Food Allergies

How To Handle Food Allergy

Have you heard of people breaking into rashes or developing itchiness of throat or irritation around eyes or hands and feet immediately after eating something? It is very easy to guess these are symptoms of food allergy, isn’t it? Yes. Hundreds of people die from food allergy or other allergies every year. Food allergy develops when our body’s immune system becomes over sensitive. It senses even harmless food entering the body as harmful and therefore releases antibodies as a defense to fight against the harmful substance. This is experienced as an allergic reaction.

Symptoms: Typical symptoms appear immediately, within minutes or a couple of hours after consumption of particular food your system is allergic to. Some of the common signs of food allergy include the following: Difficulty breathing, nausea, swelling of the tongue and throat, hives, diarrhea, loss of consciousness, low blood pressure and death in extreme cases.

Symptoms thus range from a mild inconvenience to complete collapse of the body, a condition referred to as anaphylaxis. It is not uncommon for a person to seek emergency help as a result of anaphylaxis experienced by serious allergic reaction to particular types of food.

Any type of food may trigger an allergic response. The following foods are the well-known triggers in about 90 percent of food allergy cases: Milk, wheat, fish, peanut, fish, egg, soy, etc.

Peanut food allergy is one of the most common and deadly of all food allergies. Peanuts are legumes but this does not necessarily call for avoiding other legumes also, unless the patient is advised so by his doctor.

Allergic reactions to egg are often mild. But in some cases eggs could trigger anaphylaxis. Well-cooked eggs are not known to cause allergy but raw or lightly cooked eggs might cause allergic response.

Treatment: There is no known cure as such for food allergies. Food allergy is largely symptomatic in nature. Medications are given to prevent the onset or directed against the symptoms and not causes. Generally Epinephrine or adrenaline is prescribed for controlling severe allergic reactions. Your doctor would probably prescribe medicines to treat the symptoms.

Strict avoidance of foods one is allergic to is the best treatment. Most people do get over their food allergies as years go by, though allergy against certain foods such as peanuts, milk, fish, etc. linger with them lifelong. These people need not lose heart because research is being done in this area and the results do look promising. Besides medications and avoidance, one should read the ingredients on the food labels. If you find food items without a label, it is best to avoid buying them altogether.

It is better to consult a specialist or a dietitian for a proper diet advice because avoidance of major food items from your diet might result in an unbalanced diet. These professionals could help you in choosing a diet plan that helps you to abstain from some foods but still eat a balanced diet without causing unnecessary health problems.