By Nutriworld | Dt. Dipanwita Saha
Food allergies and intolerances are more common than they seem to be. People of all age groups are affected by it, and navigating around it becomes rather challenging. Dietary improvisation and knowledge can be helpful in such situations.
Despite that, one will require proper advice from a medical professional in such cases. Planning your diet and regulating specific food intakes can only minimize the probability of these triggering. Food allergies and intolerances can be highly severe to your health and affect your quality of life. So, getting the correct diagnosis and treatment is critical.
There are some key differences between food allergies and intolerances. A surface-level understanding of the differences should be addressed before going deeper into the article.
What Are Food Allergies?
- These are immunological reactions of our body towards specific proteins contained within our foods.
- Food allergies happen when the immune system detects these proteins as harmful foreign bodies, causing an allergic reaction.
- Allergies can cause a wide range of symptoms, which can be minor, like swelling and hives, or severely critical, such as breathing problems, which might require medical intervention.
- Certain foods such as tree nuts, peanuts, fish, milk, wheat, soy, or eggs are common triggers for food allergies.
What Are Food Intolerances?
- The immune system is not involved in food intolerances.
- These are different from allergies, and can be considered illnesses of the digestive system being unable to digest specific food components.
- Symptoms of food intolerances are less severe when compared to allergic reactions. Some of these symptoms include diarrhea, gas, bloating, or stomach ache. In general, these are digestive problems.
- Standard components found in your typical diet that trigger food intolerances are food additives such as sulfites or artificial sweeteners.
Food Allergies and Intolerances: Effects, Symptoms and Causes
The effects, symptoms, and causes of food allergies and intolerances vary depending on the particular allergen or intolerance component. However, some signs are common to both these illnesses. Skin reactions, respiratory symptoms, gastrointestinal symptoms, cardiovascular symptoms, and systemic symptoms can be seen in both cases.
Every individual has different reactions to different foods and their components. While these symptoms mentioned above make it efficient to detect these illnesses, reaching out to a medical professional is always advised. Having a better distinction between these two illnesses can be helpful in understanding the ways to manage these and the treatment.
Effects, Symptoms, and Causes of Food Allergies
- Effects: Food allergies directly affect your immune system. When people with food allergies consume specific proteins from their meals, their immune system detects them as harmful foreign bodies. This triggers an immunological response, which leads to allergic reactions.
- Symptoms: Allergic reactions are immediate and happen so rapidly that it might take a few seconds from the consumption of the allergen. Symptoms of food allergy can be minor or severe. Some common allergic reactions are hives, swelling, breathing problems, anaphylaxis, and gastrointestinal symptoms.
- Causes of Allergy: Food items such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish are common causes of food allergy. Several countries require food items to mention these allergens on the labels.
Effects, Symptoms, and Causes of Food Intolerances
- Effect: As discussed before, food intolerances don’t have an impact on the immune system. These are mostly the inability of our digestive system to process specific food components. As our body can not metabolize those additives, it results in digestive problems and discomfort.
- Symptoms: Symptoms of food intolerances are not as rapid as allergic reactions. Symptoms might be slow and delayed, but they are often milder and less severe as well. Common symptoms of food intolerance include bloating, gas, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, headaches, and weariness.
- Some Common Intolerances: Some people can’t metabolize specific food components such as lactose or gluten. Along with this, people also have intolerance to food additives like sulfites or artificial sweeteners.
Treatment for Food Allergies and Intolerances
There isn’t a simple one-way method to navigate around food allergies and intolerances. It requires a combination of techniques, such as regulating your diet and avoiding food with potential allergens. Some ways are mentioned below to maintain your general well-being.
👉Regulating your Diet: People who have food sensitivities must have some dietary restrictions in order to avoid trigger foods. This implies that you might have to remove some food items from your diet. For example, if a person is lactose intolerant then they might need to limit or avoid dairy products. The same applies for people with gluten intolerance and any other food item such as nuts, fish or eggs that can be potential allergens.
👉Dietary Modification: It is necessary for people with food sensitivities to take deliberate effort and adaptation to modify their diet. Being vigilant about certain components of a food material, actively reading labels, and experimenting with new recipes can be helpful. However, nowadays a plethora of food items are available that are gluten-free and allergen-free.
👉Reading The Labels of Food Items: Reading labels can be extremely helpful in finding potential allergies or trigger substances.
👉Balancing Nutrients: Removing certain food items from diet can result in nutrient imbalances. As you are restricting your diet, you can lose out on essential nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, fibre, or particular vitamins and minerals. To avoid this, finding a proper replacement for the restricted food item is necessary. For instance, people with lactose sensitivity cannot consume dairy so they might need to find other calcium and vitamin D sources.
👉Avoiding Food With Allergen: People with food sensitivities must avoid any food item that might have allergens. Sometimes this can be more severe than food sensitivities. To avoid any critical allergic reactions, it is best to avoid allergenic foods.
