Did you know that repetitious exposure to particular food can lead to food allergies and intolerance? In this age of growing portion sizes and limited variety diets, it’s no surprise that food allergies and intolerance are becoming more and more common.  Before we can properly understand these problems we must first understand the difference between food allergies and food intolerance.

• Food allergies result from an immune system response to a particular food, in which the body mistakes the food a harmful substance and tries to fight it.
  
  
• Food intolerance on the other hand is not caused by the immune response, but is an adverse reaction to a food in which the body can not properly breakdown or digest the food.  

Sources:  American Heart Association; Harvard School of Public Health; 10 Weeks to Wellness™, Paul Ratte, ND

More:

• Facts About Food Allergies and Intolerances
• Living With Food Allergies and Intolerance
• Methods and Tests to Detect Food Allergies and Intolerance

 

Resources to Learn More:

• American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology – provides information on food allergies and an allergist locater, which helps you find an allergist in your area.
• American Dietetic Association – a guide to nutrition and health.
• Medline Plus – provides vast amounts of information on food allergies.
• The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network – committed to raising public awareness, providing advocacy, education, and advance research on behalf of all those affected by food allergies and anaphylaxis. They also have informative websites designed for kids and teens.
• WebMD – provides information on specific food allergies.

 

Recommended Reading:

Food Allergy Survival Guide:  Surviving and Thriving with Food Allergies and Sensitivities by Vesanto Melina, Dina Aronson, and Jo StepaniakThis book begins with an explanation of food allergies and intolerances and their causes and also provides information about certain medical conditions that can be caused or worsened by certain foods.  Information is also provided on what tests can be done to determine if you have allergies.  The authors then offer practical advice to help people live well without dairy, eggs, gluten, nuts, yeast, etc. and provides more than 100 recipes.