FOOD ALLERGY
Food allergy is probably less common than most people believe, since many cases of reactions to food are food intolerance rather than true allergy. Allergy to foods will show positive results to skin and blood tests. You are likely to react whenever you eat a food to which you are allergic, even if you have not eaten it for a very long time. You are more likely to have an immediate reaction, even to a small or tiny amount of food, although reactions can be delayed. You may be able to recollect a specific date or occasion when you first reacted to a food.
The symptoms of allergy to food are those of the classic allergic diseases – asthma, eczema, hay fever, rhinitis, urticaria, anaphylaxsis. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, gut pain, gut spasm, oedema, joint pain, severe headaches and other late or remote allergic reactions are also symptoms which can be linked to food allergy.
Almost any food can cause allergy, but the common ones are cow’s milk and its products, eggs, wheat, yeast, citrus fruits, nuts, and beans and pulses. Proteins are more prone to cause allergy than other foods.
Allergy to foods can respond to treatment with anti-histamine drugs, and to sodium cromoglycate (Nalcrom). Severe allergy to foods may not be helped by these, and in these cases, total avoidance of the offending food is the best remedy.
Even if your symptoms are mild, if you have food allergy, you will usually be advised to avoid the food totally. Unlike food intolerance, reducing the amount you eat or leaving the food out of your diet will not make you able to tolerate it again.
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