Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Good food is the key to a good life, but for a large number of people, it is the cause for perpetual, often mysterious, misery. No, we aren’t talking about junk food or putting on weight, we’re talking about everyday, regular foods, that sustain some and torment others. In other words, food allergies.
According to experts, people can be allergic to basic foods like wheat and milk without even realising it. The manifestations can be minor, such as skin rashes or perpetual colds or can turn into something more serious. Ireland says one in 400 of its citizens is incompatible with wheat, in Europe, the figure is one in 1,000, in the Americas, one in 5,000. While no figures are available for India, a doctor at a reputed hospital in New Delhi says he comes across a particular food-intolerant child once in two weeks.
What are food allergies?
A food allergy, say experts, is basically an abnormal response to the food we eat. It involves two features of the human immune response system: the production of immunoglobin E (IgE), a protein antibody that circulates in the blood, and the mast cell, a specific cell that occurs in all body tissues. These cells are clustered around the sites that produce the most virulent allergic reactions: the throat, the lungs and the gastro-intestinal tract.
How are allergies activated?
Food allergens—or food that triggers allergic reactions—are mostly the proteins that are not broken down by cooking or by stomach acids and digestive enzymes. They cross the gastrointestinal tract, enter the bloodstream and attack the target organs. Simplistically, the IgE and mast cells come into play, producing allergies.
How is it manifested?
In two ways: food incompatibility or intolerance (which goes with a delayed response) and severe allergy (which has an immediate response).
Symptoms are long-term, like weak liver, fluctuating cholesterol, high blood sugar, imbalances in uric acid, sinusitis, sluggish circulation etc. Severe allergies, on the other hand, are evident the moment you eat a morsel of a food allergen. The hypersensitivity shows up in different ways: skin eruptions, swollen lips, breathlessness and rapid flushing of the face.
What are the commonest food allergens?
Seafood and fish (especially in coastal parts), wheat and milk. Your body may be intolerant to the food at one time, and cause severe allergic reactions at another.
Delhi-based nutritionist Dr Shikha Sharma provides a more exhaustive list of allergens and their impact:
Wheat: Diminishes digestive capability, triggers weight gain, fluctuating blood sugar levels, heaviness and hormonal imbalances
Milk and Curd: Cause gall bladder stones, skin infections like acne and dermatitis and sluggish circulation
Egg: Stomach cramps, irritability, bowel problems
Fish: Instant impact such as choking and breathlessness
Animal proteins/non-veg food: High uric acid and dermatitis
Nuts: Breathlessness, asthma attacks
Some people also react to certain combinations, like milk and honey, wheat and milk, ajinomoto with carbohydrates, ajinomoto and vinegar.
Once allergic, always so?
Food allergies usually manifest themselves after the age of five, when the immune response system matures completely. ‘‘Though allergies can last a lifetime, they are most obvious between ages five and 20, when hormonal changes are at their peak,’’ says Dr Sharma. Allergies can also be triggered by disease and stress.
How does one identify food allergies?
Allergies are most easily identified in children. Dr Anupam Sibal, senior consultant paediatrician at Indraprastha Apollo, Delhi, says, ‘‘If a child does not gain 3 kg in weight and 6 cm in girth in a year, he can be suspected to have a food allergy. Gastric symptoms and irritability are other indicators.’’ In adults, keen observation and gut feeling are key. Adult allergies are ascertained on the basis of a history of adverse reactions.
How is an allergy treated?
Prevention is the best cure in this case. Avoid the allergen, avoid the allergy.
