Book Review: 7 Day Allergy Makeover

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While browsing in a local bookstore, I found myself in the food allergy section. Can you believe even small bookstores now have allergy and food allergy sections within their stores?

Picking up the 7 Day Allergy Makeover, (affiliate link) I questioned whether allergies could be entirely eliminated. Understanding that my nickel food allergy is a chronic condition, my interest in reading the book was to examine other areas in my life I could modify for the better.

Appreciating the author’s writing style, organization and recommendations; I admit I enjoyed reading and skimming through the 7 Day Allergy Makeover. Wanting to share some of its insights, I thought I would write a quick book review.

The 7 Day Allergy Makeover is a quick read, structured in 7 different chapters classified as days, for the 7 day makeover. Author Dr. Susanne Bennett encourages readers to consider making lifestyle changes in each area as a means to dealing with seasonal, environmental and food allergies.

Dr. Bennett sums up the cause of allergies to be allergens, which “are specific chemical substances (natural or artificial) that are inhaled, contacted, ingested, or injected. Once the immune system detects an allergen, it recognizes it as a foreign substance, and this may trigger a cause of physiological reactions designed to attack and neutralize that substance. We call the resulting symptoms and processes ‘allergies’ or ‘sensitivities’” (pg. 13).

The overall theme of the book is to become more aware of what you’re ingesting and the environment(s) you’re spending most of your time in. That awareness will enable you to fully understand what’s affecting your body and causing your allergies. One of my favorite aspects of Dr. Susanne Bennett’s writing style is she clearly states the problem within each chapter, usually adding some historical insights. Then she identifies specific steps on how you can personally remedy these problems by making various realistic suggestions. The book’s chapters are:

Day One – Clean up your nutrition

Day Two – Clean up your water

Day Three – Clean up your air

Day Four – Clean up your living environment

Day Five – Clean up your kitchen

Day Six – Clean up your body

Day Seven – Clean up your stress

Many of her suggestions are directly or indirectly related to coping with a nickel food allergy and eczema. She does briefly cover nickel allergies, including nickel food allergies. Specifically when recommending you “upgrade your kitchenware” Dr. Bennett writes how “nickel isn’t easily processed and detoxified by the body, so it accumulates in tissues and organs. Avoiding it is the best policy” (pg. 164-165).

Briefly I enjoyed her suggestions about eating better, drinking filtered water, investing in a home air purifier, and eliminating everything plastics, mold, styrofoam and dust in your home. Instead of using metal or plastic silverware, she suggests using wooden or bamboo utensils, which I did not know about prior.

In addition, she clarified how my poor circulation is probably related to my food allergy. Dr. Bennett notes how “regular exercise enhances circulation of blood and lymph. These two forms of circulation help you eliminate toxins by moving them from one part of the body to another and preparing them for excretion through the major organs such as the kidneys, liver and digestion system. With poor circulation, toxins and allergens can get stored in tissues and build up in your body, their harmful effects persisting day after day” (pg. 197). I admit, reading this encouraged me to be more diligent about getting regular exercise!

One day it would be wonderful if I never had to worry about my nickel food allergy. Since I will probably always be allergic to foods with high concentrations of nickel, I value reading books and resources that can aid with my personal allergy journey. Eliminating nickel from my diet has made an enormous positive impact in my life.

I hope you enjoyed reading my book review of the 7 Day Allergy Makeover (affiliate link). I’d love to hear your insight or recommendations for other great reads related to allergies in the comment section below.