Q: I am fed up with all the conflicting advice about how to stay healthy. One day vitamin D is great; the next, experts say it doesn't work for bones. I have also seen flip-flops about eggs, salt, calcium, fluoride and hormone replacement therapy.

A: We understand your frustration. Americans have been told for decades to cut back on eggs even though recent research shows they do not raise cholesterol. There is a raging controversy about the wisdom of widespread salt restriction (American Journal of Hypertension, January 2012).

Risks associated with calcium supplements (Heart, June 2012) and hormone replacement therapy (Annals of Internal Medicine online, May 28, 2012) just add to the confusion. You can't go wrong with Grandma's wisdom: exercise, vegetables and a good night's sleep.

Q: I used to have ingrown toenails. I had them removed by surgery (not the whole nail). Now my nails have a really bad fungal infection. What can I do?

A: Trauma can sometimes trigger fungal infections in the nails. Prescription pills to treat nail fungus can have serious side effects, including liver damage.

There are a number of home remedies that you might try first, but you'll need to be patient. It can take several months for any nail-fungus treatment to work.

Foot soaks in cornmeal mush, Listerine and vinegar or Pau D'Arco tea may be surprisingly effective. Other treatments include Vicks VapoRub, tea tree oil, hydrogen peroxide, oregano oil and vitamin E.

Q: One evening five weeks ago, I had a weird allergic reaction. I hadn't had any supper or taken any medicine, so my hives were puzzling. But I had had a hamburger for lunch. And I often get tick bites. Three days later, I read your column about alpha-gal allergy and knew immediately that it was what I had.

A: Alpha-gal allergy is triggered by the bite of a lone star tick, and it results in a delayed but potentially very serious reaction to eating meat. Some sufferers experience digestive distress, hives, difficulty breathing or anaphylactic shock.

Once a person has been sensitized, the only solution is to avoid beef, pork, lamb and any other sort of mammalian meat. Chicken and fish are fine.

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People's Pharmacy: Medical flip-flops frustrate consumers