Allergic Reactions To FoodAllergic reactions to food is basically an adverse reaction to a food protein and can be across a wide range of everyday foods in a normal diet. If your body is hypersensitive to certain food proteins then your immune system determines that it is an allergen and seeks to remove it through release of excessive amounts of antibodies, which in turn creates allergic reactions in your body. The most common food allergies These account for over 90% of allergies in the U.S. Occasionally, there are rarer food allergies – some to fruit, red meat, buckwheat flour, celery and rice. It ought be noted that lactose intolerance is not an allergy – it is due to an enzyme deficiency. Treatment is basically having an avoidance diet – simply a total abstinence from any ingestion of the suspect food. In extreme allergic reaction cases, this may even mean avoiding touch and inhalation of the problematic food. Avoidance can be a serious issue, especially for children who are dependent on others for their meals. While OK at home, when dining out at a friend’s home or a restaurant they have to be over cautious that there are no foods present in what they are given or purchase from a menu. This means asking questions and/or parents making sure that other parents, schools etc know of the child’s condition. It is easy to see how this can be problematic – how many foods use eggs in the cooking process and yet are not obvious – cakes for example, crumbing meats and so on. It is the same for peanuts – many places use peanut oil in the cooking process, particularly ethnic cuisine restaurants such as Thai. And, allergic reaction to peanuts can be lethal. Signs and Symptoms Treatment, of course, is avoidance Return to Women's Health Main Page from Allergic Reactions To Food
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