A hypoallergenic diet can help you avoid allergens responsible for causing allergic reactions in the foods you eat. Foods designated hypoallergenic have a lower chance of causing an allergic reaction in most individuals. It is, however, still possible to have an allergy to a specific hypoallergenic food. Unless you have a severe allergy to a particular food, a hypoallergenic diet also allows you to gradually introduce a food allergen back into your diet after you have stopped consuming the allergen for a certain period.
Signs and Symptoms
An intolerance to a food is not the same thing as an allergy to the food. An intolerance is a digestive system response that typically causes some discomfort or illness after consuming a food. On the other hand, a food allergy is an immune system response to the food. An food allergy typically will manifest less than two hours after eating the food in question. The symptoms of a food allergy include hives, swelling, itching, eczema, nausea, vomiting, wheezing, nasal congestion, trouble breathing, lightheadedness and dizziness. Additional symptoms of a food allergy include swelling in your eyelids, face, lips, throat, tongue and other parts of your body. If you experience an extreme allergic reaction to a food, you should immediately seek medical attention.
Foods That Cause Allergy
You could develop an allergy to a specific food at any time. In most cases, allergies develop because of a genetic sensitivity to allergens. Common foods that cause allergies include peanuts, strawberries, tropical fruits, tree nuts such as almonds or walnuts, tomatoes, food additives such as monosodium glutamate, dyes, thickeners and preservatives and crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs and lobsters. A hypoallergenic diet will remove all potential allergens from your diet. Once you remove all allergens, the diet requires you to slowly reintroduce a potential allergen back into your diet. The goal of this process is to determine if you have an unknown allergy to a specific food item. Reintroducing the food items into your diet on a food- by-food basis will more easily allow you to identity specific food allergies that you have.
Getting Diagnosed
Once you determine through the process of reintroduction that you have an allergy to a specific food item, you should get tested to verify the allergy. Doctors can administer a skin test that places a diluted amount of the food item under your skin. If you have an allergy to the food item, you will have a raised lesion at the site of the injection within 15 to 20 minutes. After confirming the food allergy, you should modify your diet to avoid the specific food item.
Treatment
The best way to treat a food allergy is to completely avoid the food item. Should you accidentally consume a food item you have an allergy to, the severity of your allergic reaction should determine your response. In mild cases, the allergy will go away without medication. If you develop moderate symptoms to a food allergen, you can take over-the-counter antihistamines. In cases of a severe allergic reaction, you can go into anaphylactic shock. Immediately seek medical attention in the event you have a severe allergic reaction to a food item.
References
- "Food Allergy Survival Guide: Surviving and Thriving with Food Allergies and Sensitivities"; Vesanto Melina, Dina Aronson and Jo Stepaniak; 2004
- "Hypoallergenic Diet, (A Comeplete Guide to Food Sensitivities)"; Dr. saeid Mushtagh; 2009
- "Allergy Cuisine: Step by Step"; Sylvia Ross; 2001
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