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Information You Need To Know About Food Allergies

A food allergy is a reaction that your body has to something that you ate. It can be a food or it can be an ingredient in that food, usually a protein. A food allergy reaction can be mild such as a stuffy nose or it can be serious such as difficulty breathing.

Many different foods can cause food allergies but there are eight that are the most common food allergens. The eight most common food allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts such as cashews and walnuts, soy, wheat, fish and shellfish.

Adults and children, even infants can have food allergic reactions. Food allergies can run in families. This is why if parents, sisters or brothers are known to have food allergies Pediatricians consider a new baby to be a high risk for food allergies and will be extra careful with introducing new foods to this baby. Children can sometimes outgrow food allergies when they are older, but not always. Adults who are still showing allergic reactions to foods usually remain for the rest of their life.

Exercise can sometimes be associated with food allergies.

Some food allergy symptoms center on the gastrointestinal tract and cause symptoms of the stomach and intestines only such as gas, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Skin reactions can be food allergy symptoms such as rashes or hives or eczema.

Other symptoms have to do with the nose and mouth including breathing such as stuffy nose, runny nose, itchy mouth, itchy throat, shortness of breath, coughing and closed airway.

Severe reactions to food include the breathing ones of wheezing, fainting, and closed airway. Anaphylaxis is life threatening allergic reaction to a food and can also include facial flushing, itching, hives, difficulty talking or breathing, low blood pressure or unconsciousness. In anaphylaxis the symptoms usually appear quickly after ingesting the food, sometimes with mere minutes. Immediate medical attention is needed to save the individual's life. An injection of epinephrine is given to help open up the airway and to help reverse the anaphylaxis reaction.

An allergist makes a diagnosis of food allergy, which is a specialist who has had special training understanding and diagnosing allergies including food allergies. A diagnosis is made after careful medical history is taken from the patient or the patient's parent or caregiver. Sometimes the allergist will ask the patient to keep a food diary so that the allergist can gather essential information about your reaction to food from it. The allergist may order several tests including a skin prick test, a RAST test, which is a blood test, and food, challenges.

After the diagnosis is made the allergist will design an allergy management plan to help you control the symptoms of your food allergy. The most important part of the treatment plan will be learning how to avoid the food that you are allergic to.