For most, a food allergy or a food intolerance affects them at some point in their lives. However, just because a food disagrees with you doesn't mean you are allergic or intolerant to it.
You may be wondering what's the difference between food allergies and food intolerances. I will discuss all of these things and more on this page.
What Is A Food Allergy?
Food allergies are relatively uncommon in adults, only affecting about 1% of the adult population. To fully understand food allergies, you need to understand how the immune system functions.
First, your immune system is your body's built-in defense mechanism, protecting it from foreign invaders, such as bacteria, and protecting it from developing certain diseases.
There are various players in the immune system, including white blood cells, skin, the bone marrow and the spleen, which produce disease fighting chemicals called antibodies.
Whenever the immune system encounters something foreign, which is called an antigen, it produces antibodies that bind to the specific antigens, thus helping the body fight them off.
Usually, the immune system works fine, recognizing foods that are okay, and those that are harmless.
But, in an individual with food allergies, the immune system thinks that the food is an antigen, and will produce antibodies trying to neutralize this foreign object, which, in this case, is a food.
But before an individual develops an allergic reaction to a food, he has to be previously exposed to it.
Once he first eats it, the immune system kicks into gear, with the white blood cells beginning to produce specific antibodies that attach to specific cells in the body called mast cells.
The next time an individual eats that food, the antigen attaches to the specific antibody on the mast cell surface.
This causes the mast cells to produce chemicals, such as histamine, that cause an allergic reaction.
Additionally, exercise can also cause an allergic reaction.
What usually happens with this type of reaction is a person, after eating a certain food, begins to exercise, and subsequently his body temperature begins to increase, making him feel lightheaded.
If a person has this type of food allergy, the solution is simple: just don't eat anything at least two hours before exercising.
What Are Food Intolerances?
Food intolerances also cause a negative reaction when certain foods are eaten. However, with this condition, the immune system is not involved.
There can be numerous causes of food intolerance, including a deficiency in lactase, for example, or an intolerance to a substance in wheat called gluten.
Here is a list of foods that are most likely to cause food intolerances:
Cheese
Chicken
Chocolate
Eggs
Fish/shellfish
Milk
Nuts
Pork/bacon
Soft fruits
Tomatoes
Wheat/flour
Yeast
What Are the Symptoms of A Food Allergy?
Here is a list of symptoms typically associated with a food allergy. Most of these symptoms usually occur within an hour of eating the specific food.
Initially, you may experience an itchy feeling in the mouth, along with difficulty breathing
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Abdominal pain
Heartburn
Headaches
Hives
A sudden drop in blood pressure. This condition is known as anaphylaxis
Chest pain
A swelling of the airways to the lungs
Irritability or nervousness
How Is A Food Allergy Diagnosed?
The first step your doctor performs if he suspects you have food allergies, is to collect a complete dietary history.
He may ask several questions such as:
How quickly did the reaction occur?
Did the reaction occur after eating a specific food?
Did anyone else become sick after eating this food?
How much food did you eat before developing a reaction?
How was the food prepared? Some individuals will experience a allergic reaction to fish that is not thoroughly cooked.
Were there other foods eaten at the same time as the food that caused the allergic reaction?
If you are unsure what food triggered the reaction, your physician may place you on an elimination diet.
With this diet, you eat a certain food; see if there is a reaction, then substitute another one, and so on, until you find the offending food.
If, after eliminating the food from the diet, and the symptoms disappear, your physician will usually make a diagnosis of food allergies.
How Is A Food Allergy Treated?
Once the food allergen has been determined, removing that particular food from one's diet is the primary treatment. It may mean you have to become extremely careful when buying food products, examining labels for potential problem ingredients.
For example, allergy-producing foods such as milk, eggs and nuts often appear in other foods that are not normally associated with them. Eggs are added to many salad dressings, while milk is used in making baked goods.
If you do this, you should be able to avoid having allergic reactions in the foods you eat.
If an individual experiences anaphylactic shock, the most serious kind of allergic reaction, he may experience difficulty breathing, along with a rapid drop in blood pressure. If this condition is not quickly treated, it can lead to death in just a few minutes.
Epinephrine is the medication of choice should this occur. Epinephrine helps to minimize constriction of the airways of the lungs, while stimulating the heart to continue beating.
Most food allergies develop in a person's first year or two of life. Consequently, many of these reactions can resolve themselves over time, while others may remain throughout a person's lifetime.
It can be difficult determining if you have a food allergy or a food intolerance.
Just remember that food allergies can get worse if left untreated. They can escalate into a potentially dangerous situation, so see a physician if you suspect that you have one.
