What Causes Food Allergies?

Intolerance to certain foods can be very uncomfortable, causing such things as irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, migraine, fatigue, hives and asthma. But, they are not normally life-threatening as such.

In theory any food can cause an allergic reaction. But, there are particular ones which are much more common. Some of these include peanuts, tree nuts, cows' milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, soya and wheat.

What happens is that the body mistakes a particular food as being harmful. It therefore produces antibodies. No symptoms may show at the time, but the next time that food is eaten the body causes the antibodies to react. The body releases chemicals, and an allergic reaction takes place.

This reaction can cause any number of problems, like itching and/or swelling of your lips, mouth, tongue and throat. There may be skin reactions such as swelling, itching, and eczema Also, there may be diarrhea, vomiting and bloating, wheezing or shortness of breath, runny nose and sore, red and itchy eyes. Sometimes a sufferer gets very tired easy.

Some food allergies can have tragic consequences, such as severe peanut allergy. The symptoms are severe, the person can go in to anaphylactic shock. The thing is that it is not only a question of avoiding eating nuts, or known nut products. Even the tiniest trace of nut can cause major problems. And it is not always easy to know whether a food that you think is safe to eat has come into contact with nuts during the manufacturing or packaging process.

Anyone suffering from food allergies must make others around them aware of the situation, whether it is at school, or work, wherever. Sometimes fast treatment is necessary to prevent  potential loss of life.

In the United States it is estimated that around 3 million suffer from peanut allergy. In studies both there and in the UK the research involved feeding sufferers tiny amounts of peanuts over a gradual period. After a time the patients developed a tolerance. Researchers emphasized that all the trials were done under strict medical supervision, and that no one should try it on their own though. Although the results were encouraging there is still a long way to go before finding a guaranteed solution to nut allergy.

                                                      

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