Dr. Carrie Jones: Food Allergies Vs. Food Intolerances
There are two main responses that can occur. One is the typical ‘food allergy.’ Most common examples are the people who eat nuts and have an anaphylactic reaction; drinking citrus juice causes their lips to swell up and dairy sends them running for the bathroom. It is an immediate response and governed by an immune antibody called, IgE.
The second type of response is non-IgE-mediated or known as IgG. This is a delayed response and may not produce a symptom for 2 to 48 hours, or even 72 hours. This means if you drink a glass of milk on Monday, you may not notice any symptoms until Tuesday or Wednesday. What if you drink a glass of milk all the time? Then these symptoms could be a problem everyday because you are stringing along your delayed responses.
Remember that not all food related symptoms are intestinal problems. I commonly hear patients report no gas and bloating, no constipation and no diarrhea. Then they complain of being tired all the time, mild headaches that come and go, dry skin, bad PMS, hot flashes, chronic stuffy nose or constantly clearing their throat. . . this can be food related too.
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