COPING WITH FOOD ALLERGIES

Any food can cause an allergic reaction. The foods that most commonly cause food allergies include peanuts, wheat, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk and soy. Symptoms of food allergies can include skin rashes, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or blood in the stool. Some foods such as peanuts, nuts, shellfish and celery can cause the lift-threatening condition anaphylaxis.

Food allergy affects up to 6-8% of children under the age of three, and 2% of adults. If you suspect a food allergy, call your physician for an appointment. It is extremely important that your food allergies be correctly identified and treated. Treatment is usually just avoiding the offending foods.

A food allergy is an immune system response to a food that the body mistakingly believes is harmful. Once it decides this, it creates specific antibodies to it. The next time the person eats that food, the immune system releases chemicals, including histamine, to protect the body. It is estimated that approximately 12 million Americans have food allergies.

Common symptoms of a reaction include one or more of the following:

*a tingling sensation in the mouth
*swelling of the tongue and throat
*difficulty breathing; asthma
*hives
*vomiting
*abdominal cramps
*diarrhea
*drop in blood pressure
*loss of consciousness
*death

Symptoms typically appear within minutes to two hours after the person has eaten the food to which he or she is allergic.

Strict avoidance of the allergy-producing food is the only way to avoid a reaction. It is important to read ingredient labels. If a food doesn't have a label, persons with food allergies shouldn't eat it.

Sometimes your doctor will prescribe an epinephrine pen to carry with you in the event of severe allergic/asthmatic reactions or anaphylatic shock.

Dieting can bring on food allergies because you may suddenly be eating foods you normally don't, or eating some in abundance that you rarely don't eat that much. Celery is a common "diet" food that can cause allergic reactions, as can the sudden introduction of Oprah's Dr. Oz's much prescribed almonds to the diet. A high protein diet may have you eating more fish and shellfish than you are used to. If you have been on a fad diet there is no telling how you have upset your diet balance and brought on food allergies.

You can still be on a sensible diet and lose weight, as long as you strictly avoid the foods you know you are allergic to. Your physician can help you determine if you have a real food allergy or just a food intolerance. There is also such a thing as a histamine toxicity. This is when histamine reaches high levels in cheese, some wines, and certain kinds of fish such as tuna and mackerel. In fish, histamine is believed to come from contamination by bacteria, particularly if the fish aren't refrigerated properly. If you eat some of these foods with a high level of histamine, you could have a reaction that strongly resembles an allergic reaction to food. This is called histamine toxicity.

Your physician will rule out food intolerances and other health problems. Then he/she will use several steps to determine whether you have an allergy to specific foods. This assessment will include a detailed patient history, the patient's food diary, an elimination diet, and possible skin and blood tests.

For one to two weeks, keep a food diary of everything you eat, the symptoms you experience, and how long after eating the symptoms occurred.

You will need to check the nutritional/ingredient information on restaurant foods if you can attain it. But you still will be able to continue to successfully diet as long as you follow the precautions listed above.