To Your Health
January, 2013 (Vol. 07, Issue 01) |
|
|
Food Allergies: What to Look For
It isn't rare to see a number of medical research these days dedicated to food allergies. It is widely reported that food allergies occur in 3 to 4 percent of adults and 6 to 8 percent of children.
Food allergies should be taken seriously, often they can cause a number of life threatening complications and can be disabling. People who have high sensitivity to certain foods often will break out in hives, experience throat tightness or have stomach cramps, others will have delayed reactions that can take 3-4 days to set in after the initial consumption.
Some food sensitivities are also linked to chronic inflammatory and autoimmune conditions like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, hypothyroidism, intestinal bowel diseases, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and more. Protein in wheat (gluten) is one of the most common foods that can cause bad symptoms along with dairy, eggs, corn, and soy. So, what should you look for? Aside from contributing to chronic conditions, more subtle symptoms of food allergies include:
-
Constipation/Diarrhea
- Gas and/or bloating
- Heartburn
- Abdominal Pain
- Brain Fog
- Fatigue
- Asthma
- Eczema
You can determine your allergies by elimination challenge where you avoid some or all of the major allergens (gluten, dairy, corn, eggs, soy) for about 4-6 weeks. Leave a few days after trying each food to clearly distinguish reactions. During your reintroduction, keep a diary of the changes you experience.also ask your doctor to run a number of tests to determine what allergies you may have.
