Allergy is an
immune response
Allergies are
an overreaction of the body’s immune system to a specific part of food. In most
cases it is usually in the proteins. These proteins may be from foods, house
dust, pollens, moulds or animal hair. They are called allergens. The word allergy means that the immune system has
responded to a harmless substance like as if it were toxic. In my little
munchkin’s case it is the proteins in both egg white and egg yolk that affect
him. It is also possible for people to be allergic to egg white and not be
allergic to the egg yolk. The reasons for this are due to the proteins. The
proteins are completely different in the yolk as it is to the egg white.
On the other
hand, food intolerance is a chemical reaction that some people may have after
eating certain foods. This is not an immune response. Food intolerance can be
associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic fatigue syndrome. It
is much more common for people to suffer from food intolerance than it is to
suffer from food allergy.
Common causes
of food allergy
Eggs, dairy,
soy and nuts cause 90% of food allergies. Peanut allergy being the most common
in older children.
The following
are the common causes of food allergy.
·
Eggs
·
Peanuts
& other nuts
·
Dairy
·
Sesame
·
Gluten
·
Fish
·
Soy
·
Molluscs
(mussels, clams, oysters, octopus & squid)
·
Crustaceans
(lobster, prawn, crab, shrimp)
·
Food
Additives like MSG, benzoates, salicylates and sulphite.
The following
are the common causes of food intolerances
·
Chocolate
·
Dairy
·
Egg
white
·
Food
additives
·
Food
enhancers MSG
·
Citrus
foods
·
Tomatoes
·
Wine
(mainly red wine)
·
Histamines
& amines found in some foods
Testing should
always be done to find the allergen causing symptoms.
No comments:
Post a Comment