x; no high-intensity training this week |
| 😴 Sleep | 8h target nightly; phone off 1h before bed |
| 🔥 Sauna | 1–2 infrared sauna sessions, 20–30 min, to establish cadence |
| 💊 Supplements | Foundation only: magnesium glycinate (evening), vitamin D₃ (with K₂) if deficient, omega-3 (EPA/DHA 2 g/day) |
| 📋 Tracking | Pre-protocol bloodwork ideally drawn before Day 1. Daily symptom log + wearable review. |
Why Week 1 looks "easy": if you add active Phase 2 support (NAC, sulforaphane, DIM, etc.) while your liver is still processing high inflammatory inputs (alcohol, gluten, processed foods), the supplements work against the inbound load instead of with you. Week 1 clears the channel.
- 16 oz warm water with lemon — supports bile flow, gentle morning hydration
- Foundation supplements (with breakfast):
- Vitamin D₃ (practitioner-confirmed dose)
- Omega-3 (1–2 g EPA+DHA)
- Breakfast — protein-forward, no gluten/dairy/sugar/coffee
- Example: smoothie with rice or pea protein, ½ avocado, frozen berries, 1 tbsp ground flax, water/oat milk
- Example: leftover dinner (avoid the "cereal default")
- 30-min walk outside if possible (cortisol regulation + light exposure)
- Lunch — large mixed green salad with cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts) + clean protein (wild salmon, grass-fed chicken, lentils if tolerated)
- Snack — fruit, nuts, or a clean protein bar (e.g., RX Bar without dairy)
- Dinner — protein + vegetables + complex carb. Cruciferous vegetable component daily.
- Example: grilled wild salmon + roasted broccoli + sweet potato
- Example: chicken + brussels sprouts + quinoa
- Magnesium glycinate 200–400 mg (evening) — practitioner-confirmed
- Phone off by 8:30 PM; book / dim lights / hot bath / stretching
- In bed by 9–10 PM
- 20–30 min infrared sauna, mid-afternoon ideally (not within 3h of bedtime)
- 16 oz electrolyte fluid after each session
- Cool shower after
- Gluten: bread, pasta, crackers, cereal, beer, soy sauce (unless gluten-free tamari), most packaged baked goods
- Dairy: milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, ice cream, whey protein (sub: nut milks, coconut yogurt, ghee if tolerated)
- Soy: soy milk, soy protein isolate, tofu (whole-food soy can re-enter later; refined soy stays out)
- Corn: corn chips, popcorn, corn syrup, corn-derived ingredients
- Eggs: plain whole eggs and egg-containing baked goods (you'll reintroduce in the next cycle)
- Added sugar: all forms — table sugar, honey, agave, maple, cane juice, packaged desserts, sweetened drinks
- Alcohol: all forms — including "just one glass"
- Caffeine: coffee, black tea, green tea (high caffeine), energy drinks. Herbal teas OK.
- Cruciferous vegetables every day — broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, arugula. Best raw or lightly steamed.
- Broccoli sprouts if available — most concentrated sulforaphane source
- Wild-caught fatty fish 2–3x/week — salmon, sardines, mackerel
- Grass-fed protein — pasture-raised chicken, grass-fed beef, lamb
- Berries, citrus, pomegranate — polyphenols
- Garlic, onion, ginger, turmeric — Phase 2 sulfation support + anti-inflammatory
- Filtered water — 2.5–3L daily
- Herbal teas — green tea (low caffeine), nettle, dandelion root, ginger, peppermint
- Caffeine taper: if you normally drink 2–3 cups of coffee, abruptly stopping causes a 3-day headache. Either taper down 50% over Days 1–3 then off, OR substitute half decaf for the first 3 days. By Day 5 you should be caffeine-free.
- Fiber ramp: if you weren't eating much fiber before, ramp up gradually (15g → 25g → 30g over Days 1–7). Sudden high fiber causes bloating.
| Swap | What to remove | What to use instead |
|---|---|---|
| Food storage | Plastic containers (especially for hot food) | Glass (Pyrex, mason jars) or stainless steel |
| Plastic water bottles | Single-use + reusable plastic | Stainless steel or glass bottle |
| Personal care | Conventional shampoo, lotion, deodorant with parabens, phthalates, fragrance | EWG Skin Deep "verified" tier products (search ewg.org) |
| Cleaning products | Conventional all-purpose, glass, bathroom cleaners | Vinegar + baking soda + castile soap basics; or Branch Basics, Better Life, ECOS brands |
| Cookware | Non-stick (PFAS) | Stainless steel, cast iron, ceramic |
| Water | Tap (chlorine, fluoride, possible BPA/microplastics) | Carbon block + reverse osmosis filter, or Berkey-type system |
| Receipts | Touching BPA-coated receipts | Decline paper receipts; email instead |
These swaps remove 50–80% of inbound xenoestrogen exposure for most US households.
Daily, in tracking/daily-log.md (template available in the tracking directory):
- Cycle day (if menstruating)
- Sleep: hours + subjective quality (1–10)
- WHOOP/Garmin morning metrics: recovery, HRV, resting HR
- Pelvic pain: 0–10 (note any cramping, pelvic pressure)
- Energy: 0–10 at midday
- Bowel movements: count + Bristol stool type
- Bloating: 0–10 after meals
- Anything notable — headache, mood, brain fog, food cravings, slip-ups
The slip-ups are not failures. They're data. Note what triggered them (social event, exhaustion, hunger) and move on.
Days 1–3: caffeine + sugar withdrawal. Headache. Fatigue. Cravings.
- What helps: electrolytes, magnesium, extra water, early bedtime, walks.
Days 4–5: the dip continues for some. WHOOP recovery may stay yellow/red.
- What helps: sleep, lighter movement, sauna if energy allows.
Days 6–7: energy starts coming back. Bowel changes normalize. Sleep deepens.
- What you might notice: bloating reduction, clearer skin, less afternoon crash, mood lift.
If you're not noticing anything by Day 7, that's information — and it doesn't mean the protocol won't work for you. Some bodies respond faster to active Phase 2 support (Week 2) than to elimination alone.
- Severe headache lasting more than 4 days
- Dizziness with standing
- New menstrual bleeding outside your normal pattern
- Worsening pelvic pain (vs. pre-protocol baseline)
- Vomiting or persistent nausea
- Symptoms of acute illness (fever, etc.)
Before moving to Week 2 — Activation, confirm:
- ✅ Elimination diet established and sustainable
- ✅ Environmental swaps done (or in progress)
- ✅ Sleep routine consistent
- ✅ 1–2 sauna sessions completed
- ✅ Tracking template populated for at least 4 of 7 days
- ✅ No red-flag symptoms (see above)
If all check, proceed to Week 2 — where you'll start adding active Phase 2 support.