The ABCs of Food Allergies

Approximately 8% of children and 2% of adults suffer from true food allergies. When the culprit food is eaten, most allergic reactions will occur within minutes. Skin symptoms (itching, urticaria, angioedema) are the most common, and occur during most food reactions. Other symptoms can include nasal (sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and eyes), gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, cramping, diarrhea), lung (shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, chest tightness), and vascular (low blood pressure, light-headedness, rapid heart beat) symptoms. When severe, this reaction is called anaphylaxis, and can be life threatening.
Allergy or Intolerance?
Most reactions to food are probably not allergic in nature, but rather intolerance.
This means that there is no allergic antibody present against the food in the person. Intolerance can be classified as toxic and non-toxic. Toxic reactions would be expected to occur in most people if enough of the food was eaten, examples include alcohol, caffeine or in cases of food-poisoning. Non-toxic food intolerance occurs only in certain people, such as lactose intolerance, which is due to the deficiency of lactase, the enzyme which breaks down the sugar in milk and dairy foods. Patients with lactose intolerance experience bloating, cramping and diarrhea within minutes to hours after eating lactose-containing foods, but do not experience other symptoms of food allergies.
Non-allergic Immunologic Reactions
A less common form of non-allergic reactions to food involves the immune system, but there are no allergic antibodies present. This group includes celiac sprue and FPIES (food protein induced enteropathy syndromes). FPIES typically occurs in infants and young children, with gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, bloody stools, and weight loss) as the presenting signs. Milk, soy and cereal grains are the most common triggers in FPIES. Children typically outgrow FPIES by 2 to 3 years of age.

Common Childhood Food Allergies
Milk, soy, wheat, egg, peanut, tree nuts, fish and shellfish compromise more than 90 percent of food allergies in children. Allergy to milk and egg are by far the most common, and are usually outgrown by age 5 years. Peanut, tree nut, fish and shellfish allergies are typically the more severe and potentially life-threatening, and frequently persist into adulthood.
Cross-Reactivity and Cross-Contamination
Cross-reactivity refers to a person having allergies to similar foods within a food group. For example, all shellfish are closely related; if a person is allergic to one shellfish, there is a strong chance that person is allergic to other shellfish. The same holds true for tree-nuts, such as almonds, cashews and walnuts.
Cross-contamination refers to a food contaminating another, unrelated food leading to a "hidden allergy". For example, peanuts and tree nuts are not related foods. Peanuts are legumes, and related to the bean family, while tree nuts are true nuts. There is no cross-reactivity between the two, but both can be found in candy shops and in a can of mixed nuts, for instance.
Diagnosing Food Allergies
The diagnosis is made with an appropriate history of a reaction to a specific food, along with a positive test for the allergic antibody against that food. Testing for the allergic antibody is typically accomplished with skin testing, although can be done with a blood test as well.
The blood test, called a RAST test, is not quite as good of a test as skin testing, but can be helpful in predicting if a person has outgrown a food allergy. This is especially true since in many cases the skin test can still be positive in children who have actually outgrown the food allergy.
If the diagnosis of food allergy is in question despite testing, an allergist may decide to perform an oral food challenge for the patient. This involves having the person eat increasing amounts of food over many hours under medical supervision. Since the potential for life-threatening anaphylaxis exists, this procedure should only be performed by a physician experienced in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases. An oral food challenge is the only way to truly remove a diagnosis of food allergy in a patient.
Managing Food Allergies
Treat the reaction: If a reaction to the food is present, the person should seek immediate emergency medical care. Most patients with food allergies should carry a self-injectable form of epinephrine, or adrenaline (such as an Epi-pen®, with them at all times. These medications can be prescribed by a physician and the patient should know how to use this device before an allergic reaction occurs.

Avoid the food: This is the main way to prevent future reactions to the culprit foods, although can be difficult in cases of common foods such as milk, egg, soy, wheat and peanut. Organizations such as the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network offer help and support to patients and parents of children with food allergies.
Allergy physicians can also offer additional information and advice on avoidance.
Read food labels: Since accidental exposure to the allergic food is common, reading labels on foods and asking questions about ingredients at restaurants is important and recommended.
Be prepared: Patients with food allergies should always be prepared to recognize and treat their reaction, should one occur. Remember, since exposures to the allergic foods are frequently accidental, being prepared to treat the reaction with epinephrine is paramount. Emergency medical care should always be sought if an allergic reaction to food occurs, whether or not epinephrine is used.
Communicate with others: Communication with family members, friends, and school staff about the patient's medical condition and knowledge of how to administer epinephrine is also important. It is also recommended that the patient wear a medical alert bracelet (such as a Medic-Alert® bracelet) detailing their food allergies and use of injectable epinephrine, in the case the patient is unable to communicate during a reaction.

