Forward Reviews:
"Blake managed to stabilize her once-precarious health; her book offers fellow food-intolerance sufferers encouragement and hope.
When her body lost its ability to digest ninety-five percent of the foods most people normally eat, Sara Blake went on a quest to discover how she could nourish herself and survive. Her book, Food Intolerance, is the result of her desire to provide a resource for others who suffer from digestive disorders, and to stimulate interest on the part of scientific researchers in the function and dysfunction of the living digestive system.
Unable to find the help she desperately needed from the medical establishment, Blake, who calls herself the “canary in the coal mine,” experimented on herself over the course of many years. She found that people may not only be sensitive to certain foods, but also to toxins in the foods, the way in which foods are prepared, the equipment used to prepare them, and elements commonly present in our daily environment, including those found in medicines and personal care products. These sensitivities, coupled with the lack of understanding of how the digestive system functions, can, she says, leave people who suffer from food intolerance ill, confused, and isolated – especially in a society where so much social interaction involves food.
Blake devotes much of the book to discussing her own digestive issues. Her case was so severe that she, out of necessity, covers a great deal of ground—much of which may be of use to others whose cases are far less severe. She includes information on which foods are likely to aggravate digestive issues, signs that a particular food should be avoided, how-tos on preparing foods safely and using equipment properly, naturopathic versus allopathic understandings and treatments of digestive issues, and the characteristics of different types of foods and drinks and their effects on health. She also includes many recipes that she has found helpful through the years.
...
Through her own meticulous research, Blake managed to stabilize her once-precarious health; her book offers fellow food-intolerance sufferers encouragement and hope that they can do the same."
Forward Reviews
When her body lost its ability to digest ninety-five percent of the foods most people normally eat, Sara Blake went on a quest to discover how she could nourish herself and survive. Her book, Food Intolerance, is the result of her desire to provide a resource for others who suffer from digestive disorders, and to stimulate interest on the part of scientific researchers in the function and dysfunction of the living digestive system.
Unable to find the help she desperately needed from the medical establishment, Blake, who calls herself the “canary in the coal mine,” experimented on herself over the course of many years. She found that people may not only be sensitive to certain foods, but also to toxins in the foods, the way in which foods are prepared, the equipment used to prepare them, and elements commonly present in our daily environment, including those found in medicines and personal care products. These sensitivities, coupled with the lack of understanding of how the digestive system functions, can, she says, leave people who suffer from food intolerance ill, confused, and isolated – especially in a society where so much social interaction involves food.
Blake devotes much of the book to discussing her own digestive issues. Her case was so severe that she, out of necessity, covers a great deal of ground—much of which may be of use to others whose cases are far less severe. She includes information on which foods are likely to aggravate digestive issues, signs that a particular food should be avoided, how-tos on preparing foods safely and using equipment properly, naturopathic versus allopathic understandings and treatments of digestive issues, and the characteristics of different types of foods and drinks and their effects on health. She also includes many recipes that she has found helpful through the years.
...
Through her own meticulous research, Blake managed to stabilize her once-precarious health; her book offers fellow food-intolerance sufferers encouragement and hope that they can do the same."
Forward Reviews
Kirkus Review:
In her debut, Blake reveals how she copes with her intolerances to everyday foods and offers tips to fellow sufferers.
“I have lost the ability to digest 95% of the foods that everyone else enjoys,” the author begins. She arrived at this point of extreme dietary restriction after 30 years of declining health and weight loss. After realizing that diarrhea was the primary sign that she couldn’t tolerate a particular food, she gradually eliminated such foods from her diet, including most fruits and vegetables, many grains and nuts, oil, starch, fish, and most dairy products. The author demonstrates a deep knowledge of human anatomy in this book; for example, she explains the symptoms of leaky gut syndrome and the role of digestive enzymes, and also provides a helpful diagram of the digestive system. Perhaps controversially, she characterizes the common labeling of diarrhea-manifested digestive problems as irritable bowel syndrome as “meaningless and insulting.” At times, the book’s advice can feel too fussy, as when the author insists that vegetables be grown outdoors and that people should use no lotion on their hands before handling food; even non-stick pan coatings and tap water merit suspicion. Moreover, the list-based format can be repetitive. Luckily, many elements are widely applicable, such as a food tolerance chart and information on avoiding toxins and pesticides. The book also strikes a good balance between declarative and imperative statements. “It is healthier to be safe than gourmet,” Blake insists, a dictum that accounts for the very small range of foods that she uses in the 14 recipes: baked meat, casseroles, roasted potatoes, blanched almonds, and dark chocolate form staples of her diet. Intriguing snippets of autobiography suggest that several of these foods are ones that her British mother cooked while the author was growing up, and that by writing about bodily functions, Blake is breaking family taboos. It therefore took real courage, after decades of fighting to stabilize her health, to write this book for others’ benefit.
A handbook that should encourage readers who have complicated relationships with food.
Kirkus Review
“I have lost the ability to digest 95% of the foods that everyone else enjoys,” the author begins. She arrived at this point of extreme dietary restriction after 30 years of declining health and weight loss. After realizing that diarrhea was the primary sign that she couldn’t tolerate a particular food, she gradually eliminated such foods from her diet, including most fruits and vegetables, many grains and nuts, oil, starch, fish, and most dairy products. The author demonstrates a deep knowledge of human anatomy in this book; for example, she explains the symptoms of leaky gut syndrome and the role of digestive enzymes, and also provides a helpful diagram of the digestive system. Perhaps controversially, she characterizes the common labeling of diarrhea-manifested digestive problems as irritable bowel syndrome as “meaningless and insulting.” At times, the book’s advice can feel too fussy, as when the author insists that vegetables be grown outdoors and that people should use no lotion on their hands before handling food; even non-stick pan coatings and tap water merit suspicion. Moreover, the list-based format can be repetitive. Luckily, many elements are widely applicable, such as a food tolerance chart and information on avoiding toxins and pesticides. The book also strikes a good balance between declarative and imperative statements. “It is healthier to be safe than gourmet,” Blake insists, a dictum that accounts for the very small range of foods that she uses in the 14 recipes: baked meat, casseroles, roasted potatoes, blanched almonds, and dark chocolate form staples of her diet. Intriguing snippets of autobiography suggest that several of these foods are ones that her British mother cooked while the author was growing up, and that by writing about bodily functions, Blake is breaking family taboos. It therefore took real courage, after decades of fighting to stabilize her health, to write this book for others’ benefit.
A handbook that should encourage readers who have complicated relationships with food.
Kirkus Review
