When you eat something you are allergic to, your body makes antibodies. Sometimes as soon as the second time you eat it. The antibodies spring into action, and start a process that includes the release of histamine to fight what it believes is invading your body.
Histamine is a powerful chemical that can affect your respiratory system, digestive tract, skin, and heart and blood vessels. Symptoms like those below may appear immediately (or up to 2 hours after you've eaten the food).
The most common food allergens are reactions to milk , wheat, fish, eggs, peanuts, seafood, and tree nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, and Brazil nuts)
Symptoms to food allergens can include (some or all of the following): a tingling sensation of the mouth, swelling of the tongue and throat, hives, skin rashes, vomiting, abdominal cramps, trouble breathing, diarrhea, a drop in blood pressure, and a loss of consciousness. Severe reactions (called anaphylaxis) can result in death.
Don’t hesitate to use the epinephrine auto-injector pen if you show any symptom of anaphylaxis. The injection won’t hurt you and could save your life.
The most common food allergies are reactions to milk , eggs, peanuts, seafood, and tree nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, and Brazil nuts). Here are some hints to keep in mind when it comes to food allergies.
1.
Food
allergies are becoming more common: They are not the same
as food intolerance. Their prevalence has increased in the past 20
years. Possible factors include improvements in personal hygiene and decreases
in family size, two things that discourage the development of a robust,
thriving gut are microbiota.
2.
Food
allergies are not a joke (so don’t fake it):Unlike other types of food intolerance, food
allergies can be fatal. People with food allergies don’t just have to avoid
eating the food. They have to worry about cross-contamination with trace
amounts. Cross contamination can happen in food-manufacturing facilities,
restaurant kitchens, home kitchens, and school lunchrooms. The only treatment
is strict avoidance of culprit foods plus keeping self-injectable epinephrine
available at all times.
This
sounds easy, but studies have shown many people have accidental exposures,
often with reactions. Because food allergies (as well as some other types of
food intolerance, especially celiac disease) are so serious, it’s important not
to try to self-diagnose. It’s also important not to casually say you have a
food allergy when you don’t.
3.
Food
allergies are not the same as other food intolerances: Food allergies are an adverse health effect
caused by an immune-system response to a given food. Celiac disease also
involves the immune system, but in a different way. Lactose intolerance happens
when someone doesn’t have enough of the lactase enzyme to digest the lactose in
dairy foods.
Food-allergy
symptoms vary in type and severity but usually involve the skin,
gastrointestinal (GI) tract and respiratory tract. Most occur less than two
hours after eating the food, but “late phase” reactions can also happen after
several hours, and delayed-type reactions can happen 24 to 48 hours after
exposure.
4.
Food
allergies can start at any time: They remain more common in childhood, but it’s less unusual to
develop them in adulthood. In the US, about 3 to 8 percent of children and 1 to
3 percent of adults have a food allergy. People with milk, egg and wheat
allergies often outgrow them, but peanut, tree nut and fish allergies typically
last for life.
5.
Not
all allergy testing is created equal: Generally, the first step in diagnosing a food
allergy is to rule out other food intolerances. The next step will likely be
skin-prick tests or blood tests to look for reactions involving IgE antibodies.
Despite
what you might hear, testing for IgG antibodies is not supported by scientific
evidence. Sometimes a trial elimination diet or a carefully supervised oral
food challenge is used to help confirm a diagnosis.
“People are fed by the food industry, which
pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays
no attention to food.” (Wendell
Berry)[i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“5 Important Things to Know about Food
Allergies by Nicole Tsong
·
“Food Allergies” Reviewed by Luqman Seidu
Inspired by the Netflix Original, Rotten, "The Peanut Problem" (season 1, episode 2)
Inspired by the Netflix Original, Rotten, "The Peanut Problem" (season 1, episode 2)
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