Widespread Intolerances
A Food Allergy is generally an acute, often serious, occasionally life-threatening reaction to food, whereas Food Intolerance is usually a more chronic response with symptoms often slow to develop (sometimes days) and may last for months.. The reactive food to which a person is intolerant mediates an antibody response (IgG) which may be measured in Intolerance To Food Testing. A food allergy is if the system's immune system reacts to specific sort of food protein (e.g. the protein present in peanuts). Such problem foods must be avoided by people with food allergies, as, although the severity of reactions can vary, they can be quite serious, in some instances. You should consult your GP for professional advice on how to control your diet plan, if you think you might have a food allergy or food intolerance.
People who have a food intolerance could get digestive disorders like bloating, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. These are fairly common symptoms anyway. For example, these symptoms can be also caused by other conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS IBS NNP. A weekly shop can take a lot longer as sufferers need to check the list of ingredients in addition to allergy advice warnings (where ). available. Allergy UK offers a free food allergy alert service if an item has been recalled due to wrong or lost allergen information to notify sufferers. You may also ask your local supermarket or shop for additional info on the free from range.
The present gold standard treatment is the removal and challenge diet, which involves avoiding foods for between five to 10 days and then reintroducing the foods one at a time to recognize the perpetrator ingredient. However, the results are difficult to analyse and, as Professor Nick Read points out, it is quite easy to omit too many foods out of your diet and risk becoming malnourished. The more meals you cut out, the more likely you also are to become intolerant to those that are left in your diet, so you should never try an exclusion diet without expert guidance.
The symptoms of food allergy include sneezing, rashes, skin irritation, swelling, runny nose, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue.
