The rotation diet is a useful tool for identifying the food items you react to, find out which alternatives you can use and possibly prevent developing new allergies to these alternative ingredients. For example, a lot of people who are allergic to cow's milk often use soy milk as an alternative. In some cases, though, even though yos is initially tolerated well, an allergy to soy will ensue after prolonged and repetitive exposure to it.

A better approach would be to rotate milk alternatives such as rice milk, almond milk, soy milk, barley milk, etc (assuming these alternatives are well-tolerated ), using a four-day rotation plan. That means, if rice milk is used on a Monday, you should wait until Friday before using it again. If you follow the pattern religiously, you may find that you can regain and increase tolerance for certain foods, thus making your range of food choices that much wider.

Obviously, this regime is not for someone who has shown severe allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis. If you are unsure how to go about this, please consult your allergist first. Here are more references about the rotation diet:

• Three Principles of Diet Rotation from the Parents of Allergic Children


• How to Use a Rotation Diet from Food-Allergy.org


• The Rotation Diet Cookbook: A 4-Day Plan for Relieving Allergies


• Overcoming Allergies: Home Remedies-Elimination and Rotation Diets-Complementary Therapies


• What Do We Eat Tonight? How to Live With Food Allergies - A Practical Guide to Selecting Foods and Creating a Rotation Diet.