What Are Food Allergy Symptoms

Has it ever dawned on you that the discomfort that you have been experiencing is a result of food allergy symptoms? Food allergy symptoms can appear within minutes after eating, making these symptoms easy to spot. However, sometimes, such symptoms can take up to a few hours, for their effects to show. Hence you may not attribute them to the specific foods that you have just eaten. Instead they are often misdiagnosed as other problems or simply lumped into a ‘catch all’ diagnosis that is not clearly understood.

Food allergy symptoms can be either mild or severe. Some food allergy symptoms merely cause an uncomfortable feeling, yet others can be debilitating or even life threatening. For instance, a mild reaction may give you a skin rash that disperses over a short period of time. On the other hand, a severe reaction can cause severe inflammation and the throat can swell up to the point that you cannot breathe.

For severe food allergies, you need to do something about them. The consequences of not addressing your food allergy symptoms can be poor digestion or other bodily functions that reduce your ability to function normally.

Although food allergy symptoms are mainly digestive complaints, they need not be so. They can show up in almost any part of the body, depending on the irritant and your own chemical system.
Food allergy symptoms can affect many parts of the digestive system. You may suffer from tingling or burning sensations in the lips, mouth, and tongue. You may experience nausea, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, or cramping. If a food allergy develops over time, it may be difficult to pin point whether it is an allergic reaction or a different problem. If you suffer from chronic digestive difficulties, you may have a staple of your diet that is aggravating your system.

Food allergy symptoms can also result in skin irritations and more chronic diseases such as eczema. It is not unusual for a person to develop hives from eating irritating foods.

Although many people do not equate respiratory problems with food allergies, but as with other allergens, food can produce symptoms throughout the respiratory system. You may find yourself experiencing congestion, a runny nose, sneezing, or nasal symptoms resembling a cold. There can also be inflammation of the throat and bronchial passages, resulting in wheezing, coughing, and breathing difficulties. Should you feel a tightness of the chest, you should check it out immediately. Asthma attacks are also very serious and you should seek medical attention as they can be life threatening.

Food allergy symptoms can also result in musculoskeletal complaints as well. Joint pain resembling rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other conditions with joint problems can actually be a symptom of delayed food allergies.

It is possible to do an elimination diet on your own to determine which specific foods are triggering a reaction for you. In an elimination diet, after cleansing your system, you start with foods least likely to cause a reaction, avoid them for a period and then very gradually add them back to your diet. Maintain an allergy symptom journal to carefully observe if there are any food allergy symptoms that arise.

The sooner you learn what your food allergies are, the greater likelihood for a more comfortable and productive life. Not any wiser, many of us have forgotten how a symptom-free life is like as we have lived with our food allergy symptoms for far too long!