From the Beginning - What Are Food Allergies?

More info in honor of Food Allergy Awareness Week! Ok, this is going to be old news for a lot of people, allergies are now becoming common enough that if you haven't heard about them then you have probably been living under a rock. But the beginning is always a good place to start, and so that is where I'm starting today.

What exactly is a food allergy? In someone with a food allergy, their body incorrectly identifies something in a food as a threat and sends chemicals into the blood to help fight the threat. The problem is that when these chemicals are released into the blood, they then can cause symptoms, sometimes very severe symptoms.

Every person is different and the foods can affect them in different ways. For example, did you know that Marquis has a food allergy? I don't talk about it much because his is so mild, but he is also allergic to eggs just like Sweetheart. His allergy is mild enough that he didn't even realize it was an allergy for a long time, he just thought he really, really didn't like eggs to the point that they made him sick to his stomach. But then he would get sick after eating something he didn't know had eggs in it, like meatloaf or a dessert.

Sweetheart's reaction to eggs is more severe, when she eats eggs she is soon covered in a rash, and then the vomiting starts. Good times! She can't eat any foods that have eggs baked in them, but thankfully her egg allergy is mild enough that I can eat them around her and she can even touch them, like decorating eggs at Easter.

The really scary part about food allergies is when they get life-threatening. When Sweetheart eats peanuts, she starts with a cough, and then a little vomiting. And then things get really scary really fast and she can't breathe. At that point we have to give her a shot of epinephrine (her Epi-Pen) and then either drive really fast to the emergency room or call 911 for an ambulance ride. At the hospital they poke and prod and give more shots and IVs and breathing treatments until she is back to being able to breathe on her own. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

There does seem to be some confusion out there, though. A food allergy is not a food preference and is different than an intolerance. It is different than asking for no onions because you think the texture is weird. Even with an intolerance, while you obviously want to go dairy free if you are lactose intolerant and it upsets your stomach, that is different from having a dairy allergy where it's your systemic system that is reacting.

There is also a lo to confusion about what causes food allergies. The truth is that there are a lot of theories out there, but no one actually knows what causes them. We do know that currently there is no cure. The only treatment is to avoid the food that causes the problem, and use medicines like Benadryl and/or an Epi-Pen if there is a reaction.

I hope that gives you a simple overview of exactly what food allergies are, and why they should be taken seriously.