Food allergies can be a common source of discomfort and symptoms often go undiagnosed. Many people realize that Improving Health and Nutrition their anxiety is a symptom of a food allergy without realizing the daily effects of food allergies. One of the most common symptoms of a food allergy is weight gain. In the body, water is retained as an attempt to protect the body from irritation from toxins and food allergens. Fat cells also expand to provide a buffer and protect the body. When losing weight, water is often shed, but the body retains fat because it is necessary to protect you from these toxins and allergens.
Allergy specialist
A food allergy specialist or diet nutritionist will often first ask the patient to write down their three favorite foods and then eliminate them from the diet. A study published in the Lancet suggests that common food allergens work as well as morphine-line drugs. This can result in us becoming addicted to foods that make us sick! These food cravings are based on the same neurochemical responses that lead to drug addiction. Removing three favorite foods from the diet can not only reveal food allergies without the need for expensive tests, but it can make us feel better very quickly after the short period of drug “withdrawal” is over.
Blood test
If testing is needed, a blood test is the easiest way to determine a food allergy and a single blood sample can be used to test for hundreds of foods. The following are the most common blood tests for food allergies.
- RAST (Radio-Allergo-Sorbent Test)
- ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay)
- ELISA/ACT (Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay/Activated Cell Test)
Not all food allergies result in immediate symptoms and blood tests can detect delayed symptoms as well as immediate symptoms. If simple elimination doesn’t find the source of the food allergy, a blood test may be the only way to find it.
Food contains
Food contains thousands of substances. Many of these ingredients depend on how raw or hot it is, how it was heated, how fresh it is, what other ingredients it is mixed with, and even your taste. Also a natural “ebb and flow” in the immune system. Because of this, no blood test can be 100% accurate.
Causes of food allergies
Other common causes of food allergies include poor digestion, nutrient deficiencies, poor food choices in the diet, and leaky gut syndrome.
Anti-allergy agent
Quercetin, a flavonoid, and glutamine, an amino acid, can relieve food allergy symptoms by acting as an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy agent and restoring intestinal membrane integrity. Adding glyconutrients to the diet may provide additional benefit by supporting the “components” needed for proper cell-to-cell communication and therefore for proper immune system function. While some people may be able to reintroduce foods that once caused allergy symptoms, as they improve their diet and focus on better health, variations in genetics make some people more susceptible.
Leave with permanent allergies to certain foods. In such cases, elimination of such food allergies is the only real “cure.”
