Why Early Allergen Introduction Is One of the Most Important Things You Can Do for Your Baby: Insights from Best-Selling Author & Economist Emily Oster's Podcast Interview with Dr. Gideon Lack
Dr. Gideon Lack isn’t just one of the world’s leading voices in pediatric food allergies - he’s also the co-founder of Mission MightyMe and the researcher behind the groundbreaking LEAP Study that changed pediatric feeding guidelines around the world.
On a recent episode of Emily Oster’s ParentData podcast, Dr. Lack joined the bestselling author and economist to discuss what every parent needs to know about introducing common allergens to their baby.
We’re sharing some of the most actionable takeaways from the episode here, but we recommend giving it a listen in full - especially if you're just starting your baby's food journey.
Listen to the full podcast episode here
What Parents Need to Know:
#1 "Introduce allergens early" is the one piece of advice Emily Oster always gives. Here's why:
Dr. Lack’s LEAP Study found that introducing peanut foods between 4–11 months and keeping them in the diet regularly until age 5 reduced peanut allergies by up to 86%. However, the risk of developing a peanut allergy increased with every month of delayed introduction, so 4-6 months is really considered the magic window - especially for high-risk babies (babies with severe eczema or egg allergy).*
#2 Early exposure isn’t enough - consistency matters.
It’s not one and done.Just introducing peanuts once isn’t sufficient to prevent allergies. In the LEAP Study, babies consumed about 6g of peanut protein per week (roughly 2 tablespoons of peanut butter) regularly for the first 5 years of life, to achieve the dramatic reduction in peanut allergy risk. Keeping peanuts in the diet consistently during those early years is key to training the immune system to tolerate them.*
#3 Outdated avoidance advice may have contributed to the rise in food allergies.
For decades, parents were told to avoid peanuts and other allergens until age 1, 2 or even 3. Dr. Lack explains how this advice, though well-meaning, may have unintentionally caused food allergy rates to rise. .
#4 Waiting to introduce increases risk
Emily Oster acknowledged the anxiety many parents feel about introducing peanut foods,and how common it is to delay peanut introduction due to fear of a reaction. However, the risk is actually in waiting, since the chances of developing a peanut allergy increase with every month of delayed introduction. And in the unlikely event that there is a reaction, the younger the baby, the milder the reaction is, typically. Dr. Lack emphasized the importance of introducing allergenic foods early, regularly, and in baby-safe forms like smooth peanut butter mixed with purees, or dissolvable peanut puffs to mitigate the choking risk.It’s not about medicalizing feeding. Babies should eat what the family eats - in safe forms
#5 Mission MightyMe was created to make early allergen introduction easier
Dr. Lack co-founded Mission MightyMe to make it simple and safe for parents to regularly include peanuts and tree nuts in their children’s diets early and often, as is now recommended. Nutty Puffs are all more than 50% nuts, formulated to match Dr. Lack’s research, they dissolve quickly for babies and taste delicious for big kids too.
The Key Takeaway:
If there’s one piece of parenting advice supported by both data and expert consensus, it’s this:
Introduce allergens early, and keep them in the diet regularly, to help prevent allergies from developing in the future.*
It’s not just about feeding - it’s about shaping lifelong health, and possibly preventing one of the most common chronic conditions in children today.
Need support getting started?
Download our Early Allergen Introduction Guide and learn when, how, and what to introduce with confidence.
And don’t forget - listen to the full podcast episode with Emily Oster and Dr. Gideon Lack here for a deep dive into the science, stories, and actionable next steps.
