Nutrition and Allergic Diseases

Abstract

The purpose of this Special Issue, “Nutrition and Allergic Diseases”, is to provide an overview of the role of nutrition in allergy. The prevalence of asthma, rhinitis, and food allergy has increased tremendously over the last few decades. Is there a role for nutrition to help managing this global challenge? This Special Issue touches upon the many aspects that relate to nutrition and allergy and focuses on two fundamental questions: 1) Can nutrition play a role in allergy prevention and induction? 2) Can nutrition play a role in managing allergies? The topics covered range from the epidemiology of nutrition and allergy prevalence to the description of food components known to have beneficial effects on allergy, and include the importance of pregnancy and breastfeeding, the possibility of therapeutically targeting the microbiota in allergic diseases (with pre- or probiotics), the allergic effects of food processing, food allergies and related available treatments.