Allergies are on the rise in both infants and adults. Many are calling it an epidemic. Allergies can limit your diet, cause irritation, and in some cases be life threatening. 

In today’s episode, we discuss the evidence suggesting that our gut plays a key role in protecting us from food allergies.

Professor Gideon Lack tells us how we can reduce the risk of allergies developing in children. Gideon also shares innovative ways to treat allergies and significantly reduce the risk of death. 

Gideon is Professor of Paediatric Allergy at King’s College London. His groundbreaking studies into allergies have reversed the official medical advice of multiple countries. 

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Timecodes

00:00 Allergies are on the rise

01:30 Quickfire questions

05:02 Allergies vs intolerances

06:48 Do allergies only develop in childhood?

11:18 Why allergic reactions happen

15:33 Hay fever and asthma 

18:28 How to spot birch pollen allergy

19:58 Which allergies do children develop?

26:50 Gideon’s light bulb moment

32:16 Does eczema play a role?

36:36 The importance of the gut microbiome

45:08 How to protect your baby

50:05 Skin and allergies

54:06 Should nuts be banned on planes?

57:49 The truth about airborne allergens

Books by our ZOE Scientists:

• Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati
• Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector
• Fibre Fuelled by Dr Will Bulsiewicz

Free resources from ZOE:

• Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition 
• Gut Guide - for a healthier microbiome in weeks

Studies related to today’s episode: 

• Self-Reported Prevalence of Allergies in the USA and Impact on Skin—An Epidemiological Study on a Representative Sample of American Adults, published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 
• Trends in Allergic Conditions Among Children: United States, 1997–2011, published by US National Center for Health Statistics 
• Early exposure hypothesis: where are we now? published in Clinical and Translational Allergy 
• Randomized Trial of Peanut Consumption in Infants at Risk for Peanut Allergy, published in New England Journal of Medicine 
• Randomized Trial of Introduction of Allergenic Foods in Breast-Fed Infants, published in New England Journal of Medicine 
• Birch Pollen Immunotherapy by Consumption of Apples, published by AppleCare Project, Interreg Italy Austria 
• Food allergy and the gut, published in Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology 

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Episode transcripts are available here