Food allergies have increased by up to 500% since the 1990s based on data collected from hospital visits. There is also a dramatic increase in other allergic conditions including asthma, hay fever and skin conditions.
This blog aims to give an overview to food allergies – an otherwise, very complex and individual issue.
These days, a lot of people simply believe they are gluten-intolerant due in some part to the popularity of gluten-free life style news in the media and products on grocery store shelves, but the bottom-line is – until you are tested, your symptoms could be one of 100 or more possibilities.
A food allergy is a hypersensitivity reaction resulting in an abnormal immune response to a substance (allergen) that should be harmless. Food allergies have been identified as being mediated by a specific antibody (IgE), but new research and testing is now encouraging doctors to explore the role other types of antibodies may play in disease, specifically IgG and IgA.
IgE-mediated responses are quite severe and usually need hospitalizations, while IgG and IgA-mediated responses are often less severe, and symptoms often seem more generalized. Symptoms from IgG-mediated allergic responses may manifest as skin and complexion issues, headaches/migraines, nervousness and irritability, fatigue, joint aches, immune compromise, gas and bloating, inflammatory bowel disease, and other more common allergic responses such as itchy watery eyes, runny nose, and swelling.Continue reading→
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