Suffering From Food Allergies?

Chances are you know at least one person that has a food allergy. Food allergies have become increasingly common in recent years and luckily awareness has increased as well. Anyone with a food allergy knows what a serious topic this is as it can send a sufferer to the emergency room or even cause a fatality.

Many people suffer from a food intolerance, which shouldn’t be confused with a food allergy. They are two distinct and different conditions that result in different consequences.

A food intolerance, sometimes called a food sensitivity, results in a delayed reaction to a food or food additive. A food allergy on the other hand can cause a reaction within minutes of consuming the triggering food. An intolerance occurs because the food isn’t being digested properly due to things like a lack of enzymes, but an allergy is an immune response.

A food allergy is the body’s reaction to a substance that it views as possibly harmful. The immune system works to constantly protect our bodies from these things it deems harmful. The allergen is seen by the body as one of these substances so the immune system goes to work trying to protect the body by releasing protective chemicals. One of the chemicals released is histamine, which can affect the nose, eyes, throat, skin or GI tract.

How do you know if you’re having an allergic reaction? Some of the signs are a tingly feeling in or around the mouth, swelling of the tongue, throat or lips, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives or shortness of breath. In more serious cases the reaction can lead to anaphylactic shock which involves several systems in the body and can even lead to death.

The types of foods that cause allergy reactions can be slightly different in different countries, but there are eight foods that seem to be the leading cause of food allergies in most countries. These big eight include peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, eggs, shellfish, seafood, wheat and soy.

The best treatment for allergies is to avoid the allergen. This may sound simple enough with a food allergy (vs and airborne allergy), but unfortunately it isn’t always that easy. Often times these allergens may be hidden in processed foods. To help with this the U.S. requires that food labels list the eight common allergens.

The labeling has been a big help, but unfortunately it doesn’t assure the food is completely free of allergens. They can also slip into the food system through cross-contamination. This can be a problem when a plant products multiple foods, some of which contain common allergens. The machines are cleaned before processing a new food, but traces of the allergen can remain and be passed to the next food that’s processed.

Allergy sufferers need to educate themselves and know the specifics when reading labels. Many labels now list what other foods are processed in the facility of the labeled food. But it’s also important to know the name of all the ingredients that may contain the allergen. For example if you have an allergy to milk protein you will also need to avoid whey.

People with allergies will need to be familiar with the signs of a possible allergy reaction. They will also need to know how to treat themselves to prevent or reduce the chances of anaphylactic shock. Treatment usually involves the use of an epinephrine injector, often called an EpiPen.

Tagged with: Health

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