If you have or have ever had food allergies, you know that they can be a pain and doctors are diagnosing more people with food allergies every day. Common food allergies include: dairy (milk), eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, etc.), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. I know it may sound strange, but peanuts and tree nuts are two different allergies as are fish and shellfish.
A lot of times, allergies will show up in kids, but by the time they’re 5 years old, the allergies are gone. However, this isn’t true most of the time for peanut and tree nut allergies. It’s reported that 80% of kids that have an allergy to peanuts and 90% of kids that have an allergy to tree nuts will not outgrow the allergy. Also, seafood (fish and shellfish) allergies usually don’t happen in children, but happen later on in life and are usually not outgrown.
What happens?
The easiest way to explain it is that your immune system gets a little “confused” and mistakes the food substance for something that you shouldn’t have eaten. It reacts by trying to fight it off and releases chemicals called histamines. Histamines cause the allergy symptoms that you will find annoying, uncomfortable, and sometimes downright painful.
Symptoms
- Skin symptoms can include hives, eczema, and redness or swelling around the face or mouth.
- Gastrointestinal symptoms can include stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea.
- Respiratory symptoms can include stuffy or runny nose, watery and itchy eyes, sneezing, and even asthma attacks.
- Cardiovascular symptoms can be exhibited when a person feels lightheaded or even faints.
Two people can have the same type of allergy, but exhibit different symptoms. It just means that everyone’s body is different. Usually, people exhibit the allergic reactions soon after the food is consumed and the symptoms don’t normally last longer than a day.
If you have any ideas for any health issues that you would like to see in this daily column, please email Nicole Williams at newzbiz@live.com. If you would like credit for the idea, please state your name. Thank you.
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