👉Finding Suitable Replacements: As your diet is already restricted, you won’t be able to consume certain foods that might be essential for nutrients. Finding the right replacement for these restricted food items and maintaining a balanced diet is important. For example, if someone has lactose intolerance then going for lactose-free dairy or plant-based milk substitutes like almond, soy, or coconut milk is advised.
👉Improving Your Digestive Health: Taking active measures to improve your gut health starts with addressing food sensitivities. Removing potential trigger foods from your diet can prevent symptoms like bloating, gas, diarrhoea, and abdominal discomfort to rise.
👉Individualised Approach: The process for identifying and managing dietary sensitivities should be tailored. It’s critical to consult with a healthcare expert to discover your specific food sensitivities, as they can vary widely from person to person.
👉Emotional and Social Impact: Food intolerances can have serious psychological and social consequences. Additional planning and communication may be required to ensure that you have access to delicious and safe food options when travelling, eating out, or engaging in social activities. It is critical to have a cheerful attitude and advise loved ones of your dietary needs.
👉Seeking Professional Guidance: You should definitely consult a dietitian or other medical professional. They might help you create a personalised diet plan, make sure you get all the nutrients you need, and monitor your progress.
Key Takeaways
- Food allergies and intolerances have become a common phenomenon among people nowadays. There is a basic difference between these two illnesses. The causes, symptoms, and their effect on our body differ significantly. Understanding them is necessary for the correct diagnosis and treatment.
- Food allergies are an immunological reaction of our body when it detects specific proteins as harmful foreign bodies. Meanwhile, food intolerances are the inability of our digestive system to metabolize specific food components such as sulfites or artificial sweeteners.
- There are some common symptoms between food allergies and food intolerances. However, allergic reactions occur rapidly and can be severe enough to put your life under threat. Some symptoms of allergy are hives, breathing problems, or anaphylaxis. Comparatively, food intolerances cause discomfort in your stomach, and common symptoms are indigestion, bloating, gas, or headaches.
- Food items such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish are common causes of food allergy. Food components such as lactose, gluten, sulfites, or artificial sweeteners can trigger intolerances.
- There are several ways to navigate your way around these illnesses, such as reading the labels of food items before using, dietary modification, seeking medical advice, avoiding foods with potential allergens, and finding suitable replacements for food items you’re avoiding.
FAQ
1. What is anaphylaxis, and what are some common symptoms?
To respond to this severe allergic reaction, we need to understand what anaphylaxis actually is. Common symptoms of anaphylaxis include throat swelling, difficulty breathing, rapid heartbeat, and loss of consciousness. This requires immediate medical intervention.
2. How to deal with accidental allergic reactions?
There are different ways to deal with allergic reactions, mainly depending on their severity. If the reaction is mild, then antihistamine medications are helpful. However, if the allergic reactions are critical, then EpiPen is required. Despite all these, seeking immediate medical intervention is necessary.
3. How do you differentiate between food allergies and food intolerances?
Food allergies are more of an immunological reaction of the body, which is why the effects are immediate. Common symptoms of food allergies are swellings, rashes, or anaphylaxis. Food intolerances are more of a digestive issue, such as bloating, diarrhea, or gas. Seeking medical advice from a doctor is advised.
4. Are food intolerances lifelong, or can they go away with treatment?
Specific food intolerances can improve with enzyme supplements, such as lactose intolerance. Other food intolerances can be treated with slight dietary adjustments. However, some intolerances, such as gluten intolerance, require lifelong management.
5. Can food allergies be cured?
Food allergies can not be cured. However, it can always be minimized. Basic ways to treat food allergies include avoiding consuming certain food items that can trigger allergic reactions or oral immunotherapy.
Several people have food allergies and intolerances nowadays. With these illnesses being so common, there are several ways to navigate around them. These methods generally don’t advise cutting your diet. However, avoiding certain food items that can trigger intolerances or allergies is helpful. An individual can lead a healthy life with low chances of triggering these illnesses while maintaining a healthy diet. While there are several differences between food allergies and intolerances, the primary one is that food allergies are immunological reactions, while food intolerances are digestive problems. A few symptoms of both these illnesses are similar, but allergic reactions are more rapid, while fold intolerances generally happen at a slower rate. Another essential thing to note is that allergic reactions can be severe, such as anaphylaxis, while food intolerances are stomach issues such as indigestion or diarrhea. There are a few methods to get your way around these illnesses, such as regulating your diet, avoiding using potential allergens or additives that can trigger intolerances, and reading the labels before using any food item. Despite all these, seeking medical advice from a professional is critical.
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Hello, I'm Dietician Dipanwita Saha, founder of Nutriworld, is a clinical dietitian dedicated to helping people improve their health with personalized diet plans based on scientific principles. I believe that proper nutrition is essential for healing and maintaining a balanced lifestyle, whether it’s for recovery from illness or managing health conditions.
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