Do you have Food Allergy or Food Intolerence?
So you think you have a food allergy? Some students do but you might just have a food intolerance. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recognizes several types of food intolerances that may cause symptoms similar to food allergies but less than 4% of adults truly have a food allergy.
| Food allergy: A food allergy is when your immune system responds to a substance in a food by producing an antibody against it. The next time you ingest that substance (allergen), your body will react to it, usually causing symptoms ranging from mild to severe.
Symptoms:
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Food Intolerance: A food intolerance does not result from an immune response, but rather a digestion problem. |
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Symptoms:
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After looking over the symptoms of each, a food allergy can be much more severe and even deadly if untreated. Although an intolerance can be hard to live with, eating a small amount of the food may trigger some of the above symptoms but not death.
If you think you may have a food allergy consult a medical professional or for more information you may visit the following sites:
