Food allergies: fact or misconception?

 

When your immune system fights a certain protein it is termed as a food allergy. These can be life threatening in extreme cases, but it also alters your everyday life as you have to check the ingredients of every food you consume. In case a person suffers from asthma, the reaction to allergies becomes even more severe, therefore people with asthma need to exert even more caution than normal.

As it goes with every disease or anything matter related to health, people add their personal experience to the disease and it turns into a rumour mill, so much so that people are not able to distinguish between fact and fiction anymore. Food allergy awareness facts are therefore the need of the hour. Fact 1: Peanuts, tree nuts, milk, fish, shellfish, eggs, and certain fruits and vegetables are the main causes of allergies. Younger people out grow certain allergies caused by milk, eggs, soy and wheat, but allergies caused by fish and nuts usually do not go away as easily. Certain people develop allergies and some others don’t. Why this happens is uncertain, however, it is a fact that people who have suffered in their childhoods with hay fever, asthma or eczema most prominently develop food allergies. People often confuse food intolerance with food allergy. This is why food allergy testing is essential to come to a proper conclusion. Also, one should be able to distinguish between an allergy and food intolerance. For example, if you are lactose intolerant, milk will cause stomach cramps, bloating, flatulence and probably diarrhoea. This is not the same as an allergic reaction to a certain food. Also, food intolerance is not serious or fatal, however, in certain conditions, food allergies can be a cause of death if not checked in time. Instead of over exerting precautions and discarding probable food items, it is advisable to consult your GP or physician and arrange for allergy testing to find out exactly what causes food allergies in your body.

Food allergy testing is currently done based on blood tests and skin pricks. There are lab tests and also commercial tests available to find out food allergens. However, it is not advisable that you try on these tests especially if you are not from the medical background as doing so will render them incomprehensive. Professional diagnosis and reliable advice from medical professional must not be taken lightly.