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Have you ever eaten anything that just didn’t agree with you? Did it make your head ache or your stomach lurch in protest? According to a report by the BBC News, food allergies and intolerances are so common that one in three people say they’ve had similar unpleasant reactions to foods.
Yet studies show that only one to three percent of the population actually has a clinical allergy, says the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases in the United States. Even the BBC News later contradicted itself by reporting that food allergies are a "false epidemic" and debunking them as "trendy." Such conflicting information can leave a person wondering what the real truth is about allergies.

Myth #1

Food allergy and food intolerance are the same thing.
The results of another BBC News survey reveal that less than half of people knew the difference between a food allergy and an intolerance. Even though they may cause the same symptoms, there is a major difference between the two. Food allergy is an immune system response and tends to produce acute symptoms; food intolerance is caused by the lack of enzymes needed to digest food, which often leads to chronic illness.

Food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to a food by creating IgE antibodies. When the same food is again eaten, these antibodies signal the immune system to release massive amounts of chemicals, including histamine, which trigger a cascade of allergic symptoms including asthma, skin rashes, mood swings, headaches and heart palpitations. These acute symptoms generally occur within minutes after ingestion of the food.

Symptoms of food intolerance can occur hours to days after ingesting the food and are termed "delayed reactions." Food intolerance is linked to ineffective digestion and lack of enzymes. For example, a person with lactose (milk sugar) intolerance lacks an enzyme (lactase) that is needed to digest the milk sugar. When the person eats milk products, symptoms occur such as gas, bloating, abdominal cramps and pain. Since these symptoms often occur hours to days later, they can be difficult to link to the particular food.

Myth #2

There is no cure for food allergies.
Most medical authorities believe that there is no cure for food allergies because, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, there are currently no medications that cure food allergies.

The fact is, there is certainly much that can be done. A diet that is free of offending foods, together with natural nutritional supplements, enzymes, herbal formulas and homeopathic remedies, can be very beneficial to people with both food allergies and intolerances. Normalizing the digestive function and healing a damaged intestinal lining will go a long way to eliminate adverse food reactions.

Myth #3

Reading labels will protect against adverse food reactions.
While reading food labels is recommended for people with allergies, it is not a guarantee that reactions will not take place. The Journal of Allergy and Immunology reported a study of 129 families with known food reactions. The study found that 50 percent of the reactions to foods were "hidden" in sauces and dressings, 43 percent of the reactions occurred from desserts, 13 per cent from appetizers and nine per cent from miscellaneous foods.

The US Food and Drug Administration, in conjunction with Wisconsin and Minnesota state regulators, recently conducted a study that focused on peanuts and eggs in 85 randomly selected bakery, candy and ice cream manufacturers. It was revealed that 25 percent of the products sampled contained undeclared peanuts and 10 per cent contained undeclared eggs. Only half of the manufacturers verified that the product label included all the ingredients. Less than half of the establishments had procedures in place for avoiding or minimizing cross contamination from improper clean-up or use of the same utensils and baking sheets from one batch to another.

Myth #4

Carolee Bateson-Koch is a naturopathic physician and the author of Allergies: Disease in Disguise, published by alive Books. She lives in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Source: alive #235, May 2002