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The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and Intolerance
The Complete Guide to Food Allergy and Intolerance Brostoff, Jonathan and Gamlin, Linda
384 pages, Paperback
First published February 12, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 20, 2014
This book gets its fourth star primarily because there are not a lot of good books in the field to compete with--intrinsically I'd say it's just "good" but it's also the best I've found so far. The bulk of the book is devoted to explaining what is known about food allergies and intolerances, which can be summed up in two words: "Not much." Here, the author's approach (in the Conservative Doctor vs Patient Who Just Wants to Get Better and Is Sick of Being Condescended To divide) is like a neutral party that manages to irritate both sides. Well, what can you do--this may not be an *ideal* book to help the sufferer understand what's going on because of this, but on the other hand it means that you can usefully lend a copy to a skeptical and uninformed doctor, if you need to keep working with him or her. In any case, even if the explanations of food intolerance aren't that illuminating, there's still a decent amount of information here and the author reviews the theories and so on, so it's at least enough to satisfy one's curiosity as much as it can be satisfied--and it's nice to get an honest explanation, however insufficient, before getting the recommendations.
The practical value of the book is in the chapter The Elimination Diet, which is only 40 pages long. The author really explains why certain foods are chosen, which is excellent because it allows you to tailor your elimination diet to your own needs. Specifically he offers either a "few foods diet" or a "rare foods diet" approach. So far I think it's the best guide to the elimination diet, though it could benefit by being more thorough. The author also points out that ideally one should do the diet with the guidance of a doctor--a naturopathic doctor is probably most appropriate for those who don't have serious conditions such as Crohn's.
The practical value of the book is in the chapter The Elimination Diet, which is only 40 pages long. The author really explains why certain foods are chosen, which is excellent because it allows you to tailor your elimination diet to your own needs. Specifically he offers either a "few foods diet" or a "rare foods diet" approach. So far I think it's the best guide to the elimination diet, though it could benefit by being more thorough. The author also points out that ideally one should do the diet with the guidance of a doctor--a naturopathic doctor is probably most appropriate for those who don't have serious conditions such as Crohn's.
July 27, 2008
On the whole it was informative and I think it will be helpful, though I don't dare follow the recommended rare-foods diet for my 3-year-old. I liked the case studies and discussions, but the book was much longer than necessary - he branches out into too many subjects, with a few useless bits of opinion (i.e.: 'mothers preparing to breastfeed should work up to rubbing their nipples with a coarse brush'!!! yikes! he should have stopped after, 'if you are from an allergic family, eat moderately those foods which tend to be highly allergenic while pregnant or breastfeeding, especially ones the mother or older siblings are sensitive to').
Jacob is allergic to dairy, peanuts, and oatmeal (and I'm thinking something else too, which is one reason I'm reading this book). I also am intolerant of a number of foods, looking for an easier way to discover them than to starve myself on a cave man diet.
Jacob is allergic to dairy, peanuts, and oatmeal (and I'm thinking something else too, which is one reason I'm reading this book). I also am intolerant of a number of foods, looking for an easier way to discover them than to starve myself on a cave man diet.
July 14, 2019
Valuable, surprisingly readable and nearly exhaustive
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.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
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.
--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”
January 24, 2012
I had a hard time deciding if I should say 3 or 4 stars on this. Its not something I read for fun. So 'like' is not really a word I want to apply to it. It's a very comprehensive and easy to read book about a very difficult subject. Also its one of the first books I've read that actually deals with food intolerance in more than an aside (oh yes food intolerance, some people say they have that)
There are a few things that kind of bug me, the authors say that food intolerance's generally need more than a small amount of whatever food to set them off. This is not true for me and so I have a somewhat annoyed reaction every time they say it even though I know that they have statistics to back them up and I'm an individual case. The other thing is that often whenever the refer to the symptoms they use words like 'inconvenience' and 'unpleasant but rarely fatal'. After reading that second description I spent several minutes telling myself "they obviously don't dismiss the suffering of people, they wrote a whole book about it for goodness sake" but it still took me several minutes to be able to read again.
Despite those very minor issues I found the book really helpful and informative. I recommend it to anyone who suffers from food intolerance or knows someone who dose. It will give you a much better understanding of it.
There are a few things that kind of bug me, the authors say that food intolerance's generally need more than a small amount of whatever food to set them off. This is not true for me and so I have a somewhat annoyed reaction every time they say it even though I know that they have statistics to back them up and I'm an individual case. The other thing is that often whenever the refer to the symptoms they use words like 'inconvenience' and 'unpleasant but rarely fatal'. After reading that second description I spent several minutes telling myself "they obviously don't dismiss the suffering of people, they wrote a whole book about it for goodness sake" but it still took me several minutes to be able to read again.
Despite those very minor issues I found the book really helpful and informative. I recommend it to anyone who suffers from food intolerance or knows someone who dose. It will give you a much better understanding of it.
October 13, 2016
This book was last copyrighted in 2000, so for a health-related book it is a bit out-of-date. However, I found Brostoff's discussion of food allergies versus intolerances to provide an excellent foundation on which much of the newer science can then be applied. The book is well-organized, practical, clear and easy-to-read for a more technical book. He provides a lot of great resources and his table of foods that are related to each other is very helpful. I would suggest this book to anyone dealing with food allergies, intolerances and/or sensitivities. Just keep in mind that the science is a bit beyond what's discussed in this book.
February 25, 2009
Lot of food-related health complications explained. A little dense in terms of organizing action steps from it. Would probably make a better reference look-up book than reading-cover-to-cover book.
July 11, 2011
This was a really good introduction to food intolerance. It also has really good information on elimination diets. I can't give it five stars because I haven't tried to implement anything yet.
June 30, 2011
Very confusing and frustrating
September 9, 2013
Helpful and interesting book. Using it as a reference now to try the elimination diet and will re-rate after to see if the methods actually helped pinpoint allergies/problems.
December 30, 2015
Good detailed information. Discusses why there are controversies with various allergiests.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews