Advertise on podcast: The Food Allergy Brain

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Kevin, known online as The Macro Celiac, a celiac disease advocate, content creator, and dad of two. Kevin was diagnosed with celiac disease at 33, and both of his sons were diagnosed only a few months later. Kevin shares what life looked like before his diagnosis, when he thought feeling sick after every meal was normal, and how a routine checkup turned into an endoscopy and a diagnosis he never saw coming. He walks through the overwhelming first few months of going gluten-free, including the hidden-gluten Rice Krispie treat that left him too scared to eat anything but meat, fruits, and vegetables, and the gluten-free Oreos that became his turning point. The two talk about the mourning period that follows a diagnosis, feeling like a burden at gatherings, and the convenience of fast food and pizza that Kevin misses more than the food itself. Kevin also opens up about his sons' diagnoses: the symptoms doctors initially dismissed because the boys were growing well, the guilt he carried as a dad, and the wave of emotions that made their diagnosis far harder than his own. He discusses being one of the few men creating celiac content, the myth that celiac is a "feminine disease," and why women are so often gaslit for years before getting answers. He closes with his vision for a better support system: believing patients, giving newly diagnosed celiacs more than "just don't eat gluten," and leading with kindness! Find Kevin (The Macro Celiac): Instagram & TikTok: @themacroceliac Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Maximo, known professionally as Mimofr, a music producer, content creator, and entrepreneur in the underground hip hop space with over 200 million streams. He's also Mia's younger brother. Maximo shares how he taught himself his way from childhood piano lessons into a music career, and what it's like living with tree nut allergies along the way. He recounts an anaphylactic reaction in Amsterdam from hidden pine nuts in pesto, and the night an eel roll led to his first-ever EpiPen use at 20. The two talk about how reactions don't always look like the textbook picture, and about the phantom reactions that can follow. They also cover traveling for work and late-night studio sessions when someone else picks the food, and why the right friends never make your allergies a big deal. Maximo closes with advice for anyone chasing a creative career with a medical condition: find your community, put yourself out there, and don't hide who you are! Find Maximo (Mimofr): Instagram, TikTok & all socials: @mimofrl Music: Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and YouTube under Mimofr Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Kristin Sokol, a board-certified allergist, immunologist, and pediatrician at Schreiber Allergy in Rockville, Maryland, who also chairs the annual scientific meeting planning committee for the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Dr. Sokol offers a reframe that lands immediately: much of what we call food allergy anxiety is really uncertainty. Every meal is a decision, every restaurant visit is a plan, every birthday party and flight is a risk calculation, and that constant vigilance is exhausting. She and Mia talk about why allergy care can't stop at "here's what happens if you eat it," and why quality of life deserves just as much time in the exam room. They also get honest about overtesting. Dr. Sokol explains why the gold standard is still what happens when you actually eat the food, how families end up avoiding long lists of foods they were never allergic to, and how much work it takes to undo that. The two dig into food challenges, why so many allergists lack the time and staff to offer them, and the expanding treatment menu of OIT, SLIT, and omalizumab (Zolair), including why Zolair has been a game changer for teens and young adults heading to college or abroad. Mia shares her own OIT and Xolair experience along the way. The episode closes with Dr. Sokol's vision for ideal food allergy care: an accurate diagnosis from day one, real education at visit one, access to a dietitian and psychological support, and consistent follow-up with the same allergist. If you've ever felt boxed in by a test result, this conversation is a grounding reminder that better care is possible. Find Dr. Kristin Sokol: Schreiber Allergy on Instagram & Facebook: @schreiberallergy Resources mentioned: ACAAI (acaai.org), AAAAI (aaaai.org), and FAACT, the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team, where Dr. Sokol serves on the medical advisory board Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Brynn Everist, a pediatrician, allergist, and immunologist in Kansas City who runs one of the first direct specialty care allergy practices in the country, and who's also the founder of Amuse, an early allergen introduction system for babies. Frustrated by the 15-minute windows of the traditional insurance model, Dr. Everist built a practice around time and trust. She greets patients at the door herself, her exam rooms are oversized, and kids ask her, "Do you live here?", because it feels like home. She walks Mia through why allergy care can't be rushed, and why having real options makes patients feel empowered instead of boxed in. The two also go deep on the fear that runs so many food allergy families' lives. Dr. Everist shares the moving story of an 18-year-old with a severe peanut allergy and the proximity challenge that let her hold a peanut for the first time and realize she was safe. They get into the treatment "menu" from SLIT to her Amuse drops, why early introduction can dramatically cut peanut allergy risk, and why she writes doctor's notes to get kids off the allergy-free table. Mia shares her own food allergy anxiety along the way. This is a hopeful, energizing conversation about treating the whole person, not just the immune system, and a future where medical care and mental health support finally work hand in hand. If you've ever wished allergy care felt warmer and more human, this episode is a reminder that it exists. Find Dr. Brynn Everist:  Instagram: @allergy_bee_md and @amusedrops Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Robyn Liu, a family medicine physician in Portland, Oregon, a member of the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and, as Mia learns during their conversation, a food allergy mom herself. Dr. Liu sees the family doctor as the "quarterback" of a patient's whole health team: someone who knows not just your labs but your story. In this conversation she walks Mia through what it looks like to support a food allergy family from the very first appointment, starting not with a prescription but with a question: What do you already know about this, and how did it feel to get this diagnosis? The two also go deep on the parts of allergy life that rarely make it into medical training. Dr. Liu opens up about her own years as an allergy parent, including the moment her grown daughter told her that what stuck with her most wasn't the vigilance, but being unable to share in the fish dishes at family meals and feeling separated from her Chinese American heritage. They talk about the misinformation patients bring in from social media, and why Dr. Liu meets every patient with curiosity instead of correction. Mia shares her own lifelong food allergy anxiety along the way. This is a warm, grounding conversation about treating the whole person and building real community around food allergy families, including the one piece of the support system most of us overlook: a debrief plan for after a reaction, so fear and isolation don't get to take root. If you've ever felt alone in managing allergies, this episode is a reminder that good care and real community can meet you wherever you live. Find Dr. Robyn Liu: Dr. Liu doesn't keep a large public social media presence, but you can explore her work through the American Academy of Family Physicians and the patient resources at familydoctor.org. Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Douglas Jones, a board-certified allergist, co-founder of the Food Allergy Support Team, and one of the first physicians in the country to bring oral immunotherapy (OIT) into private practice. Dr. Jones has spent nearly two decades reshaping what food allergy treatment can look like, and he traces it all back to one pivotal moment: a mother sitting in his office, newly handed a long list of her daughter's allergies, who looked at him and asked, "What do I feed her?" He didn't have a good answer that day, and it changed the entire course of his career. In this conversation he walks Mia through the "food allergy treatment menu", why there's no one-size-fits-all approach, and how he matches each patient to their own goals and stage of life instead of forcing them into a box. The two also go deep on the mental health side of living with food allergies, why the nervous system often takes longer to heal than the immune system, the guilt so many parents (especially moms) carry, and the misinformation he gently debunks every day, from numbers equaling severity to unvalidated tests preying on vulnerable families. Dr. Jones shares one of the most moving descriptions you'll hear of watching a patient's true personality re-emerge as the weight of fear finally lifts. Mia opens up about her own lifelong food allergy anxiety too. This is a hopeful, grounding conversation about treating the whole person, not just the immune system, and if you've ever felt buried under the burden of managing allergies, this episode is a reminder that better answers, and real hope, exist. Find Dr. Douglas Jones: Instagram, Facebook & TikTok: @drdougjones Podcast: The Immune Edit (YouTube, Apple Podcasts & Spotify) Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Kaitlin Proctor, a licensed pediatric psychologist, program manager at the Multidisciplinary Feeding Program at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and assistant professor at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Proctor works at the intersection of food allergies and ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), and she co-launched a pediatric psychology allergy program to bring mental health support directly into the allergy space. Dr. Proctor breaks down what makes allergy management so emotionally heavy, the tightrope parents and kids walk between safety and freedom, and why a parent's anxiety (and their resilience) can both pass to a child. She also gives one of the clearest explanations you'll hear of what ARFID actually is, why having a food allergy can raise the risk of developing it, and the signs clinicians and parents so often miss. Mia opens up about her own lifelong food allergy anxiety, and the two get honest about the mental health crisis in the allergy community and where to find real support when it feels out of reach. Find Dr. Kaitlin Proctor, PhD: Google Scholar & LinkedIn (Search up "Dr. Kaitlin Proctor, PhD" Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail Content warning: this episode contains discussion of eating disorders.  This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Lex Decker, the creator behind NYC But Gluten Free, one of the most vibrant and trusted gluten-free communities on the internet. Lex has been living with celiac disease for 17 years, diagnosed at just 10 years old, and she does not hold back in this one. She opens up about what it was really like growing up with celiac before gluten-free options existed, the social isolation of always being the one who couldn't eat what everyone else was eating, and why she actually kept eating gluten in high school and college just to feel normal. She also gets into the very real fear that comes with dining out when your health is on the line, how she handles restaurants that get it wrong, and the accountability she holds herself to as a creator with a platform. Lex opens up about her eating disorder journey and how celiac disease played a role in it. This is one of the most honest conversations The Food Allergy Brain has ever had, and Mia shares something personal too. If you have ever felt like you were doing this alone, this episode is going to remind you that you are not. Lex Decker's handle:  Instagram & TikTok: @nycbutglutenfree Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Manisha Relan, a pediatric allergist and immunologist who sees patients of all ages and has been one of the OG allergy voices on social media since 2019. Dr. Relan shares how she approaches the emotional weight of food allergies with her patients every day, the proximity challenges she uses to help kids build real confidence, and what her dream care team for allergy families actually looks like (including support for the sibling, which often gets overlooked). She also breaks down the latest on early allergen introduction, OIT, SLIT, and Xolair, and gets candid about fighting misinformation online and knowing when to step away. Dr. Manisha Relan's handle:  Instagram: @pedsallergymd Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This episode is sponsored by Abe's Muffins! Shop at abesmuffins.com This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Thomas Silvera, co-founder of the Elijah-Alavi Foundation, a public health advocate and certified surgical technologist whose life changed forever on November 3rd, 2017, when his son Elijah died from a preventable allergic reaction at a New York City daycare center. What followed was not silence, but action, and Thomas describes it as grief with a direction. Thomas shares who Elijah was as a little boy: joyful, independent, always running, always smiling, and known for saying "make a hand, make a hug, make a kiss" whenever he needed comfort. He opens up about navigating the grief while immediately stepping into advocacy, explaining that the inaction felt unbearable. The conversation explores post-traumatic growth, the emotional toll of retelling Elijah's story in legislative rooms, and how Thomas balances running a nonprofit with being a doctoral student and a father to Elijah's older brother, Sebastian. Thomas walks through the legislative journey behind Elijah's Law, now passed in six states and two cities, including what it took to get it signed in California after the governor initially rejected it, and why Maryland moved it in just a matter of weeks. He also speaks candidly about health equity, why Black and brown communities face disproportionately severe reactions and fewer resources, and what it would truly look like for food allergy advocacy to center equity. Thomas Silvera's handles: Instagram, TikTok & X: @elijahsecho Website: elijahalavifoundation.org Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia goes solo for a highly requested Q&A episode, answering your most burning questions about what it's really like to live with over 50 food allergies through the lens of mental health, relationships, and everyday life. Mia opens up about her therapy journey and how CBT, radical acceptance, and a consistent self-care routine have helped her build stability, especially in the aftermath of anaphylaxis. She gets candid about what makes anaphylaxis so traumatizing, how she distinguishes an anxious response from an actual reaction, and why finding a food allergy-specialized psychologist in high school changed everything for her. The conversation also covers friendships, dating, allyship, traveling with allergies, and the emotional rollercoaster of food challenges. The episode closes with Mia reflecting on the defining moments that shaped her mindset, including the allergist who told her she'd likely never outgrow her allergies, and the TikTok she posted in response that started it all. Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Jenna Gestetner, known online as Jenna X Health, a 23-year-old content creator and patient advocate living with MCAS (mast cell activation syndrome) and several other chronic conditions. What makes Jenna's story so striking is that she currently eats just eight foods yet maintains such a positive outlook on life. Jenna breaks down what MCAS actually is and why it's so often misunderstood, including the common misconception that if a reaction isn't anaphylactic, it must just be an intolerance. She shares her diagnostic journey, the grief that comes with losing safe foods, and why finding a specialist who truly validates you changes everything. The conversation also covers the anxiety and OCD she's found to be directly tied to her MCAS symptoms, her manifestation practice using a shelf of foods she hopes to one day eat, nervous system regulation, and her experience with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) as a tool for rewiring fear responses. The episode closes with Jenna's vision for an ideal support system, one where healthcare is woven into daily life rather than something patients have to step outside of their lives to access. Jenna Gestetner's handles:  Instagram, TikTok & YouTube: @jennaxhealth Website: jennaxhealth.com Jenna's Coloring Book: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Food-Allergies-allergy-coloring/dp/B0G6772H6P Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Congressman Maxwell Frost, who represents Orlando, Florida, and is the youngest member of Congress and its first Gen Z representative. What many people don't know is that Congressman Frost is a lifelong food allergy kid with severe peanut and tree nut allergies. He shares his personal journey, including a terrifying near-fatal anaphylactic reaction at a potluck, the panic disorder and eating disorder that followed, and the coping strategies that helped him recover. The conversation explores what it's actually like navigating Washington, DC, with severe food allergies, from the House cloakroom that used to stock bags of peanuts, to unmarked meals in the Capitol, to flying twice a week, and how he turned those everyday frustrations into real institutional change. They also discuss the Epinephrine Pharma Inflated Price Ends Now Act, his bill to cap the cost of epinephrine auto-injectors at $60 for a pack of two, why these devices are so expensive in the US, and what listeners can do to help get it passed. The episode closes with his vision for the ideal food allergy support system, centered on community, organizing, and accessible mental health resources. Congressman Maxwell Frost's Instagram:  Personal: @maxwellfrostfl  Official: @repmaxwellfrost Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia):  Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia  Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Jenna Tso, a licensed clinical social worker based in California who specializes in food allergies, chronic illness, and anxiety. Jenna brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her practice, having grown up with anaphylactic food allergies herself. They discuss Jenna's personal journey from experiencing a severe allergic reaction in college to becoming a food allergy-informed therapist. Jenna shares her experience navigating adolescence and young adulthood with food allergies, including the challenges of self-advocacy, the isolation of college dining halls, and the mental health toll of constantly minimizing her needs to fit in. She also opens up about outgrowing some of her allergies in recent years and what that shift has meant for her relationship with food and freedom. The conversation explores Jenna's therapeutic approach, including CBT, fear ladders, and exposure-based techniques like allergen proximity challenges. Jenna also introduces brainspotting, a powerful somatic therapy for processing food allergy-related trauma and PTSD. She shares how she runs virtual support groups for food allergy teens, young adults, and parents, and why peer connection is so essential for healing. The episode closes with Jenna's vision for a truly integrated, trauma-informed support system that addresses mind, body, and spirit in food allergy care. Where to Find Jenna Tso: Instagram: @thefoodallergytherapist  TikTik: @foodallergytherapist  Website: www.jennatso.com Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com

Send us Fan Mail This week on The Food Allergy Brain, Mia sits down with Dr. Linda Herbert, Director of Psychology Research and Clinical Services in the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Children's National Hospital and NIH-funded researcher. Dr. Herbert has spent over a decade building evidence-based psychological interventions for food allergy families, and in this conversation, she shares what she's learned. They discuss how the field of food allergy psychology has shifted from simply documenting anxiety to actively creating solutions, including the surprising and often dangerous realities of food allergy-related bullying, the stress of mealtime dynamics for parents of young children, and the emerging questions around food allergies and disordered eating. Dr. Herbert also breaks down her work with exposure-based approaches like allergen proximity challenges, the role of telehealth in making care more accessible and equitable, and how parental anxiety shifts across a child's developmental stages. The episode closes with Dr. Herbert's vision for what a truly integrated medical and psychological support system for food allergy families could and should look like. Whether you're a food allergy parent, a young adult navigating allergies on your own, or someone working in the allergy space, this episode is packed with insight, research, and hope. Find Dr. Linda Herbert, PhD: Website: https://appointments.childrensnational.org/provider/linda-jones-herbert/2359772 Find Mia Silverman (Allergies with Mia): Instagram & TikTok: @allergieswithmia Website: allergieswithmia.com