Customer Reviews

Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment

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An invaluable reference source that gives a comprehensive discussion of the difference between true food allergies and food intolerance. You will find numerous case histories which help thoroughly explain the ill effects food can have on people. This book explores both sides of controversial issues concerning the symptoms caused by food intolerance, and with scientific data supports the idea that many diseases are related to the ill effects of food. There is an in-depth discussion of Rheumatoid Arthritis, IBS, Migraine headaches, and the use of diagnostic testing. A complete overview of "Bugs in the System" will enlighten all who suspect they suffer from an overpopulation of yeast or unsuitable bacteria in the gut. It will help you uncover food allergies and food intolerances through an explicit step by step elimination diet. The authors have dedicated a complete chapter to explain exactly how to use their three-stage approach to uncover the foods that may be making you feel ill! Stage one of the plan is one month of eating healthy by eliminating foods and drinks that have a drug-like action on the body, such as coffee, tea, cola, chocolate, cocoa, alcohol, sugar, histamine-rich foods and food additives. Stage two is an elimination diet that excludes the most common allergens and Stage three is much more restictive and is designed to help those sensitive to many foods. The authors suggest that your physician performs an examination to rule out any servious medical problems prior to trying this elimination diet. This book is a must for anyone who suffers from chronic, unexplained health problems. It is the most complete source I have read yet concerning the ill effects of food!

This is the best and most complete consumer book about food intolerances and allergies available. A complete rundown of topics can be found in the table of contents and index so I won't cover that here. Here are some of the things I appreciate most about this book:

* Nonsensational.
* Cites research studies, along with comments on strengths and weaknesses of each study.
* Gives lots of case studies - you're sure to find a case study that resembles your own experience.

Brostoff provides all of the details needed to complete a thorough elimination diet. He tells you what to expect, how you might feel, and what to do next according to how you feel.

It's a great book! It has a lot of information and is presented in a very readable style. The information is sensibly organized, so it is easy to choose what chapters to read and what to skip for later reading.

I've used it to identify and treat my food intolerances, and I highly recommend this book. It's hard to believe one can get this much quality information for less than $15!

For anyone with difficult, or unexplained illness, this is the book for you. Explains the known correlations between food sensitivity, allergy, and illnesses. This should be of particular interest to those with immune system, or digestive related problems. Highly recommended.

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.

Food Allergies and Food Intolerance provides a complete guide to identification of food allergies, explaining food sensitivities, providing a process for identifying food allergies, and revealing symptoms and side effects of food related problems. The depth of details in this survey makes for an important guide which should not be missed by any studying allergies or food problems.

This is a fantastic book if you want to learn about food allergies, immediate and delayed. In fact, my only criticism of the book is that it might be a little too scientific for the average reader. Still, one can skip some of those sections if he or she isn't interested. The sections on creating a food elimination diet are outstanding, with extensive lists of trouble foods, related foods, and substitutes. I particularly like that the author doesn't hype the treatment of food allergies as a miracle cure for everybody's problems and doesn't pimp any specific blood tests. This is rational, unsensational advice. It's not a cookbook, though; you'll have to go elsewhere for that. I did an elimination diet after reading this and have so far found that I am allergic to milk and soy. By avoiding those allergens, I have easily lost 20 lbs (and 2 inches off my waist), I have much more energy, my mood is significantly better, my knees don't continually ache anymore, my food cravings and constant hunger are gone, and my bladder issues have resolved. In short, I feel better than I have ever felt. Although not everyone will see results like this, I think anyone with nagging health problems should give the elimination diet a try, as it can't hurt, and the only real cost is having to cook just about every meal for a few weeks, which I consider a trivial cost compared to the gains I have seen.

This book has a tremendous amount of useful information about the relationship between food and well-being. I spent 15 years and a lot of money trying to get help for my various symptoms only to be told I was a nervous person, and my mental state was probably causing my physical problems. I recently suspected I had food allergies and took dairy out of my diet with amazing results. I suspect I'm also allergic or sensitive to other foods and am getting ready to embark on an elimination diet. This book is informative but doesn't preach that food allergies are the cause of all symptoms. It gives other possible causes for specific symptoms. It's a great tool if you've exhausted other means and hope for feeling well. I now have hope that I could feel fantastic in the not-too-distant future. I also found a wonderful doctor who actually listens to me and doesn't brush me off. It's not wise to totally self-diagnose, you need a doctor who will listen and work with you.

This book has useful information. Especially the section on cross-reactions in food intolerance at the end is completely consistent with my food reactions. I used his info on cross reactions to plan a personal rotation diet that's worked well for me. I haven't developed new food intolerances to any of the foods that I've rotated, meaning that if I eat a food on one day, I don't eat any food that Brostoff thinks will cross-react with it, until four days later. I *have* developed new food intolerances to many foods that I haven't carefully rotated.
But, bad information on trace reactions! He says pretty flatly that people don't have food intolerance reactions to trace amounts. I do, and many other people on forums online have said they do too. For example, when I was finding out about my corn intolerance, I tried to eliminate corn completely for a week. Then I took a kernel of corn, and I sliced it with a razor blade in half, and half again ... then when I got down to 1/16 of a corn kernel, a tiny blob on my fingertip, I ate it ... and I was severely sick for 5 days. I used to feed the squirrels peanut butter, and one time I didn't wash my hands very carefully afterwards and a little peanut butter got under my fingernail, and I nibbled on my fingers and ate it. A little flash of peanut flavor: and I was sick for four days ...
I don't know why he is so sure people don't have non-allergic reactions to traces. Allergists have told me flatly that my kind of food reaction is not an allergic reaction. I get groggy and stuporous and out of it for about four days, sometimes also irritable, back pain, wanting to stuff my face, frequent urination. I've had IgE RAST testing for antibodies to food, and it's been pretty much negative (though not skin testing, which is more sensitive). Maybe it is a kind of allergic reaction where the antibodies don't appear in my blood? I don't know. I react on skin tests to many inhalant allergens, so it would make sense if I had a lot of allergies in my gut too.
I probably have celiac disease. Celiac disease causes other food intolerances, maybe by causing mast cell overgrowth in the gut. The food intolerances may be mast cell reactions, I got that idea from a website called thefooddoc. I don't know for sure I have celiac, but I think so because of a test from Enterolab that showed I had 8-10 times normal of IgA antibodies to gluten and autoimmune TTG antibodies.
So I don't know what Brostoff would make of me. I know my kind of food reactions isn't very rare. Many people describe similar reactions - celiacs, people who have corn "allergies", etc. Yet I have never seen this kind of food reaction mentioned in mainstream medical literature. The best I can figure is that it's probably a side effect of celiac disease and maybe Brostoff is mainly writing about other kinds of food intolerance that are more common and more mild than celiac disease?
I believed him about traces not mattering for a year or two after I quit gluten - he's about the most authoritative specialist in food intolerance - and it badly held up my recovery. I kept on eating fructose made from corn ... and I was woozy-sick for months on end ... Then I quit corn and I found out I had tons of other food intolerances and I was finally able to be healthy.
It was an incredible change for me when I quit gluten and other foods I reacted to ... I felt SO MUCH better ... mentally, emotionally and physically. And tragic that I only found out about it at 43.

This is a concise and well written book for someone who is experiencing distress due to a possible food allergy or intolerance. The author writes in a clear and informative manner delineating the difference between an allergy and intolerance....something my doctor never touched upon. I would recommend it as a must read for anyone who is experiences any sort of food related reaction.

This is a great starting point if you have health issues you can't get to the bottom of. In addition to scientific explanations of allergies and intolerances, it gives tips on what tests you need, what to tell doctors, and so on. Then there is a very well laid out section on running an elimination diet, and the different types and steps of elimination diets. This was very helpful to me and helped me determine that I have issues with high lectin foods (beans legumes), nightshade family fruits (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc), dairy, and gluten. I highly recommend this to someone as a good starting point for their own research, and a great resource to have on hand as you learn more.