Food Allergy vs Food Intolerance: What’s the Difference?
What’s all the confusion?
Those who investigate nutrition and health have most likely come across the terms “food intolerance” and “food allergy”, while these two terms may seem similar, they are very different things. Understanding this difference is important for those who are diagnosed with a specific condition as the two are often confused and wrongly defined.
Food Allergy
According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases a food allergy is “an adverse health effect arising from a specific immune response that occurs reproducibly on exposure to a given food”. Only 4% of adults and 5% of children are genuinely affected by a food allergy. When someone suffers from a food allergy the body’s immune system has a negative response to a specific food. The body’s immune system mistakes a food as a threat which often results in a rapid allergic reaction often within minutes, but generally within a maximum of two hours. This type of allergic reaction is commonly associated with foods such as peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs and seafood.
Symptoms:
Immediate allergic reactions (occur within 2 hours or less)
Rarely caused by more than 1 to 2 foods
Primarily affecting skin, airways and digestive system
Trace amounts of foods can cause reactions
Lifelong
May be life threatening
Hives
Rashes
Diarrhea
Nausea
Vomiting
Swelling
Coughing
Sneezing
Food Intolerance
Food intolerance is quite different than food allergy and can also have adverse effects on a person’s life, however these effects are not life threatening. Food intolerance is a non-immunological to toxic contaminants, properties of the food or properties of the host such as vitamin deficiency. Due to the complexity of food intolerance it has a large variety of symptoms that are affected by many other factors which is why most of the time those who report these symptoms are not diagnosed with an allergy. Due to this, those suffering from these symptoms must always visits a doctor for a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Symptoms:
Reactions can last up to 72 hours after eating
Multiple foods can be involved in the cause of someone’s food intolerance
Any organ system can be affected
Very common among people
Difficult to self-diagnose
Symptoms can clear after avoidance of specific foods (3-6 months)
Common symptoms include:
Bloating
Migraines
Headaches
Cough
Runny nose
Feeling under the weather
Stomach ache
Irritable bowel
Hives
Prevention
If you experience any of the symptoms or characteristics listed above for an extended amount of time it is highly recommended that you visit your doctor for a diagnosis.
Keep a diary of the foods you eat and the symptoms you have.
Stop eating some foods to help figure out which one is causing symptoms.
Learn to read food labels and check the ingredients for trigger foods.
Wear a medical alert bracelet (or necklace)
Know what to do during an allergic reaction
