Allergy to Foods (Hidden)

The first part of the body to react to food is often the gastrointestinal tract.  Sometimes mast cells are involved in allergic reactions and release chemicals such as histamine.  If the affected mast cells are in the gastrointestinal tract, a person may suffer vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea.

Smoke can aggravate underlying allergies.

We may actually be allergic to the very foods we most crave.  By eliminating these foods from our diet for 10-14 days, the cravings may disappear as the withdrawal symptoms cease.

Onion or garlic allergy is often called an 'intolerance' rather than an allergy.  Symptoms may manifest immediately, or be delayed for up to a day.

Tingling in the face has been known to be caused by food allergies.  For example, several recent cases include this and other symptoms as an allergy to barley after consuming only a small amount of beer.

The ear, nose, and throat are common target organs for food allergens.  Congestion or inflammation of the nose (rhinitis), sinuses (sinusitis), and throat (pharyngitis) may be due to airborne irritants and allergens, but food allergy may be the undiagnosed cause of these common problems.

Wheat has been known to be a cause of esophagitis, as have other hidden food allergens.

There was found to be a greater prevalence of self-reported food allergy among women with systemic human seminal plasma hypersensitivity.  This supports the hypothesis that exposure and sensitization to semimal fluid could result from cross-reactivity with food proteins that are a part of the average daily American diet.  In other words, semen allergies could be connected to food allergies because of similar protein composition.

People with multiple chemical sensitivities often have multiple food allergies as well.  While reactions to chemicals in the environment are generally quicker and more easily identified, food allergies are usually delayed, making it harder to pinpoint the offending food.  People with MCS are often unaware of hidden food allergies which could be contributing to their overall allergic load.

The ear, nose, and throat are common target organs for food allergens.  Congestion or inflammation of the nose (rhinitis) may be due to airborne irritants and allergens, but food allergy may be an undiagnosed cause of this common problem.

Foods including wheat, oranges, tomatoes, chocolate, nuts, eggplant, tea and cola were dietary allergens that have been found to trigger ulcer initiation.  A study by Dr. Pelin Gürdal conducted in a dental university in Turkey concluded from previous studies [Oral Surg. 1984:57, pp.504-507] and his own that as many as 50% of RAS patients will improve when offending foods are identified and eliminated.  Without laboratory testing or patient insights, identifying these foods for individual sufferers can be challenging.  Food allergies continue to be a controversial cause of canker sores, and further research is necessary to resolve the issue.

Hidden food allergies may contribute to the chronic clenching of teeth.

Food allergies are sometimes addictive in nature, requiring continued consumption of the allergenic food in order to prevent the appearance of withdrawal symptoms.  However, eating the same foods over and over increases the likelihood of eventually becoming allergic to them.

The presence of food allergy is concealed in a variety of diagnoses including irritable bowel syndrome.

Food allergies divert some of the immune system's resources away from preventing and dealing with illness.  Thus, continuous consumption of a food which is causing symptoms weakens your immune system.  A weakened immune system enables infections and cancerous growths to develop and take hold.  Many patients report that they suffer from more than one symptom or illness when reintroducing a known food allergen into their diet after a period of abstinence.

The ear, nose, and throat are common target organs for food allergens.  Food allergy may be the undiagnosed cause of sinusitis in some people.

Several studies demonstrate a strong link between food allergies and Meniere's Disease.

Muscle pain can be due to food allergies.  Such pains will disappear after elimination of the offending foods from the diet.

It is thought that food allergies can trigger the tics in TS.  Sherry A Rogers, MD, a specialist in environmental medicine, reports that all of the TS cases she has seen have a least one nutrient deficiency, and usually several.  She notes that all of these patients have hidden mold, dust, chemical and food sensitivities. [Health Counselor, Vol.7, No.4]

Asthma is one of the three manifestations of a pattern of allergy that is called atopy – a genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases.  The other two are eczema and hay fever.  Asthma due to allergy can come from both airborne and food sources.  Patients with delayed pattern food allergy have the most severe and persistent inflammatory form of chronic asthma.

While airborne problems are more obvious to asthmatic sufferers, food problems may be a well-hidden source of lung disease.  Many studies of food allergy involve patients with food-induced asthma.  Eczema and asthma are often associated in atopic patients with food allergy.

In a group of 320 children with atopic dermatitis, 55% had asthma.  Food challenges triggered respiratory symptoms in 59% (rhinitis, laryngeal edema, wheezing, and dyspnea).  Asthma is frequently treated only as an airborne allergy problem or as a problem unrelated to allergic processes and the possible role of food allergy is neglected.  It is overlooked because the usual skin tests are often negative and the history is often not helpful as symptoms appear gradually, hours or days after ingestion of the food.  Milk, wheat, egg, yeast, preservatives, colorings, coffee and cheese are the main foods implicated.

Food allergens may be found in the bloodstream within circulating immune complexes that trigger the release of immune mediators into the bloodstream.  These chemicals cause a variety of symptoms, including constriction of the bronchial smooth muscle in the lungs; this is the first event during an asthmatic attack.  Airflow is reduced in the narrowed tubes.  Air has a harder time leaving the lungs than entering, with the result of prolonged noisy exhalation.  This inflammatory, obstructive phase is the most important mechanism of chronic asthmatic bronchitis.

Foods and drugs are common causes of hives.  A reaction that occurs immediately after ingestion of certain foods, producing hives and difficulty breathing is termed anaphalactic and is potentially dangerous.  Delayed reactions are less serious but more difficult to pinpoint.  Some patients get hives occasionally only when they ingest a specific food or food additive.  Others develop hives as a chronic problem that can continue for years.  Most studies of chronic hives suggest that only a low percentage are due to food allergy; this is usually because diet revision attempts were inadequate for revealing the hidden food causes.

Psoriasis patients have benefited from gluten-free and elimination diets: Food allergies can trigger flare-ups of psoriasis.

A 1968 study revealed that 100% of a group of gallbladder patients were free from symptoms while they were on a basic elimination diet (beef, rye, soybean, rice, cherry, peach, apricot, beet, and spinach).  Foods inducing symptoms in decreasing order of their occurrence were: egg, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee, citrus, corn, beans and nuts.  Adding eggs to the diet, for example, caused gallbladder attacks in 93% of these patients.  At a minimum, an egg-free trial period of several months could be worthwhile.

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the association of food allergy and gallstones.  Dr. Breneman, who conducted this study, believes the ingestion of allergy-causing substances causes swelling of the bile ducts, resulting in the impairment of bile flow from the gallbladder.  This reduced flow leads to an increase in stone formation. [Ann Allergy 26: pp.83-7, 1968)]

High-protein diets may trigger food allergies.  Food allergies often arise when protein is poorly digested and/or particular protein-containing foods are consumed too frequently.

The ear, nose, and throat are common target organs for food allergens.  Food allergy may be the undiagnosed cause of sinusitis in some people.

A 1968 study revealed that 100% of a group of gallbladder patients were free from symptoms while they were on a basic elimination diet (beef, rye, soybean, rice, cherry, peach, apricot, beet, and spinach).  Foods inducing symptoms in decreasing order of their occurrence were: egg, pork, onion, fowl, milk, coffee, citrus, corn, beans and nuts.  Adding eggs to the diet, for example, caused gallbladder attacks in 93% of these patients.  At a minimum, an egg-free trial period of several months could be worthwhile.

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the association of food allergy and gallstones.  Dr. Breneman, who conducted this study, believes the ingestion of allergy-causing substances causes swelling of the bile ducts, resulting in the impairment of bile flow from the gallbladder.  This reduced flow leads to an increase in stone formation. [Ann Allergy 26: pp.83-7, 1968)]

Wheat has been known to be a cause of esophagitis, as have other hidden food allergens.

Food allergies are more common in children than adults, and most common in people with an inherited tendency to develop allergic conditions such as asthma.

An allergy is a negative sensitivity to a substance which causes a physical reaction.  Classical responses include creation of blood antibodies, histamine release, swelling, itching, runny nose, and others.  However, various substances can cause negative reactions that are not commonly associated with allergies.  In the case of cerebral (brain) allergies (which affect the nervous system), reactions include brain inflammation, irritability, fear, depression, aggression, extreme mood swings in a single day, hyperactivity, and psychosis.  These symptoms can be mistaken for schizophrenia.

A study of "schizophrenics" by Dr. William Philpott showed allergic responses as follows: Wheat (64%), mature corn (51%), pasteurized whole cow's milk (50%), tobacco (75% with 10% becoming grossly psychotic with delusions, hallucinations and particularly paranoia), and hydrocarbons (30% with weakness being common and some participants reacting with delusions or suicidal inclinations).  92% of the patients showed allergic responses with an average of ten items per person causing reactions.

NAET (Nambudripad Allergic Elimination Therapy) is a controversial technique that is currently being used to treat allergies in many countries.  Treatment using NAET involves exposing the patient to an allergen and providing acupressure along spinal meridians to eliminate the body's negative response to the substance.  Many sessions are typically required and practitioners make many claims.  Please do your homework on this one.