Do you have a food allergy?
There is difference between food allergy and food intolerance which has to be understood well When body’s defense system seriously responses to a certain food causing reaction in which inflammatory substances are released, it is called food allergy. This can also cause many unpleasant side effects.
lactose intolerance: If your body cannot digest milk, sugar or lactose (found in all dairy foods), the main symptoms can be diarrhea and stomach pain.
Coeliac disease: This is a gut disorder caused by gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats) which damages the intestine. Symptoms include diarrhea, wind, weight loss and mouth ulcers.
Food intolerance: A reliable way of identifying food intolerance is through an exclusion diet. It could be that system antibodies called IgG are involved in this form of food intolerance.
Psychological food intolerance: This is called food aversion. Some people think or believe they will react to a certain food and that just bring about a physical reaction to them.
There could also be other possibilities for food allergy, like inflammatory bowel disease, gastrointestinal obstructions or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Treatments for food allergy:
Avoid the culprit food.
Reduce the amount of dairy food you eat.
If it is coeliac disease, avoid gluten for life.
Read food labels carefully
Get advise from a dietitian on your diet.
Allergy:
• Within minutes, produces acute distinctive symptoms
• In extreme cases, can be life-threatening.
• A tiny trace amount of the food can cause a reaction.
• The culprit food is never craved.
• Can be diagnosed by an expert using several tests and a medical history
Intolerance:
• Produces delayed chronic symptoms, mainly involving the digestive system.
• A reasonable portion of the food is needed to cause a reaction.
• The culprit food may be craved.
• Never directly life-threatening.
• Difficult to diagnose and only a few reliable tests are available.