Allergy & Intolerance
| [ • Nutrition • Healthy Eating • Miracle Diets? • Handling Food • Food Trouble• Food Facts • Food
Fun! • Discussion • Archive • |
|
[ Food Allergy? | Who is At Risk? | Most Common Food Allergies | Food Allergy & Asthma | Food Intolerance | Diagnosis of Food Allergy | Symptoms of Food Allergy | What if I'm Allergic? ]
Imagine that you have to give up eggs, milk or fish for a whole lifetime. That's a bore, right?. However, if you are allergic to some types of food, this is a real possibility, as consuming them will cause physical distress and may even cost your life.
People with food allergies have an unusually sensitive immune system. A true food allergy occurs when the body's immune system reacts to a protein from a particular food that has been swallowed. The food protein, or allergen, causes the person's own antibodies to attack the foreign substance. This may occur in a few minutes or several hours after the food is eaten. Allergies may cause many physical symptoms, including swelling, irritation, discoloration, and itching, or severe problems with breathing.
Someone with a milk allergy, for example, might react to even a small amount of milk found in cake or some sauces. Depending upon the allergy, it may not always be obvious where that particular irritant is found.
Danger? Most cases of allergic reactions to food are relatively mild. But a small percentage of food-allergic individuals have severe reactions that can be life-threatening. In one study of severe allergic reactions to foods, most of the fatalities occurred away from home. All of the persons accidentally ate a food to which they knew they were allergic.
Children are mostly affected by food allergies. For the adult population, it is about 1%. Out of 23 people who thought they had a food allergy, only 4 actually did!
Food allergies may appear at any age, but true allergic reactions to foods are most common in infants and young children and decrease in frequency with age.
Although anyone can develop a food allergy, the ability to become allergic is inherited. Children with one allergic parent have about twice the risk of developing food allergies than children without allergic parents. If both parents are allergic, a child is about four times more likely to develop a food allergy than if neither parent is allergic. In young children, the foods most likely to cause reactions are milk, eggs, wheat, and peanuts. In older children and adults, peanuts and seafood allergies are most common.
Children with food allergies should be periodically re-evaluated, as they may outgrow allergies and no longer need restricted diets. Yet, a child's allergy to peanuts or shellfish may become more severe with each exposure.
Peanuts, fish, eggs, milk, wheat and soy cause most food allergies.
If a child is allergic to one food, it is usually not necessary to avoid all the foods in the food family unless the child has reacted to other individual foods within that same food family.
i.e. Peanuts belong to the legume family. Children with a life-threatening peanut allergy are rarely allergic to other legumes like kidney beans or soybeans. They may also be able to tolerate other nuts because nuts are classified in a number of different food families than peanuts.
Allergic reaction is not the same as an asthma episode. People with food allergies do not necessarily have asthma. Similarly, people with asthma may not have food allergies.
A severe allergic reaction involving the immune system can result in difficulty with breathing because of obstruction of the upper airway. This should not be confused with an asthma episode. An asthma episode occurs because changes, such as inflammation and bronchoconstriction, cause breathing difficulties.
Consultation with a physician is necessary to determine if a person has asthma, food allergies, or both asthma and food allergies.
Food intolerance is an adverse reaction to a food that does not involve the immune system. It is triggered by a physical reaction to a food or food additive i.e. lactose intolerance
For example, people with lactose intolerance don't have enough of the enzyme lactase, to digest the sugar, lactose, in milk. This is one of the most common food intolerances and can be managed through diet and the use of Lactaid caplets or drops.
Food additives such as flavor enhancers (MSG) or preservatives (sulfates) used on foods may cause a food intolerance in some people.
The symptoms of food intolerance vary and can be mistaken for those of a food allergy. Consulting with your physician and a dietitian will help you to determine if what you are experiencing is a food allergy or a food intolerance.
The most reliable method of determining whether or not a person has a true food allergy is through an elimination diet.
Your physician may recommend an elimination diet to determine whether or not you have a true food allergy. This means not eating the suggested food for one week; then slowly reintroducing the food(s) one at a time, at 3-7 day intervals. A food record is kept of all foods eaten and any symptoms are noted. Specific instructions should be given by your physician and/or a dietitian.
The diet can be restrictive, but it must be followed carefully if the allergens are to be correctly identified. A skin test or prick test offer quick results but can be unreliable in diagnosing the presence of a food allergy.
A food allergy can cause symptoms involving a number of different systems in the body.
The Skin - hives, itching, eczema
It is very important to know and recognize the early warning signals of an allergic emergency, as time is of the essence. The onset is rapid and symptoms usually develop within minutes of exposure to the allergen.
For some people, food allergies can be life-threatening and others may have a mild reaction. Each individual's sensitivity will determine the degree to which the offending foods must be eliminated.
Check ingredient lists on food labels
The ingredients in a food must be listed on the package label. This information is very important for people with food allergies. Keep in mind that ingredients are listed by weight from the greatest amount to the least. For example, a product that lists apples before sugar contains more apples by weight than sugar.
There may be a number of variations of the food you are allergic to which you should be aware of. You may need to consult with a dietitian to properly assess ingredients when reading package labels.
This page has been authored for participation in
the 1997 Thinkquest Competition.
|
|
