Food Allergies As An Adult?

September 3, 2009 Filed Under: Allergies

A food allergy can develop at any time in a person’s life. Adults too may find themselves developing food allergies. The process is not clear as to why or how this is done.

Although food allergies occur most often in infants and children, they can appear at any age and can be caused by foods that had been previously eaten without any problems. Finally, excessive exposure to a particular food may affect the overall rate of allergy to that food, as testified by the high prevalence of fish allergy among Scandinavians and of rice allergy among the Japanese.

The prime reason some people have allergies and others don’t deals with the matter of heredity. We are products of our parents, so in that gene pool, if our parents had allergies on both sides of the family, chances are we will have allergies too. If our relatives had allergies, we still have a good chance of having them passed on to us.

Once the food allergy has been confirmed, the most effective means of dealing with the food allergy is by the process of elimination. The patient should not eat the offending food in any form. The patient must be watchful and check labels on food products and learn other names of identifying the responsible food or food additive to make certain it is not present.

When eating in a restaurant, be particularly careful and take emergency medicines with you if you have a history of severe reactions. Waiters aren’t always aware of the exact ingredients of each item on the menu.

In many adult food allergies, strict adherence to an elimination diet is the main process of outgrowing the food allergy. The majority number of patients with documented allergic reactions to eggs, cow’s milk, and soy eventually become tolerant to these items. Allergies to things such as peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish, however last a lifetime and are never outgrown.

Approximately one-third of children and adults will eventually be free of their allergic reactions to foods after closely following appropriate diets free of the offensive food allergens.

After removal of the foods responsible for your allergic reactions, your allergist may recommend that you have an oral food challenge under observation to reassess your symptoms. If you are without a reaction, then you will be able to reintroduce this food into your diet. If symptoms occur, the dietary restriction will need to stay in place.

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