Archive for the 'FOOD ALLERGIES' Category

In your daily routine, it is quite common for you to come across various kinds of food additives including preservatives, antioxidants, food colorings, emulsifiers and also artificial sweeteners.

Most of these food additives doesn’t cause any harm to your body. But, there are certain toxic and also carcinogenic agents which are quite susceptible to cause variety of allergenic reactions in your body.

Since most of the allergic reactions to food additives are not diagnosed properly, the appropriate rate of reactions is not exactly known.

However, many studies have estimated that the rate is possibly less than 1% in adults and 2% in children.

If you are allergic to any kind of food additives whenever your body immune system is exposed to these allergic triggers, it can cause variety of reactions in your body. These symptoms can range from a simple skin rash to life threatening illness.

So, if you are really allergic to any kind of food additives, then it becomes very essential for you to stay away from all those triggers of allergy.

A consumer advocacy group called on the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to ban the use of eight artificial colorings in food because they have been linked to hyperactivity and behavior problems in children.

Dyes are used in countless foods and are sometimes used to simulate the color of fruits or vegetables.

The additives are particularly prevalent in the cereals, candies, sodas, and snack foods pitched to children.

The purpose of these chemicals is often to mask the absence of real food, to increase the appeal of a low-nutrition product to children, or both,” said the center’s executive director, Michael F. Jacobson.

Controlled studies conducted over three decades have shown that children’s behavior can be worsened by some artificial dyes.

The center’s petition asks the FDA to require a warning label on foods with artificial dyes while it mulls the group’s request to ban the dyes outright.

For more information, visit: CNN

Have you ever experienced any itching or tingling sensation after biting banana or peach?

Experiencing itching of lips, tongue or throat immediately after eating certain kind of foods is the most common sign of having oral allergy syndrome.

This kind of food allergy is most commonly seen in hay fever sufferers and it is mainly caused whenever you are in contact with certain foods to which you are truly allergic.

Oral allergy syndrome is mainly caused whenever there is cross-connectivity between proteins present in fruits and vegetables and the pollen.

The proteins responsible for oral allergy syndrome are easily broken down while cooking or processing of vegetables or fruits. So, this oral allergy syndrome eventually doesn’t occur with cooked or baked foods.

Most of you with oral allergy syndrome can identify the allergy with certain symptoms which can include itching, occasional swelling of lips, tongue, and also throat, whenever certain kinds of fruits and vegetables are touched. These symptoms usually last from few seconds to minutes and very rarely they can lead to more serious health conditions.

Food allergies are one of the most challenging allergies you have to deal with.

Many people prefer to dine out at some time or other.When you want to dine out, it will be frustrating for you if you have food allergies.

You have to take precautions while dining out for keeping yourself away from food allergies.

Avoid places that cause food allergy:

Bakeries: You will find baked goods all in one place that are kept next to each other. When foods are placed in such environment, spread of allergens from one food to another takes place. In bakeries, utensils and tongs are frequently reused.

Buffets: In buffet systems, foods are kept in dishes very close such that allergens can spread from one dish or utensil to another.

Restaurants that can create risks: Depending on the type of allergy, you can simply remove some restaurants from your list. If you are allergic to sea foods, you can simply avoid sea food restaurants. If you are allergic to nuts or peanuts, then you should avoid Asian restaurants as most Asian recipes include nuts.

Whenever your body rapidly develops serious allergic reactions, it mainly leads to anaphylaxis.

This anaphylaxis usually affects various parts of your body and is quite potential to become more fatal and threatening health condition for you.

However, most of the people who suffer with various allergic conditions can experience only a minor annoyance from those allergic symptoms.

Very few people among you are usually susceptible to this kind of anaphylactic reaction, which can mainly lead to sudden shock or death.

Chemicals released by anti bodies can play a major role!

Anaphylaxis can mainly occur when your body’s immune system reacts severely with certain potential allergens. Potential triggers of anaphylaxis can mainly include certain foods [Food allergy], medications, latex [Latex allergy] and even insect venoms.

Whenever these potential triggers of allergy enter into your body, your immune system mainly produces certain antibodies which can defend against these particular foreign substances or allergens.

If these antibodies come in contact with these allergens, they will mainly release certain chemicals, which can become main sources for developing allergy symptoms in you.

Are you worried about food allergies? Food allergies need special diet to follow and this food allergy diet mainly do not include the allergens which are responsible in causing harm to your immune system.

