What You Need to Know About Food Allergies

Allergies can produce symptoms ranging from mild oral or digestive distress to life-threatening airway blockages. While notorious allergens such as pollen and tobacco smoke may prove easy to identify and avoid, the allergens in certain foods can lurk undetected until you've already ingested them, provoking allergy attacks.

The more you know about food allergy causes, sources, symptoms, and responses, the more easily you can protect yourself against their dangers and annoyances. Here are some important points to understand about food allergies.

Why Foods Trigger Allergic Responses

Food allergies occur when the immune system confuses a harmless ingested substance with a disease threat, an error known as crossreactivity. IgE antibodies sensitized to react to specific allergens attach themselves to mast cells. When they encounter an allergen, they trigger the release of histamine, producing allergy symptoms.

Different types of cross-reactivity result in different kinds of food allergies. In oral allergy syndrome, the body confuses fruits and vegetables with pollen. Red meat allergies stem from a reaction to the carbohydrate alpha-galactose. Fish and shellfish allergies may involve a reaction to a specific protein called tropomyosin.

How to Recognize Food Allergy Symptoms

Mild food allergies may cause symptoms such as itching or tingling in your mouth. More severe reactions may produce swelling of the tongue or lips, skin reactions such as hives, and digestive symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting.

Some reactions to food allergens can cause serious problems such as breathing problems, dizziness, or loss of consciousness. The most serious consequence, anaphylactic shock, can cause the airway to swell up, making breathing impossible, as well as a rapid pulse and low blood pressure.

Which Foods Commonly Cause Allergy Attacks

While practically any food could theoretically set off allergic reactions in susceptible individuals, the majority of food allergies seem to revolve around specific types of foods. Fish/shellfish, tree nuts, eggs, milk, wheat, soy products, and peanuts accounts for 90 percent of reported food allergies.

You don't have to ingest substantial quantities of a food allergen to develop a reaction. For example, eating chips made in a facility that also processes peanuts could theoretically trigger a peanut allergy. A food made with traces of an allergen, such as a product packed in soybean oil, may also produce symptoms.

How Doctors Identify and Treat Food Allergies

Medical professionals have a variety of techniques that help them diagnose suspected food allergies. Your doctor will first ask you about the symptoms you've had, which foods they appear to accompany, and how long they took to develop after ingesting the food.

Skin-prick testing offers a relatively simple option for confirming a food allergy. The doctor performs this test by injecting a small amount of allergen-containing fluid just under the skin to check for reactions. Blood testing can measure levels of IgE antibodies.

If skin tests and blood tests can't provide enough specifics about your allergy, the doctor may conduct a medically-supervised procedure called an oral food challenge. You will ingest small amounts of the suspected food, under careful monitoring, to watch for the first signs of a reaction.

You may still harbor an intolerance toward a food without having an allergy to it. If your allergy test comes up negative but the food in question clearly causes digestive upsets, you may want to eliminate it from your diet even though it can't cause the life-threatening reactions of an allergy.

What You Can Do to Avoid Your Allergy Triggers

Once you understand the nature of your food allergy (or intolerance, for that matter), you can take steps to remove this irritant from your daily life. In addition to substituting other menu items for the food in question, place restaurant orders with great care, asking about ingredients, additives, and preparation methods.

Watch out for hidden allergens on your grocery list. Check food labels for any oils or byproducts that might contain specific allergens. Some labels will point out when a food contains soy or underwent processing in a facility that also handles common food allergens.

Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth can help you recognize and overcome your food allergy issues. Contact our clinic to schedule an evaluation.