In your book, you present the idea of eliminating the most allergenic foods from a breastfeeding mom’s diet. The information I have been able to find on this subject is limited and conflicting. Can you provide sources, links to studies, or other reliable information? The last thing I was told by our allergist is that there is not enough research to support restrictions without symptoms in the baby. However, even delaying, as opposed to preventing, atopic disease is worth it to me. Thanks!
Expectant Mom
Dear Expecting
Thanks for reading the book. This is why we launched the website in tandem with the book. Medicine moves faster than print. Since the book came out, the NIAID, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, published guidelines for diagnosing and treating food allergies last December, which we have written about before.
This is what it says on this topic:
5.3. Prevention of Food Allergy
5.3.1. Maternal Diet During Pregnancy and Lactation
Guideline 36: The EP does not recommend restricting maternal diet during pregnancy
or lactation as a strategy for preventing the development or clinical course of FA.
5.3.2. Breast-Feeding
Guideline 37: The EP recommends that all infants be exclusively breast-fed until
4 to 6 months of age, unless breast-feeding is contraindicated for medical reasons.
Dr. Paul Ehrlich