What you need to know about your food allergies

Better Nutrition, March, 2000 by Howard Peiper, Nina Anderson

Common Allergens

The most common foods people are allergic to include: peanuts; walnuts; pecans or almonds; and wheat and gluten. Next are fish (especially shellfish), eggs, milk, and soy.

Did you know that, according to the National Institutes of Health, approximately 5 million Americans -- 5 to 8 percent of children and 1 to 2 percent of adults -- have a true food allergy? The International Food Information Council Foundation defines a true food allergy as "a reaction of the body's immune system to something in a food or an ingredient in a food, usually a protein."

Are you really allergic?

You may not be allergic to foods, themselves -- you may have a food intolerance or sensitivity. Such an intolerance could be caused by lack of the specific enzyme needed to digest that food, stress-related upsets, or food poisoning.

Symptoms

Food allergies and intolerances can cause a variety of symptoms including: scratchy throat, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, bloating, hives, lightheadedness, headache, nasal congestion, runny nose, shortness of breath, drop in blood pressure, wheezing, and difficulty swallowing. In extreme cases of food allergy, loss of consciousness and anaphylaxis (a severe reaction to a substance that the body regards as foreign and potentially dangerous), may occur.

Finding the cause

While many reputable sources dismiss the theory that substances such as food additives and preservatives can cause allergic reactions, many believe they can, and often do, play a role. One such believer was Benjamin Feingold. His pioneering diets originally presented in the book Why Your Child is Hyperactive, prohibits the intake of artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives.

Additives

The Food and Drug Administration admits that FD&C Yellow No. 5 (listed as tartrazine on medicine labels) can cause itching or hives in a small number of people. Other dyes can manifest allergic reactions. For example, the coloring used to make food and drinks red -- cochineal extract -- is made from cochineal bugs out of Central America. It has been reported that this substance can trigger anaphylactic shock in people who are allergic to it.

Aspartame, a sugar alternative, is in more foods and drinks than most of us are aware of. In 1981, the FDA determined it was safe, but since that time, research revealed that it contains methyl alcohol, a highly toxic poison that can cause recurrent headaches, mental aberrations, seizures, suicidal tendencies, behavioral disorders, birth defects, skin lesions, and urinary disturbances. In 1985, Richard J. Wurtman, in the journal Lancet, reported three cases of seizures resulting from people ingesting normal amounts of aspartame in foods and drinks over a specified period of time. These people had no previous history of seizures prior to the test. Russell Blaylock, in his book, Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, explains that aspartame has a detrimental effect on the brain's neuro-transmitter function and is implicated in problems related to concentration, focusing, and muscle control.

Additives/flavor enhancers

Other additives such as BHT/BHA can cause symptoms that mimic those caused by food allergies such as difficulty in breathing, fatigue, and skin blisters. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of glutamic acid, and is a "flavor enhancer," according to an August 23, 1999 letter from Paige Sato, a spokesperson for Paramus, N.J.-based Ajinomoto USA, self-described as the world's first (since 1909) and largest supplier of MSG. Ajinomoto USA characterizes MSG as "a natural ingredient, made from corn glucose through a fermentation process similar to the one used to produce yogurt or beer."

Be that as it may, the American College of Allergy & Immunology, in a November 1991 position statement (supplied by Ajinomoto), said that "some people report experiencing moderate adverse symptoms after eating foods high in MSG. Although it has not been proven that MSG is the ingredient causing adverse reactions, in some people, symptoms may be prevented by avoiding foods high in MSG."

The ACAI statement goes on to say that reported reactions to MSG "include skin flushing, tightening of jaw or chest muscles, burning sensations along the back of the neck, nausea, and, most frequently, headaches, which may occur within hours after eating a meal consisting of foods high in MSG."

The statement also says, somewhat confusingly, that MSG is "considered to be a safe food ingredient, and the vast majority of people experience no ill effects after eating foods high in MSG. [...] MSG is not an allergen [...]." Nevertheless, if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's most likely ... a duck. Therefore watch out.

Olestra

The `wonder-fat' substitute, olestra (Olean) is made from cottonseed and soybean oil, from which glycerin is removed and regular table sugar added. Our digestive enzymes cannot break down the resultant sucrose polyester molecules, therefore olestra is reported to pass through the intestines undigested. The Harvard School of Public Health warns that long-term consumption of olestra snack foods might result in gastrointestinal problems, including anal leakage, diarrhea, and possible anaphylactic reactions -- definite allergic reactions to a food.