How To Spot Food Allergies

Food allergies and food intolerances are quite similar terms that are often used interchangeably - however, they are two very different conditions that need to be more fully understood.

Food allergies cause dangerous allergic reactions. Your body treats the food as a hostile intruder, and creates increased levels of immunglobin E to attack it. This in turn produces increased production of histamine, resulting in red, swelling and itchy skin, wheezing, runny nose, and a feeling of tightness in the nose and throat. Sometimes the reaction is even more dangerous, where the body goes into anaphylactic shock, and starts to shut down. The most common occurence of this is an allergic reaction to peanuts, where a quick injection of adrenaline is necessary to stop the often fatal anaphylaxis.

Food intolerance is a less dangerous allergic reaction. Most often seen in cases of lactose intolerance, food intolerance is where the body is unable to totally process a specific food. This commonly results in migraines, diarrhoea, vomiting, or feelings of dizziness and lethargy.

In both cases, an exclusion diet and skin prick tests can be highly useful in isolating the specific foods that result in the reaction. Your diet can then be to remove the unwanted foods whilst still being nutritious and satisfying. Many special food allergy recipe books are available which can be a huge help to those suffering from food allergies.