Know More About Food Allergies

As a physician I frequently attend to patients who complain about being allergic to some kind of food item. If a friend calls me from the USA for the same, I am very sure he is probably talking about the allergy to nuts in his kid. In this article we will try to see few myths and facts about the food allergy, as well as the homeopathic approach towards it.

What is food allergy?

The food allergy is nothing but an immunological reaction that involves a class of immunoglobulins, specifically IgE, which is a kind of protein that helps our body in its immune response. Thus it has to have an IgE mediated process. Condition like lactose intolerance or a particular food group intolerance may not be an allergic one, same is for the cases with food poisoning or toxicity to food ingredients. Statistically only 3-6% of the population suffers with food allergies, the rest have something else.

Regarding various food allergies in children, usually the child takes over the allergy in due course. Usually the allergy to milk or egg is overtaken by the child as he grows old, but few would remain as is is and can even increase with the time if they are associated with or complicated with certain organic ailments like malabsorption syndrome or celiac disease.

When does it start?

Whenever I tell adult patients about the possible allergic etiology to their recent symptoms, they often ask me, 'but we never suffered with this since childhood!' This stems from the basic misconception about allergy - that it always starts during childhood. Not only an allergy can start in later part of life but also it is quite likely that though you were allergic to a particular object, one may not have got exposed to it during the childhood, thus manifesting itself in the adult part.

The signs and symptoms?

Most of the symptoms of food allergy occur within a few minutes to an hour of ingesting the allergen. It can initially be experienced as an itching in the mouth or a rash. Later on, during digestion of the food in the stomach and intestines, symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain can start. If it affects the skin, it can lead to hives or rashes, but if it starts manifesting on respiratory tract, it can lead to sneezing, watering of nose or asthma.

Homeopathic approach:

Homeopathy believes in treating the ROOT CAUSE, which is not the object of allergy, or the allergen. If you do not tolerate milk, the problem is with you and not with the milk. Your body is not reacting normally to the milk that rest can do. Thus this hyper-reactivity or erratic response needs to be corrected by giving a suitable remedy based on characteristic symptoms.

Usually it takes 4-6 months to get cured from a food allergy with a homeopathic treatment. Try it!