Does Food Make You Sick?
Do you often suffer from strange symptoms after eating certain types of foods? Do you get itchy,
break out in hives, swell up or actually vomit? You could be suffering from a common food
allergy.
It’s estimated that over 12 million Americans suffer from food allergies. Most allergic
reactions are mild, but around 30,000 visits to the emergency room are reported each year because of
the reactions. As many as 200 deaths each year are attributed to food allergies.
Studies report up to 8 percent of children have an allergy to some type of food. The numbers are
slightly smaller for adults, only around 4 percent.
Many children will outgrow their food allergies. But some will carry these allergies into
adulthood and suffer from them their entire lives.
Eating prepackaged foods, out in restaurants or even friends homes can cause problems. It’s
often hard to tell what’s added to the foods we eat.
You hate to ask the cook “what’s in this?”, but sometimes you just have to.
Especially when asking can mean the difference between an enjoyable meal and a trip to the emergency
room.
The most common symptoms are itching of the mouth, eyes and skin, hives, nausea, vomiting and
diarrhea, often but not always accompanied by stomach cramps and wheezing, shortness of breath or
trouble swallowing.
The more severe symptoms can include swelling. The swelling tends to focus on the face area
causing swelling of the eyelids, lips, ears and tongue.
With the increased cases of peanut allergies, most packaged foods have started including on the
label the use of peanut oils and even if the processing of nuts is handled in the same factory.
There’s no cure for food allergies. So the only thing you can do is avoid the foods that
cause the reactions you can’t deal with.
