It is no surprise that this outstanding book is in its third edition. It contains a wealth of information for anybody with food allergies or food intolerance or anybody who thinks he or she might have food allergies or intolerance, and even for people (and doctors!) who would never think their health problems or their patients' problems could be due to eating foods that don't agree with them.
The authors make a distinction between food allergies, which typically involve mast cells going haywire, and food intolerance which results in symptoms not directly attributable to mast cell reactions. This is a very important distinction beyond the terminology since some doctors are skeptical about food causing sickness unless the mast cells are involved. The authors show, citing numerous clinical studies, a lot of research work, and specific individual examples, how food allergy and intolerance works, and they present a program to guide the reader to identify possible causes. They also give a step by step guidance on how to conduct various diets, including the elimination diet that may allow the reader (with his or her physician) to identify foods that are causing health problems. It's not just asthma and hives and other obvious symptoms that could be caused by food allergies or intolerances. The authors argue very convincingly that a host of other discomforts (and worse) could have as their cause and/or their trigger, certain foods. The most likely suspects in the American diet are wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, coffee, tea and alcohol. The authors also point to the possibility of sensitivity to a host of man-made chemical substances that can cause debilitating symptoms
What makes this one of the best books of its kind that I have ever read (and I've read many books on food and health) is the wealth of information presented, the crystal clear writing, and the frank expression of the controversy surrounding how foods might cause disease. Additionally, the authors shed a lot of light on the complexities involved in digestive and immune system response to foods and how befuddling these complexities can be for lay persons and professionals alike.
Also covered are how microorganisms, especially what the authors call "gut flora," affect food absorption and digestion, and how they can cause disease. I learned a lot about how our bodies, along with the trillions of microbes we harbor, can either work together or at cross purposes. The material on how antibiotics or exposure to certain chemicals can alter our gut flora and trigger allergies or intolerances is just fascinating.
Brostoff and Gamlin also cover how food allergies and intolerances affect infants, children and nursing mothers. They are specific about what foods can be at fault and how to avoid them and even which foods can be substituted for suspected culprits.
And the symptoms themselves--asthma, running nose, headaches, migraines, arthritis, muscle and joint pain, rashes, hives, diarrhea, bloating, gas, irritable bowel syndrome, all kinds of inflammation, strange discharges, hyperventilation, and many more--are described and given their possible cause from foods.
There are ten appendices covering such things as "Synthetic Chemicals in Food and Water," a nice discussion of bottled water and water filters and how they work, "Medicinal Drugs," "Nutritional Supplements," "Synonyms for Food Ingredients," (useful when reading labels), etc.
The fact that this book is a little out of date (third edition, copyright 2000) should not deter you from reading it. Yes, there is some controversy about some of the conclusions the authors come to; but they tell you where there is disagreement and why.
Do yourself a favor. If you have any sort of unexplained symptom or have friends or relatives with unexplained symptoms, read this book. There is nothing else quite like it in print that I know of. Certainly nothing on the same level of value to the general reader. In fact, I would go so far as to say that were this book more generally read, an incalculable amount of pain and suffering might be avoided.
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