WHAT IS A FOOD ALLERGY?
It’s really important to know the difference between food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities.
Lots of people get them mixed up! These are all different ways your body can react to food. Some reactions to food might just make you feel a little uncomfortable, while others can be very serious and even dangerous.
This is a specific and often serious immune response where your body’s protection system, the immune system, reacts to a certain food as if it were harmful. This reaction can happen very quickly after someone eats even a tiny bit of the food and can cause an immediate reaction. Food allergies can be severe and sometimes life-threatening. An example is a peanut allergy.
Unlike an allergy, this happens when your body has trouble breaking down a type of food, often due to a lack of enzymes. Symptoms are usually digestive, like gas or tummy pain. It’s generally not life-threatening. An example is lactose intolerance.
Also different from an allergy, this involves your body’s immune system’s delayed reaction, but is not a true allergy. Symptoms can be wider, including digestion, headaches, tiredness, or skin rashes, and are often related to the amount of food eaten. It’s generally not life-threatening. An example would be caffeine. While many enjoy coffee or tea, some people are highly sensitive to caffeine, experiencing anxiety, rapid heart rate, or restlessness even with small amounts.
For the rest of this guide, when we talk about “food allergies,” we’ll focus mostly on food allergies, which are the most serious type of reaction.
SPOTTING ALLERGIES
Knowing what to look for and what foods most often cause allergic reactions can help you keep your family safe. An allergic reaction can affect different parts of the body, so it’s important to know what signs to watch for.
SKIN:
You might see hives (red, itchy bumps), swelling (of the face, lips, or eyes), or patches of eczema (dry, itchy skin).
STOMACH/DIGESTION:
Your child might have vomiting, diarrhea, or stomach pain.
AIRWAY:
Look for sneezing, wheezing (a whistling sound when breathing), stuffy nose, or tightness in the throat.
ANAPHYLAXIS (ANNA-FUH-LACK-SIS):
A very serious, life-threatening allergic reaction. It can happen quickly and affect many parts of the body at once, such as trouble breathing, swelling, or a sudden drop in blood pressure.