FOOD ALLERGIES
Many people think of allergies exclusively in terms of airborne allergens such as pollen, dust, and molds. However, immune reactions can result from the different types of food sensitivities you may possess. The most common foods causing allergic reactions are peanuts, soy, wheat, shellfish, fish, milk, eggs and tree nuts.
Currently there is no instant cure for food allergies. Once identified, we recommend eliminating those problematic foods from your diet. A naturopathic approach to healing the body and strengthening digestion may reduce or eliminate allergies, but sometimes certain foods must be avoided for true optimal health.
Food allergies are divided into two major categories: immediate and delayed. When immediate food reaction occurs, sufferers experience symptoms within hours of having ingested the food. Symptom onset is rapid and may include tingling of extremities, wheezing, coughing, and tightening of the throat, nausea, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. Sometimes in cases where nuts, shellfish, fish, and peanuts have been eaten anaphylaxis can occur.
Immediate food reaction is a fixed food allergy. The food to which you are allergic will almost always provoke an immune reaction when ingested. In immediate reactions the body over produces what is called Immunoglobulin E antibodies, (IgE).
Symptoms with a delayed food allergy can take up to three days to appear. This type of reaction is primarily IgG mediated. Unlike immediate food reaction, delayed food reaction is not a fixed food allergy. It is cyclical in nature. For example, you may be IgG sensitive to milk. If you were to increase your intake and/or frequency of milk consumption, it is at this point that symptoms would likely appear.
From this explanation you may say this seems self–evident. Why bother to test for food sensitivity? Due to the fact that delayed food reaction symptoms can appear up to three days after the food is eaten, some patients remain unaware of the foods to which they are sensitive. Some people may be ill and have no idea that their symptoms are allergy related. And as always with any medical concern, accurate clinical information as well as close consultation and planning with your doctor are the only ways to assure the best and most appropriate care for you.
The New Hampshire Natural Health Clinic offers an excellent test for 96 common foods. This test requires only a single tube of blood to evaluate all 96 foods. Turn-around on the test is 7-9 working days and total cost is $174.00 (including blood draw and lab handling fees). price as of 2/07 and subject to change
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