FOOD ALLERGY/FOOD SENSITIVITY

WHAT IS A FOOD ALLERGY OR FOOD SENSITIVITY?

An allergy is a reaction of the body's immune system to a foreign or harmful invader to our system. A normal reaction would be to activate the white blood cells to envelope the toxin and render it harmless. However, if your immune system is hypersensitive or out of balance, the the body will overreact in different ways. Sometimes these reactions can simply be uncomfortable or sometimes in severe cases- fatal. Most people recognize a severe food allergy as an "anaphylactic" reaction in which the body reacts to block further invasion by closing the throat, causing a skin reaction such as hives and difficulty breathing. This is a typical IGE reaction and should be treated as an emergency. The allergies that most people do not recognize is the low level grouping of symptoms that are easy to miss. One might say that they have allergic rhinitis (hayfever), eczema, and maybe asthma or itchy eyes. They may not realize these are common reactions to food invaders to our system and most likely an IGG reaction. Lately there has been more and more people diagnosed with celiac disease. These people may have had long term invasion by gluten to the point of chronic disease.

SOME COMMON SYMPTOMS

RESPIRATORY	GASTROINTESTINAL	DERMATOLOGICAL	MUSCULOSKELETAL	AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE
Wheezing/coughing	Colic	Acne	Joint pain	Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rhinitis/runny nose	Diarrhea/Constipation	Canker Sores	Achy muscles	Lupus
Asthma	Irritable Bowel Syndrome	Itching	Bursitis	Multiple Sclerosis
Bronchitis	Chron's Disease	Hives/Urticaria	Low/Back pain
Sinusitis	Celiac Disease	Dermatitis	Bedwetting
Ear Aches	Weight Gain	Eczema	Interstitial cystitis

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS PROBLEM?

If you suspect you may have latent food allergies that delay your symptoms making it difficult to identify suspected foods the answer is simple! You can get a food allergy test completed. Otherwise you can try an elimination/rotation diet to attempt to identify the food or food family to which your body may be reacting.

TESTING FOR FOOD ALLERGIES/SENSITIVITY

A simple blood test can be taken and sent out to a specialized lab for the results to some common allergens. This is different than the typical scratch test completed at most allergists offices which mainly test for IGE reactions. People considering having this test done should schedule a consult with Dr. Rodriguez to find out the best test suitable for each individual case at the lowest cost possible.