It is common and normal sometimes to hear people say they are allergic to certain foods, vegetables, and fruits. People often cannot understand why they are allergic to a fruit or vegetable.
Food allergy, also known as food intolerance, is an immune system reaction after eating a particular. Even a tiny amount of allergic food can prompt the common signs and symptoms of food allergies, like swollen airways and digestive issues.
For some people, a food allergy can lead to acute symptoms or even deadly reactions such as anaphylaxis. Want to know more about food allergies? Then keep reading; let’s explore together.
What Causes Food Allergies
Every food allergist will attest they feel funny when allergic reactions occur, which usually happens when the immune system wrongly treats proteins contained in food like a menace. The immune system, which is the body’s resistance against infection, releases certain chemicals which tend to activate an allergic reaction.
The immune system uses antibodies to identify possible bodily dangers like bacteria and viruses. They trigger the immune system to release chemicals to eliminate the threats and avert the blowout of any infection.
Foods That Commonly Cause Allergies
Most people tend to be allergic to; milk, fish, shellfish, peanuts, eggs, tree nuts, and some fruits and vegetables, to name a few.
Types of Food Allergies
Food allergies can be categorized into different types depending on the symptoms produced during the allergy.
Histamine
Histamine causes most of the general symptoms that take place in the course of an allergic reaction. For instance, histamine pushes tiny blood vessels to enlarge and the immediate skin to develop redness and swell up, affecting the nerves in the skin. It also causes itches and increases the quantity of mucus generated in the nose lining, which causes a burning feeling and body itches.
During many food allergy cases, histamine flow is restricted to some, like the throat, mouth, and skin.
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis allergic symptoms are usually sudden and severe and worsen quickly. During this type of allergic reaction, the immune system becomes hyperactive, causing it to release more significant quantities of histamine and several chemicals into the bloodstream. This provokes many symptoms connected to anaphylaxis.
Suffering from an anaphylaxis allergy tends to experience some of the following symptoms:
- Swollen tongue
- Challenges in breathing and a tight chest
- Difficulty in swallowing or talking
- Feeling nauseous, dizzy, and, worst-case scenario collapsing.
Anaphylaxis allergy is an emergency, and a delay in treatment can pose a threat to life. Hence always seek medical help from food allergist, when experiencing any of the above symptoms after eating.
Non-Ige-Mediated Food Allergy
The non-IgE mediated food allergy symptoms always take longer to develop and could build up for a couple of days. It mainly affects the skin and digestive track system.
This kind of allergic reaction always shows off with skin redness and itches, sometimes red and itchy rashes.
The skin can also become cracked, like atopic eczema, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and sometimes abdominal cramps. Others suffering from this allergy can also experience heartburn and indigestion.
Mixed Reaction
Some people can have a double reaction where they tend to showcase symptoms of anaphylaxis and the non-IgE mediated food allergy. Someone can suffer from constipation while feeling dizzy and nauseous or swelling and constipation which is familiar with kids that suffer from milk allergies.
Exercise-Induced Food Allergy
Also known as exercise-induced anaphylaxis, exercising after eating can become an issue for some people. A food allergy can be activated when one exercises after eating a particular meal, resulting in anaphylaxis in some significant instances that need to be handled promptly and medically.