Customer Reviews

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Food Allergies

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This really is no book for idiots. Some key sections are not well organized and the science is badly presented throughout. For example, to explain how food allergies work the author leaps straight into an unnecessary and confusing timeline of allergy related discoveries and researchers and then moves on to an overly detailed discussion of the body's immune system. Within three paragraphs the reader is presented with irrelevant information such as where B and T lymphocytes are created in the body. Terms are introduced before being defined, background information is taken for granted, and no where is there a basic description what substances are likely to be allergens and why. The similar section in "Food Allergies and Food Intolerance" by Brostoff and Gamlin is much clearer and more complete.

The lax editing leads to some real whoppers. My favorite is "zinc is an essential trace element that must be obtained from the diet, since the body can't make enough." This is true since the body cannot produce any metals at all. Or take the sidebar on page 79, which states that "anything that goes on or into your body through any orifice can cause an allergic reaction" which would imply that a person can develop allergies to oxygen, carbon, and a host of substances your immune cells cannot possibly bind to. Brostoff and Gamlin's book provides a much more accurate and complete description of allergens and how the body responds to them.

The alternative therapies section weakens the credibility of the book as a whole. After repeatedly citing well designed research studies to discredit quack therapies in chapter 15 the author turns around and cites "anecdotal evidence" to recommend alternative therapies in chapters 16 through 18. He goes so far as to repeat the claim that homeopathic solutions "continue to hold a trace memory or essence of the original substance" after being highly diluted without even hinting that this effect can't be explained by any known laws of chemistry or physics. This section of the book is useless for determining which alternative therapies may be helpful and which are wastes of time and money.

The central section of the book contains practical advice for dealing with food allergies and all of this information is useful. But I'm sure any good book on food allergy would include similar information along with a clearer background section and more rigor in discussing alternative therapies.

The book is ok but what you really want to know is how to PREVENT the allergies in the first place! The author doesn't have a clue.

Food allergies have become a major problem especially among children. Unless you work with children, you may not be aware of the extent of the problem. In the last 5 years there has been an "epidemic" of food allergies among children. It started at the same time the recommended number of vaccinations was substantially increased. It could be a coincidence or not. Vaccines are not regulated the same as food. Manufacturers can have "secret ingredients" not revealed on the package insert. This is protected by trade law. If you enjoy reading patents, you can find out many of the various ingredients used in the culture media and adjuvants. Many, many foods are listed. Peanut oil, sesame oil, wheat germ oil, soy oil, corn oil, walnut oil, almond oil are among the ingredients listed. A small amount of protein from these foods cannot be eliminated from the vaccine. It could be causing the food allergy epidemic. At the very least, physicians cannot advise their allergic patients very wisely if they don't know what is in the vaccine.