Research on alternative food allergy treatments is limited. However, many people do try them and claim that certain treatments help.
- Herbal remedies. A few small studies of herbal remedies have shown some benefit in reducing symptoms and preventing anaphylaxis, including some Chinese medicine formulas. However, there's no reliable proof yet that these work. In addition, there are concerns about the quality of some herbal preparations from China. If you do take an herbal remedy, be sure to tell your doctor about it. It may affect test results or interact with other medications you take.
- Acupuncture and acupressure. There's little academic research on acupuncture for food allergies, and the studies that do exist don't show a clear benefit from these techniques. If you decide to try one of these treatments, be sure you work with an experienced and certified provider.
- Special diets. In the past, "rotating diets" that have you avoid certain foods at certain times were tried as a food allergy treatment. There's no evidence that this or other such diets are an effective food allergy treatment. The only food strategy proved to work is complete avoidance of the allergy-causing food.
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