There’s a brand new book out called Allergic: Our Irritated Bodies in a Changing World by Theresa MacPhail. Theresa is a medical anthropologist – who knew there was such a thing ?! – and has done an admirable job covering topics from the medical discovery of allergies, diagnoses, where allergies might source from, treatments, research and more. I’ve just finished reading the book, and I’ve enjoyed reading it, and thought that my AllergicChild readers might benefit from what I found helpful in the book.
I’ve been in the Allergy World all my adult life, and have had years of experience with my own allergies and those of each of my children. Yet, I still learned more about the immune system and how it operates by reading this book. I also learned more about Dupixent and how it came into being. That was a fascinating part of the book to me. I’ve been wondering if it would be a good drug for me to try to combat my Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) diagnosis. This book gave me more details than I’ve been able to find elsewhere. And my conclusion is that the price of the drug is still prohibitive for me!
Ms. MacPhail has interviewed literally dozens of the most esteemed allergists, scientists and researchers for the various topics she covers in this book. If you’ve been part of the Allergy World, you will likely recognize almost all of these individuals. It felt comforting to me that she went to the experts who shared their experience and specific research.
And beyond just the experts, she also interviews parents and advocates who have created groups and non-profits that help individuals in the Allergy World. I liked reading about these individuals, especially since I know them and have met them at food allergy conferences through the years. I respect them tremendously, and reading about them in the book only made me have even more appreciation for them and everything they have done for our community.
If you’re looking to learn more about food allergies, pollen allergies, your immune system and treatments that are on the horizon, I’d definitely suggest you read this book!
(PS – I’m not receiving any remuneration to provide you this review, nor do I know the author. But I would love to have more conversations with her if I ever did get to speak with her!)
In case you haven’t heard of Dr. Gupta, here is a snippet from the bio on her website for the book: “Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Clinical Attending at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Gupta has more than 17 years of experience as a board-certified pediatrician and health researcher and currently serves as the founding director of the Center for Food Allergy & Asthma Research (CFAAR). She is world-renowned for her groundbreaking research in the areas of food allergy and asthma epidemiology, most notably for her research on the prevalence of pediatric and adult food allergy in the United States.”
It was Dr. Gupta’s research in 2019 that found that over 10% of adults in the USA are estimated to have a food allergy. It was also Dr. Gupta whose research estimated that 8% of children in the USA have a food allergy, and to make things even more personal for her, she is a food allergy mom.
I have been in the food allergy community for over 20 years helping my son to manage his life threatening allergies. I can’t remember a book I’ve read on the topic of food allergies that also includes: FODMAPs, FPIES, EoE, OAS, GERD, Autoimmune disorders, Alpha-Gal, and Chemical Sensitivities. Some of these topics are taboo in the medical world, but Dr. Gupta tackles all of them, and she gives information that I haven’t read before anywhere.
She also goes into the Microbiome and its affect on the immune system – one of my favorite topics! She delves into the question of whether we Moms are to blame for our children having food allergies, and lets us all off the hook. Thank goodness!
There is great information about the Western diet and its impact on inflammation in our body and the gut-brain axis. Additionally, she discusses the nervous system and the vagus nerve, which is such a welcome subject when discussing the immune system, and is only recently being discussed by Western medicine doctors.
The only topic that I wish was discussed in the book was Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). So many people mistake the symptoms of MCAS with food allergies, and there is a definite difference. You can read more about MCAS on my website here.
Even if you’ve been in the food allergy community for years, I think you’ll find this book educational, and you will likely learn something new!
Note: I was not paid in any way to write this review of the book. As with any book featured on my website, I personally read the book and decide whether it fits my AllergicChild.com audience and also meets the standards of truth necessary for any family managing food allergies.
You have likely heard of the Faster Act of 2021, but just in case you need a little more information about how it will affect those with sesame allergies, let me just say – it has been a long time coming.
First, a little history: When my son, Morgan, was diagnosed at 18 months old in 1997 with food allergies, there was no labeling law in affect. We went home from the doctor’s office with a diagnosis of peanut and egg allergies, and I decided to start making as much of his food from scratch, because I couldn’t trust that the label on any food accurately listed the correct ingredients. And any type of cross contact during the manufacturing process was an even further dream of getting that information!
The Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004 went into effect on January 1, 2006. According to the FDA website, “Congress passed this Act to make it easier for food allergic consumers and their caregivers to identify and avoid foods that contain major food allergens. In fact, in a review of the foods of randomly selected manufacturers of baked goods, ice cream, and candy in Minnesota and Wisconsin in 1999, FDA found that 25 percent of sampled foods failed to list peanuts or eggs as ingredients on the food labels although the foods contained these allergens.” Good thing I was being cautious about labels on food products!
The ‘major food allergens’ that were required to be listed in plain English with FALCPA were: peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish. These are known as the Top 8 in the USA. Other countries required different foods to be labeled on products manufactured in their country, and some of those countries included sesame.
Morgan got diagnosed with a sesame allergy after he endured a severe hive reaction from eating chicken nuggets at McDonald’s. We had a skin prick and blood allergy test performed by our allergist, and she wanted to see if he was allergic to sesame, since those little sesame seeds can appear in food and be almost undetectable. Sure enough, he was severely allergic, and we have been monitoring labels and calling customer service telephone numbers for food manufacturers for the last 20+ years. And let me tell you, it is VERY difficult to find a bread that doesn’t have cross contact issues with sesame!
At one time, I tried to make my own gluten-free bagels since our daughter was diagnosed with Celiac disease. I figured that these bagels would also work for Morgan, and we would know that they didn’t have any sesame in them, nor any possible cross contact in our safe kitchen. After hours of work trying to make a masterpiece, the bagels turned out less than ideal – better for use as a hockey puck or a door stop than for eating!
Since then, we searched for a safe bread in the grocery store, hoping to find one that didn’t also have sesame seeds on a different bread in their manufacturing line. We would then call the company and ask if there was ANY chance that the bread would cross with sesame in their plant. Sometimes we would find out that there was another product that contained sesame that was also run on the same lines. Sometimes we’d be lucky and find a safe bread! For years, Morgan used Roman Meal bread for sandwiches and for a hamburger bun because we couldn’t find any safe hamburger buns in any of our local grocery stores.
The FASTER Act – Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, and Research Act – not only requires that food manufacturers list sesame on a label beginning January 1, 2023, but also provides for more research on the prevalence and economic costs of food allergies. The food label must list sesame in ‘plain language’ and will become the ninth food allergen to be labeled, allowing those of us in the USA to rename the Top 8 to the Top 9!
President Biden signed the Act into law on April 23, 2021.
Morgan and I cheered upon hearing that! And he so looks forward to being more confident of his food choices knowing that sesame will soon be labelled!
My nine-year-old daughter has severe anaphylactic food allergies. At age four, she started experiencing anxiety about her annual allergy skin prick tests, attending birthday parties, visiting family, and eating at restaurants. Searching online, I could find children’s books regarding food allergies and a handful of children’s books regarding anxiety, but there weren’t books that specifically and directly addressed food allergy anxiety in children. So, I started researching techniques to help children manage their anxiety, and testing which approaches helped my daughter the most.
When she turned five, my daughter enrolled in a clinical trial for the peanut patch, adding blood draws and food challenges to her long list of anxiety-provoking situations. My approach was to help her write and illustrate a story in which she overcame her fears of going to her peanut patch appointment by being brave (and getting a sweet treat afterwards). She felt that the story, called “Rosy Goes to the Doctor,” helped her prepare for future appointments. That is how I was inspired to write a children’s book to help my daughter and other children like her who struggle with the daily challenges of living with a food allergy.
The illustrations in the book are wonderful. Did you do the artwork also?
I love the illustrations! Bumblebee Books and Olympia Publishers provided me with an illustrator named M. Das. I felt that it was important that the illustrations were somewhat realistic and included imagery of a human child to whom children could truly relate, rather than a fictitious animal character. My daughter and I worked together to provide the illustrator with detailed descriptions of each character in the book and what we wanted to see on every page. It was really neat to see our words come to life in the drawings that came back to us.
As the parent of a child with food allergies, how much of the book was written from you or your daughter’s personal experiences?
All of it! Both my husband and I have an anxiety disorder that we have to manage, and we experience additional anxiety about our daughter’s food allergy. Our daughter has experienced terrible anxiety in anticipation of her allergy appointments, going to play dates and birthday parties, being different from her friends and schoolmates, and speaking up to friends as well as strangers about her allergy. It breaks my heart that she lives each day with this nagging fear about the lurking danger of her food allergy. Our approach has always been to educate and empower her to learn what she can do to keep herself safe. As a family, we have tried all of the “Ways to Help Your Child Manage Anxiety” included in the back of the book (except the proximity food challenge and happy visit), and we’ve practiced them for many years to learn what techniques help us the most.
I love the birthday party situation in the book where Quinn has to speak up for herself. I felt butterflies for her! How did you teach your daughter about handling such a situation?
It took several years and many birthday parties before any of us felt reasonably calm about the experience. We still follow the same process of checking with the party planner ahead of time on what food will be served, reading all of the ingredient labels, staying away from foods without a label, and making sure we have two epinephrine auto-injectors with us. As my daughter has gotten older, it upsets her more to bring her own safe treat and eat something different from the other kids at the party. Sometimes we are able to work with the other parent or bakery to ensure the shared party treats are safe for my daughter to eat. But we continue to work on helping her accept being “different” from her peers. Maybe that will be my next book topic!
In the Notes to Parents in the back of the book, you mention teaching a child mindfulness. What’s the best way that you’ve found to have a child be willing to try this skill?
Number one is finding the right tools, and number two is setting an example by practicing mindfulness yourself in front of your child. I’ve included a number of mindfulness tools for kids in the back of the book, but two additional tools that we love are “The ABCs of Yoga for Kids” learning cards and “50 Mindfulness Activities for Kindness, Focus, and Calm” cards. We practice these cards together, often before bed. A great book to help teach your kids about mindful belly breathing is “Sea Otter Cove: A Relaxation Story” by Lori Lite. We sit and practice different breathing techniques together, starting when we are already calm. As a parent, I absolutely loved Dr. Kristen Race’s “Mindful Parenting” book along with all of her amazing techniques for busy parents and the entire family. My child has witnessed firsthand how I can maintain more peace and levelheadedness when I am disciplined with my daily meditation practice. When I am feeling particularly frustrated or stressed in front of my child, she sees me stop, pause, and take a breath, or blow out an elongated breath, or remove myself from a heated situation and find ways like reading, listening to music, or taking a bath to calm myself. She also sees me push myself to do something in spite of my fear, and I help her recognize all of the instances in which she has been brave despite her food allergies.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
I truly hope that this book helps children and families with food allergies. It’s based on my own personal experience, research that I’ve done through books, conferences, webinars, and meeting with a child psychotherapist whose own child has food allergies. Before publication, it was vetted by that same psychotherapist as well as my child’s board certified asthma and allergy doctor.
