Customer Reviews

Food Allergy Field Guide : A Lifestyle Manual for Families

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I have read the Food Allergy Field Guide and I believe the author has provided a wonderful resource of information for parents of food sensitive children or anyone coping day to day with a food allergy or food intolerance. The book's clear and easy reading style makes it my first choice when recommending literature on the subject of living comfortably with a food sensitivity. There are wonderful stories, tips, substitution tables, and recipes, all underscored by a rich collection of footnoted references.

Food Allergy Field Guide: A Lifestyle Manual For Families offers practical, "reader friendly", up-to-date information on food sensitivities; advice on reading labels, grocery shopping, eating out for those with food allergies; tips on emotional, social and psychology considerations stemming from food allergies; pointers for parents on helping their food allergy sensitive child to enjoy parties, field trips, and outings; how to detect hidden food allergies; one hundred kid-tested and approved recipes along with valuable cooking advice; and an extensive resource list. Food Allergy Field Guide is a "must" for anyone who must deal with food allergies for themselves or members of their families -- especially their children.

The Food Allergy Field Guide is one of the most comprehensive books of its type that I've ever seen. Since we're dealing with a couple of different food sensitivities in our family, it's great to have a one stop resource for shopping, eating out and cooking. It puts food sensitivities in the right perspective, too, reminding us that having a food sensitivity isn't the end of the world, but can be the start of a whole new world of healthy eating. I find that very reassuring and comforting.

Cookbooks for special diets are always a treat (especially for our family, where we have several different food sensitivities to deal with), but a highly readable, real hands-on coping manual like this one is a real find! Willingham puts food sensitivities in perspective, with humor and practical advice that I can actually use. This one's a keeper!

It's about time that someone wrote such a complete, well documented, understandable book like this! It is quite obvious that Ms. Willingham has thoroughly researched the subject. It has become the food bible at our house. Unlike most books on food senstivities, this one is full of wit and character creating a pleasurable reading experience. I will definately look for more books by this author!

I run a support group for parents of children with food allergies and continuously recommend this book. Resources, contacts, food family listings, nutritional requirements for age groups, recipes, substitutions, supportive stories....it's all in there. A very practical book. A must have!

Theresa Willingham has done her homework. Compiling this extensive handbook of tips, information, and personal stories certainly took some serious time and effort. But before I get into the details of this guide and cookbook, I do want to point out that this is a gluten-free guide first and foremost.

I think the title of "Food Allergy" may be slightly misleading. It is true that the book is completely wheat-free (one of the top eight allergens), but gluten is the author's primary focus, which is typically a food intolerance and most problematic in autoimmune disorders such as Celiac Disease and Autism. This is not to say that she ignores all other common food allergies, dairy sits right along side gluten, firmly in the passenger seat, making this an excellent GFCF resource. Yet, other allergens are placed in the back seat, getting her attention and mention, but not focus. In fact, while peanut allergies are addressed, I didn't come across any tree nut references.

Theresa's gluten-free focus is understandable, since her son was born with wheat/gluten problem, most likely due to Celiac Disease.

I point this out, because while the recipes are all gluten-free and from what I could tell dairy/casein-free, you do need to read the guide of letters on each recipe to see if they also meet with your free-from needs. Some of the recipes do contain other allergens, and there are some errors in the allergen labeling of the recipes to add a bit more confusion.

There is one other reason I bring mention of the gluten-free nature - many who are concerned with multiple food allergies (or even simply a wheat allergy vs gluten intolerance) are not looking for gluten-free recipes. All of the baking recipes use specialty flours, xanthan gum and other ingredients that may render the recipes less useful (but not useless) for someone who is say dealing with a dairy, egg, and nut allergy combo.

With that commentary out of the way, I did find the reading entertaining. Theresa includes many personal stories, her own and those of other parents of children with allergies / intolerances. She also discusses coping with certain situations, and the basics, such as reading ingredient labels.

What I DO like about the recipes is that they are all relatively simple and appear to be very kid-friendly. Theresa has compiled several of her own recipes as well as recipes from other well-known authors, such as Carol Fenster. As mentioned though, this is a guidebook first, cookbook second ... it is an excellent starting point, with a nice little selection of recipes to inspire. Though you will likely want to seek out some additional cookbooks once you get going.

Overall, I do highly recommend the Food Allergy Field Guide for parents of gluten-free or gluten-free / dairy-free (GFCF) children, but would lean parents of children with multiple food allergies or life-threatening food allergies to the guide: How to Manage Your Child's Life Threatening Food Allergies.

I got this book along with another allergy book when my son was found to have several food allergies. It was helpful. I still look back to it for quick references and I have had it for almost 3 years.

I have just finished reading the "Food Allergy Field Guide," A lifestyle manual for families, by Theresa Willingham. I want to let everyone know that if they have a child that is not eating well, or that has growth symptoms that do not seem to be accurately diagnosed by their family pediatrican or doctor, that they should read this book. It will not only save many lives world-wide, but, more importantly, it will allow a great many of the worlds children grow to become healthy, productive young citizens of our country. Ms. Willingham has done an outstanding job of bringing Celiac Disease to our attention. I'd never heard of gluten sensitivity until I read this book, and I am so glad that I did. Congratulations to the author!!!

This is a very informative book. Instead of just telling the symptoms of Celiac Disease (a sensitivity to wheat) and other food sensitivies, there are recipies, short articles on how families have dealt with it and resources for people with food allergies or those who are interested in them. Theresa Willingham has shown us that living with a food allergy isn't the end of the world, but that you just need to change your eating habits a little. I fully reccomend this book to anyone interested in health. It is a wonderful book for those who have allergies, making it one of the most useful books I have read.