ITCHY EYES. RUNNY NOSE. CONGESTION. Whether it’s your sister’s beloved furry friend or the yellow pollen dusting everyone’s cars in the spring, you know the feeling….allergies. While most of us only have to tolerate these symptoms a few times a year, many have a much larger evil to contend with in what may be your favorite foods. Yes, that peanut butter you enjoy in your Reese’s cup could be enough to send someone else into hives and vomiting.

Allergens are usually proteins from the environment such as pet dander, pollens, insect venoms, insect particles and molds that enter our bodies through the nose, eyes, mouth, lungs and skin. If we are allergic, our immune system attacks these foreign particles inside our bodies causing inflammation. Foods also contain proteins that can also serve as allergens. Therefore, an allergic reaction occurs and causes symptoms depending on the body organ affected.

SYMPTOMS Typical allergic reactions such as conjunctivitis, rhinitis, asthma, eczema and hives, can all be caused by food proteins, in addition to other gastrointestinal symptoms. Typical food allergy symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, pain and even blood. Symptoms can surface in rather unusual parts of the body such as bladder urgency and headaches. Inflammation from food can cause tissue swelling leading to secondary problems. For example, when the nose gets stuffy and the Eustachian tube draining the middle ear cannot drain, the result can be an ear infection. Allergic inflammation in the esophagus can lead to strictures and trouble swallowing. In the wall of the bladder, inflammation can cause spasms and urgency symptoms.

Allergic reactions from foods can also affect the whole body which is called anaphylaxis. Anaphylactic reactions can be life threatening, no matter how much of the allergen was ingested. Symptoms can surface in only a few seconds or several hours after eating the food. Typically, the sooner the allergic reaction starts, the worse the symptoms will be. The amount, frequency or combination of foods that will generate a response is unique to each individual. Some can even tolerate a certain food for two days in a row, but not the third.

DIAGNOSIS Skin testing evaluates the allergic system in its entirety. This highly effective test creates small, temporary allergic reactions on the skin resulting from a scratch on the back or an injection of the allergen under the skin. Sometimes checking the blood for allergy antibodies to specific foods can be helpful, especially in cases where the skin is too inflamed to skin test.

TREATMENT The best treatment is avoidance. Many, but not all patients, can do fine limiting the amount of any one allergic food, while minimizing the number of allergic food combinations and frequency. One may even be able to add foods back into the diet one at a time to determine which food(s) causes the reaction. Some children under the age of five even outgrow their food allergies.

Life threatening food allergies, such as peanut or shellfish induced anaphylaxis, require total avoidance. Special care must be taken to not eat things that could be contaminated by their allergic food from the processing, manufacturing or even contaminated utensils.

Many with year-round allergy symptoms who attribute their reactions to dander or pollen are unknowingly suffering from food allergies. The first and most important step is to determine the specific foods with skin testing. Once the allergen is identified, the sufferer can then find the proper treatment for their body. A fairly symptom-free life can be the result of taking those steps today!