Most of you might not be aware that you have food allergy.

It is not easy to analyze, particularly if the allergic reactions are not apparent before. If you exceed tolerable levels of the food to which you are allergic, then there are chances for the signs and symptoms of allergy to appear.

How can food allergies cause harm to you?

When you have food allergy, the immune system of your body generates anti bodies to fight against the food allergens, which are responsible for food allergy.

When ever you eat the food which is allergic to you or even if you inhale those particular food particles, certain chemicals like histamine are released from your body to protect your body cells and organs from those allergens.

The main characteristics of food allergy manifestations are abdominal pain, itchy skin rashes, running nose, wheezing, and also itchiness in throat and lips. In some rare cases, these allergic symptoms can distress your cardiovascular system and respiratory system.

Fish and shell fish plays an important role in human nutrition. But, some times these sea foods are not suitable for certain persons’ body immune system.

If you have seafood allergy, then it is very essential for you to avoid all the sea foods including fish and shell fish.

Seafood allergy is the third most common type of food allergy which mainly affects about 3% of all adults. It is the result of an adverse allergic reaction, which is mainly caused due to eating of sea food.

How can you identify seafood allergy?

Some of the common manifestations with seafood allergy include nasal congestion, hives, stomach upset and also skin itches.

In the most severe cases, seafood allergies result in anaphylactic shocks. This is potentially a life threatening problem which is mainly characterized with difficulty in breathing and abrupt drop in blood pressure.

In some rare cases, seafood allergy is pertained to only one type of seafood allergen, where as for many persons this allergy is caused due to several different species of sea food. You can take the advice from your regular physician in determining the safest seafood for you, if you have seafood allergy.

Basically corn allergy is an improved sensitivity to corn when you have ingested.

If you consume the food which consists of corn proteins, it can trigger allergy symptoms including: sneezing, coughing, and swelling of the face, throat and tongue. Sometimes severe corn allergy reaction can lead to death.

If you already have severe allergic reactions, you should be very careful about it because food allergies can trigger life-threatening reactions like anaphylactic shock.

With this life-threatening condition, you will feel difficulty while breathing and there is a greater drop in your blood pressure. Among these life threatening reactions, corn allergy is the one.

Steps to avoid corn allergy:

• Avoid consuming the products which contain corn such as: corn syrup, corn starch, corn sugar, corn chips, corn flour, and corn alcohol.
• Carefully read all the food labels. When you are eating in restaurants, be careful on what you are eating. Ordinary table salt and vinegar also contain corn.
• You must be aware of ingredients to avoid corn allergy which start with dex, like dextrin, dextrates and maltodextrin. These are the sources of corn.
• You must be careful of substances like food starch and vegetable starch as they may include corn.

Among the uncontrolled allergies in American today, food allergy is the top most allergy.

Even though many people will have bad reaction to certain foods, a reaction triggered by immune system is real allergy to food.

However, most of the people misdiagnose the food allergy as food intolerance.

The underlying factors of this bad reaction to food are dietary and lifestyle conditions.

Any food can trigger bad reaction, but in children the common food allergies are eggs, milk, soy, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and shellfish [Shellfish Allergy].

On the other hand, in adults the most common foods that triggers food allergy are peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, shellfish, and others. They account 90 percent of food allergies in US.

Some more things that lead to the development of food allergies include genetic susceptibility, immunizations, toxic overload, etc.

Generally, you can see the reaction immediately after eating in case of food allergy and in rare cases it can take hours to begin the reaction. If the symptoms are seen immediately after eating the food then you can have food allergy.

Dairy allergy is the response of the immune system to one or more of the proteins which are found in cow’s milk.

Dairy products are one of the most frequent food allergens. Most individuals will develop allergy on milk when they are infants and it can also be acquired later in their life.

Out of 100%, two to three percent of all infants will have milk allergies.

At the age of four, 60 percent will have outgrown their milk allergy and at the age of eight, 80% may have outgrown their milk allergy.

The two main components which cause dairy allergies are:

Casein and whey are the two main components which creates the allergy on dairy products. These dairy allergies are often get confused with lactose intolerance.

This lactose intolerance is the inability to digest the sugar lactose. This allergy which has been developed upon the dairy products is the response of the immune system found in the milk and dairy products.

This dairy allergy can be serious or mild and it varies from one individual to another individual. Latest research has proved that the protein present in the cow’s milk is the most common food allergen.