Food Allergy: An Immune Response
Like any other type of allergy (for example, pollen or animal dander), food allergy is an inappropriate response generated by the body's immune system to a normally benign substance. Simply put, your body is over-reacting to something that is typically safe. This particular food that is safe for most people (e.g. Stawberries) becomes an allergen to a food allergy sufferer. When the allergen is present in the body, the person suffers an allergic reaction. This reaction is generated by the immune system.
For example, most people can eat nuts because their bodies interpret nuts as "safe". In a person who has a food allergy to nuts, their body misinterprets a nut as a threat to the body and issues an emergency response. This emergency response by the immune system is what we refer to as a food allergy or allergic response.
Why is it that some people can eat certain foods and have no bad reaction while other individuals' bodies perceive those foods as a threat? Well, the answer is not completely known at this time.
Health practitioners would agree that your food allergies are one part genetics, one part environmental exposure and one part complete chance. There is no single determinant that dictates a person's development of a food allergy. In fact, many allergies are acquired, meaning that you were not born with the allergy but acquired it at some point during your life.
Despite their unknown origin, food allergies can be persistent and rather disruptive, if not down-right dangerous. But, like all other allergies, if you reduce or eliminate your exposure to the allergen (e.g. walnuts) you will quickly and easily end any needless suffering.
However, it is an interesting fact that many people continue to eat the foods they are allergic to. One reason for this is that they may not know they are suffering from a food allergy. Now, for some of us who suffer dramatic allergic reactions to certain foods, this seems unimaginable. But, really, it's not. Some allergic reactions to food can be so mild you would never have thought to consider it an allergic reaction. Rather, many people assume they are having general digestive trouble instead of an allergy attack.
Do you know the difference between indigestion and food allergy?
Do you know all of your food allergies?
Do you have food allergies?
So, in order to properly assess your diet for the presence of food allergies, a new understanding of allergy must be adopted.
Regard an allergy as a spectrum of reactions, not simply runny noses, watery eyes or total shock. Rather, look at how integral food is to everything you do and realize that its allergy producing effects cannot be limited to one area of the body.
Many of us will consume large amounts of food that we are allergic to over our lifetimes. This is because the allergic reactions to these foods is so minimal that we don't immediately associate the symptoms with being an actual allergy. The most common expression of this is the tummy ache. While stomach aches after eating can be attributed to a number of causes, one cannot rule out a food allergy and simply dismiss the symptoms as being a normal part of eating.
Eating should not hurt unless:
- you ate too much
- you ate rotten or contaminated food
- you ate a food you are allergic to
- you have a disease that impedes proper digestion & absorption
What is important to remember about food allergies is that eating a particular food must be associated with the symptoms of an allergy attack. If you have had a stomachache for 7 days despite eating different types of food, it is likely that you are not suffering from a food allergy and have a condition that needs medical attention. So, when attempting to assess your level of food allergy, always be sensitive to the time factor.
If eating a peanut gave you a stomachache a few minutes to a few hours after you ate, chances are you might have a food allergy. But, if your stomachache does not develop until much later and is persistent over a significant period of time, then the likelihood that an allergy is involved is small.
If you do believe that your food is causing unwanted physical symptoms, the best thing to do is start tracking what you eat and correlating the unwanted symptoms to the foods that you have eaten. You can use Nutrispot to easily do this.
For more information on the symptoms of food allergy, click on the tabs above.
Food Allergy versus Food Intolerance?
Many people want to know what the difference is between food allergy and food intolerance. Well, to be honest, so do we!
Despite much research, there are a number of varied opinions on what constitues food allergy and what makes it different from food intolerance, if that state actually exists. We found a number of health practitioners claiming that there was no such thing as a food allergy that wasn't deadly. Meaning, they didn't believe that mild or almost un-noticeable food allergies exist. Then there is the other camp, that promotes the idea that there is no such thing as food intolerance and that it is just a mild form of food allergy. For example, some camps of food allergists believe that the condition Acid Reflux Disease is actually a chronic reaction to multiple food allergies.
We like to think that there has to be a happy medium where both spectrum food allergies and food intolerances exist. The difference being that food intolerances produce negative effects inside our bodies but those effects are not caused by an immune response. Instead, these foods alter our delicate internal balance and create internal "trouble". But, they do so without spurring an inappropriate immune response.
Instead of trying to self-diagnose your food allergies, responses to food/eating, and your possible food intolerances, collect all of your dietary information and take it to a nutritionist or registered dietician for guidance about your unique situation.
However, if you know for sure that certain foods are giving you problems, stop eating those foods until you can check in with a health care provider and find out what really is going on.
