"Hey, do you want some?" your friend asks as he offers you a mouthwatering Chocolate Cake. You're tempted by the delicious dessert, but then you see the crushed peanuts on top. Darn! You're allergic to peanuts. For some people with food allergies, that's reality.
What is Food Allergy?
Food allergies occur when your immune system makes a mistake. Normally, your immune system protects you from germs and diseases. It does this by making antibodies that help you fight off bacteria, viruses, and other tiny organisms that can make you sick. But if you have a food allergy, your immune system mistakenly treats something in a certain food as if it's really dangerous to you and triggers a reaction.
What are the types of Allergies?
Food non-compatibility can be at many levels like the mild incompatibility whereby the person gets the symptoms after some days and the symptoms gradually worsen with time with the continued usage of the offending food. The symptoms of mild food allergy are very innocuous like a headache, sinus flare up, joints pains, wheezing, and water retention. People have mild incompatibility with many foods like curd which makes them feel heavy or exacerbates sinusitis, some people feel that eating apples gives them gas and makes them feel bloated, some get the same feeling with boiled rice etc.
Severe food incompatibility may also be at higher level where the body, after recognizing the foreign antigen, mounts an instantaneous, rapid overwhelming response to the trigger food. This hyper response to the trigger foods sets a chain of reactions where the person instantly feels ill, sneezing, difficulty in breathing. If the reaction is too strong it is labeled an "anaphylactic reaction" where the person has to be hospitalized in order to be treated on an emergency level.
Diseases which are associated with food allergy are arthritis, migraine, asthma, skin allergies, weak liver and obesity of unknown cause.
What are the common trigger foods?
There can be different trigger foods but they affect the individual according to the genetic constitution, so while some get uncomfortable with rice and enjoy milk without trouble, many others find that milk triggers the symptoms. The common trigger foods include:
- Wheat
- Milk
- Peanuts
- Corn
- Seafood
- Chocolates
- Curd
- Cheese
- Paneer
How do I cure it?
No medication can cure food allergies, so recognizing and avoiding the allergen is the first step. Later, you can increase your immunity by multivitamins and de-stress techniques. Some herbs like amla (Indian Gooseberry), tulsi (Holy Basil), ashwagandha (Indian Ginseng) helps boost the immune system so you can consume more of these herbs. Maintaining a food journal also helps to recognize the allergen. Food allergies are very frequent in children and individuals who consume a lot of canned, preserved and junk food, so try to avoid them.
No matter how hard you try, you may eat the wrong thing by accident. Stay calm and follow your emergency plan. What's an emergency plan? Before a slipup happens, it's a good idea to create a plan with your doctor. The plan should spell out what to do, who to tell, and which medicines to take, if you have a reaction. Having a food allergy is a drag, but it doesn't need to slow a You down!
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