Our body will usually process anything that we eat as a way of sustaining our daily needs. Whether it’s calories, nutrients, and vitamins, our diet is usually determined by what we eat and how our biochemistry will react to eating. In the same way, our bodies will also respond to certain chemicals in the body.
If we drink coffee, we get more energetic through a simple adrenaline boost to our body, and if we drink alcoholic beverages, we become more “relaxed.” But when we ingest foreign objects into our body, our immune system might overreact, which can cause an allergic reaction.
Although our bodies will rely on food for energy and sustenance, some individuals are more sensitive to certain food types. For most individuals trying to control their weight or have a healthier lifestyle, being sensitive or allergic to a variety of different food can further complicate things.
Most individuals who have to go on a diet will need to completely revamp their diet plan to avoid a particular kind of food while still having a balanced diet. What’s a good way of addressing such an issue? Most experts would say having a hypoallergenic diet is a great way of planning meals while avoiding food that might be detrimental to your health.
Understand Food Allergy Vs. Intolerance
But before anything else, we need to discuss the critical differences between food allergies and intolerance to food. How does the body react to both? Well, food intolerance is known for being a “milder” form of food allergies. On the other hand, food allergies will usually happen when the immune system’s cells deem foreign substances and objects as “harmful” to the body and overreact, much in food.
The symptoms of food allergies will usually vary, from mild tingling sensations on your mouth to something more apparent, like hives. In more extreme cases, anaphylaxis is one of the more severe symptoms, which can be deadly in several known cases.
When it comes to food intolerance, symptoms are often isolated to the digestive system. Suppose you are having difficulties digesting food different types of food when you might have an intolerance. If you’re having difficulty with food digestion, you might have a food intolerance. This is coupled with other symptoms like diarrhea, excessive amounts of gas, and skin conditions.
Steps For Hypoallergenic Diets
Before you can start picking out food that you might be interested in, you must run through some skin and blood tests. These are guaranteed ways of knowing what type of food that you’re allergic to. Fortunately, some professional allergists have years of experience that help guide you through most of your allergic reactions.
However, knowing what you’re food intolerant to can be a bit tricky, especially that there’s no existing test that can determine what you’re allergic to. One of the guaranteed ways of knowing whether you’re intolerant or not is by monitoring your symptoms while you’re eating something that might cause intolerance to your digestive system.
The hypoallergenic diet plan can also help determine food intolerance. This is a relatively simple way of knowing what your body deems as “undesirable.” The hypoallergenic diet is often called the elimination diet since it involves removing certain food types from your diet then reintroducing them back. This will help identify the type of food that might have a negative reaction to your digestive system.
Preparing Food – The preparation process comprises identifying possible allergies and intolerances that you might have experienced beforehand. Depending on the symptoms, your allergist can help identify them for you.
Eliminating Food – For the next two weeks, your diet will transition towards a hypoallergenic diet. You will need to be extremely careful about what you will take into your system—even eating something that you’re not supposed to mean that you will have to start over from scratch.
Reintroducing food – If you have finished your two-week elimination time, you will notice that your symptoms will have gradually improved. Still, you’ll need to wait for at least five days for much of the symptoms to go away. Finally, you can start reintroducing food that you had eliminated from your diet.
Allergic reactions and food intolerance might seem like mild annoyances, but they can have real-life consequences if you’re not prepared. Although these might be important tips, it’s still crucial that you consult a medical professional before making any final decision. The hypoallergenic diet plan is a great way of knowing what you’re allergic to, but having professional help can decrease the likelihood of health complications.