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How Does Garlic Benefit You?

The reality about garlic is everywhere. What's intriguing is that it's been around from a long time as well. Of course, there are myths also related with garlic, about how it can ward off vampires. In today's world, if it can help ward off the many illnesses that we seem to be getting, it's nothing short of a magic herb.

 Garlic has been used since the ages for good health. But scientists are discovering new and exciting uses of this herb and the goodness it can provide. Here's a look at some of the methods in which garlic can benefit you.
* Managing cancer - Yes, garlic can really help in treating cancer. Studies have shown that some components in garlic such as diallyl disulfide can eliminate the cancer cells and help you in developing a strong immune system. Garlic is furthermore known to minimize papillary lung tumors. Eating a clove of raw garlic is furthermore known to reduce the occurrence of cancers in the first place.
* High blood pressure - Remarkable, but true. Conventional Asian medicine acknowledges garlic as a powerful hypertension controller and this fact is being corroborated by scientists throughout the world today. Garlic can help in checking your blood pressure so that the high levels can come down to normal levels. For garlic to help you in controlling your hypertension, you can simply take one clove each day or drink its fresh juice, crush a clove in warm milk.

Garlic is known to even treat ear infections, especially in small children who are very susceptible to them. Garlic acts as nature's own antibiotic without the harmful effects as it has strong anti bacterial and anti microbial qualities. Juice from the cloves of raw garlic diluted with water can be placed in the ear directly. Do note that this can cause plenty of pain as the garlic starts acting on the microbes that have caused the infection. The pain however lasts for just a little while and together with it the infection also goes away.
Garlic as antibiotic - Garlic is nature's very own antibiotic and the best part about it is that it doesn't get rid of healthy bacteria as well. More and more people are switching to garlic as an effective antibiotic.

Raising antioxidant levels - Garlic helps in pushing up the entire antioxidant levels of the body and this thus has its own chain of actions resulting in decreased serum glucose levels as well as reduced blood pressure.
Garlic gets rid of the toxins from the body so it's a great way to get your body cleaned up.
Garlic contains allicin, a strong compound that acts as an antibiotic and helps heal skin infections as well. It is interesting to know that allicin does not occur on its own but is formed when garlic is chopped or crushed.
In the past garlic was known not only as a vampire repellent but also because it helped in healing bruises and wounds. It was also a well-known treatment for indigestion and flatulence.
Garlic isn't simply healthy for your body, but it's also fantastic for your skin. Frequent consumption of garlic tones the skin, making it soft while also making your nails stronger. One more wonderful benefit is that it regulates dandruff related problems too.
There are certainly some side effects that you need to think about before you liberally start eating garlic to get all those benefits. Anything in moderation works well but if you overdo it, which is, eat a lot more garlic than you should, the following are the most likely side effects that you might probably experience.

* Body odor - If you eat a lot of garlic, you will observe that you have started smelling just like garlic. This is because the garlic is secreted through your pores and this lasts until all garlic is eliminated from your body. The body odor can be embarrassing and can cause a lot of stress.
* Garlic breath - Eating too much raw garlic can cause plenty of bad breath and this could hamper your self-confidence. The only way to counter it would be to eat raw garlic along with your food and to ideally eat it before you go to sleep.
* Digestion issues - Too much of a good thing can only be bad. So also with garlic and scientific studies have shown that if you consume too much garlic, it can burn the lining of your stomach and cause you a lot of pain.
* Allergies - For some people who suffer from garlic allergy, there could be rashes, fever or vomiting. It could also kick in adversely with some anti-coagulants as well. * The sulfur in garlic could result in botulism, which can cause acute stomach upset or even death.

If you've decided to make garlic an important part of your healthy lifestyle, make sure that you get organic garlic which has all the goodness inherent in garlic. In your regular shops, you may run into chemically treated garlic which is of no use. If the garlic bulb has sprouted, it means that the garlic has aged and has lost all its important compounds.
The most effective way to ensure that garlic retains all its beneficial substances is to smash it finely and add it to food. Many people also choose to have garlic juice whereas others hate its smell and taste. For such people, there are plenty of garlic based supplements which work precisely fine and could be like your daily dose of vitamins.
Physically speaking, a bulb of garlic might resemble an onion bulb but metaphorically also, there's a huge similarity. Just as you peel the different layers of an onion, with garlic, everyday new and more potent uses are being discovered.

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