Food allergies and food intolerances are very similar terms that are often used interchangeably - however, they are two very different conditions that need to be more fully understood.
Food allergies cause intense allergic reactions. Your body treats the food as a hostile atacker, and manufactures increased levels of immunglobin E to attack it. This in turn triggers increased production of histamine, resulting in red, swelling and itchy skin, wheezing, runny nose, and a sensation of tightness in the nose and throat. Sometimes the reaction is even more intense, where the body goes into anaphylactic shock, and starts to shut down. The most cited occurence of this is an allergic reaction to peanuts, where a quick injection of adrenaline is required to stop the often fatal anaphylaxis.
Food intolerance is a less dangerous allergic reaction. Most often observed in cases of lactose intolerance, food intolerance is where the body is unable to totally process a specific food. This commonly results in migraines, diarrhoea, vomiting, or feelings of dizziness and lethargy.
In both cases, an exclusion diet and skin prick tests can be highly useful in highlighting the specific foods that create the reaction. Your diet can then be altered to remove the hardmful foods whilst still being nutritious and satisfying. Many special food allergy recipe books are available which can be a huge help to those suffering from food allergies.
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