Hypoallergenic diet information

Allergies and Food Sensitivity

Many people found out that they react to the certain food. Itmight be food allergy, or food intolerance but their body react to someingredients in that food. Because of that, these people suffer from variousconditions that can (but don’t have to be) even life threatening.

There is a difference between food allergy and foodsensitivity.

Food allergies are immune reactions of the body to somethingin the food. Person experiencing food allergy may suffer from the hives,swelling of some parts of the body, but also breathing difficulties and as themost severe – anaphylactic shock. Food allergies are not something that can be ignored. These people should avoid the food they areallergic on, because every time they get exposed to this food the reaction isworse.

People can be allergic to all kinds of food, but the mostcommon allergies are those to milk, shellfish and strawberries. Children can beespecially sensitive to allergies. Their reactions can be really severe, andsometimes they can suffer from allergic reaction by just being in the samekitchen where the allergen is being cooked. The most common childhood allergyis peanut reaction and because of that there are even “peanut free” kitchen in theschools.

Food sensitivity is different kind of reaction to food fromfood allergy. It usually takes more time to develop and the response of thebody is not as serious as in allergic reactions. Sometimes, it might be difficultto properly diagnose this condition, because the symptoms are different in eachpatient. Symptoms may include: asthma, migraine, dizziness or ear infections,and some are convinced that food sensitivity is the cause of attention deficithyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is also believed tobe a form of food sensitivity.

Almost everything can cause food sensitivity. People can besensitive to milk and dairy products, gluten, yeast or soy. Artificial colorsand flavors may also be the cause of food sensitivity and provoke differenthealth problems.

Hypoallergenic Diet

Some doctors are still not convinced that there are thingssuch as food sensitivity. However, many people discovered that after eliminatingsome things from their menu – they feel better. Think about your symptoms. If you can find some symptoms thatlook like some mentioned above, maybe you can benefit from hypoallergenicdiet.

So, let’s explain the basic principle of this diet. The mostimportant thing is to discover which food is causing you problems. Start byeliminating something from the menu for two weeks. It can be milk or gluten,but stick to that diet regime for 14 days. If you get better – this is the kindof food to avoid. If not - try another thing for two weeks.

So, when you find out what is your allergen avoid it. Read carefullythe label on the products you buy. Spend bit more time shopping and be allergy free.