What Are Food Allergies?

June 1, 2009

Health & Motivation

I have read somewhere that the global warming has as a side effect the increase of allergenic factors. The warming of the atmosphere and the high amount of CO2 stimulates the plants produce much more pollen. When pollen gets in contact with the nose of allergic people makes them sneeze, creates skin rashes, dizziness… But beside these the most common allergies are food allergies. Many people are allergic to food and don’t even consider themselves allergic. Pollen just doesn’t stimulate them but some foods do.

There is a much spread idea that states that food allergies appear only in childhood. This is only partially true. Even if children get rashes form certain foods, with age they learn to avoid the foods that are bad for them. This is the main reason for which adults don’t suffer from food allergies that often. Their body also got used and to a certain degree immune to a certain allergen over time.

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Is it a food allergy or a food intoxication?

It seems that food allergies attack everyone at a certain point in their life. When you eat something that doesn’t get accepted by your body the reaction form it can be really unpleasant. But not all unpleasant eating side effect are food allergies. Only 1% from all adults and 3% of all children in the USA have been proven to have allergic reactions from food. All the rest just didn’t like the food and got food intoxication.

Food allergies are often misunderstood. Many know about their existence and they are increasingly more often. Not every food that makes your tummy ache is a source of food allergies. The true allergies are immune reactions that imply a certain class of immunoglobulin (proteins that help your body realize the immune response when a health threat is identified). Intolerance to certain foods, like milk, intoxication and toxic reactions are more often in general than allergies.

The Wikipedia definition of allergy is: “Allergy is a disorder of the immune system often also referred to as atopy. Allergic reactions occur to normally harmless environmental substances known as allergens; these reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid. Strictly, allergy is one of four forms of hypersensitivity and is called type I (or immediate) hypersensitivity. It is characterized by excessive activation of certain white blood cells called mast cells and basophils by a type of antibody known as IgE, resulting in an extreme inflammatory response.”

The less common food allergy is the peanut allergy. But the peanut food allergy is the most dangerous from the standpoint of the reaction of the body. Someone who is peanut allergic can even die during an allergic attack. Fortunately less than 1% of all the population suffers from peanut allergy. The most common food allergies that we human encounter are related to vegetables and fruits usually.

Find out What are the food allergy symptoms?

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