Food Allergies - How To Deal With Them?

Food allergies can be defined as a sign of danger given by the human body when it considers some particular food items as harmful. This is basically an allergic reaction to some food proteins. As per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4 to 6 percent of kids and 4 percent of adults worldwide are affected by different types of food allergies. The most interesting fact about the food allergies is that you can develop an allergy to a particular food at any age. Also, one can develop an allergy to a particular food even when you have been eating that food with ease all these years.

Food allergies can be categorized into main types:

• Immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated allergies: These allergies occur mostly in infants and children and can be seen for milk, peanuts, eggs, soy, and wheat. Moreover, the affected body areas include the mouth, skin, eyes, heart, brain, and gut.
• Non-IgE mediated food allergies: These allergies normally affect the digestive tract and symptoms of these food allergies take a long time to develop.
• Let us have a detailed look at different methods that can assist you in dealing with different food allergies.

Remove food items that can trigger allergy
It is obvious that food allergy is pertaining to a particular food and thus it is advisable to remove the triggering food items from your diet. It is also advised to remove the byproducts of such food items. This will minimize the danger of food allergy. There are some common food items which can trigger the food allergies which are:

• Milk
• Eggs
• Wheat
• Fish
• Peanut as well as tree nuts such as walnuts
• Shellfish
• Soy

Try to stock your pantry with alternatives to the allergic food items. There is no need to make your taste buds suffer by removing food items which can activate allergies. You can try alternatives to such food items and have a healthy life. Read the label on food while shopping for groceries as most of the triggering ingredients are common in many of the food items. Thus, it is advisable to read the ingredients on the food labels before you buy them. You can also look for these common names for allergens:

• Glucosamine for Shellfish
• Flour, triticale, durum, vital wheat gluten for wheat
• Natto, tempeh, shoyu, miso, Edamame, for soy
• Roe, surimi, nuoc mam, fish gelatin for fish
• Rennet casein, tagatose, whey, rennet casein, casein in milk
• Lysozyme, vitelline, surimi, albumin, livetin, globulin, and lysozyme for egg

Write down your meal plans
Preparing your own meal can minimize the risk of food allergies. Thus, try to make your own food and keep a memo of what you would like to eat in a meal. This way you can eliminate the dishes which include triggering ingredients. These above-mentioned methods can surely help you in preventing food allergies effectually. However, if the symptoms of food allergies are severe, do not hesitate to take medical help.