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food allergies vs food intolerances

A person with true food allergies cannot eat even a small amount of the offending food without invoking a reaction. By contrast, if you have a food intolerance, you will often be able to eat at least small quantities of the food without getting a reaction.

What happens when you are the victim of food allergies? The immune system mistakenly believes that a normal food item is a harmful substance. In an abnormal response to protect the body, it creates specific antibodies to that food. The next time you eat that food, the body's immune system releases massive amounts of chemicals and histamines in order to protect itself.

These chemicals trigger a cascade of allergic symptoms that can affect the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, skin, or cardiovascular system.

The most common sources of food allergies are cow's milk, eggs, wheat, soy, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, corn, and peanuts. These account for 90% of all food allergies.

Food allergies are divided into two major categories - immediate and delayed.

When immediate food allergies occurs, the person will experience symptons within minutes or hours. When delayed food allergies occurs, it may take one or more days before any symptoms appear. This is because the food causing the allergy may remain in the intestinal tract for three to five days.

To determine if you have food allergies, you should seek the services of a board-certified allergist.

She will most likely give you a skin test, or in rare cases - a blood test, to identify any food allergies you may have.

There currently is no real cure for food allergies. The best thing you can do is to strictly avoid the foods causing the allergy symptoms.

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