Allergy symptoms occur when your body’s immune system overreacts to substances in your environment. Food allergies arise from sensitivity to chemical compounds in food. Allergic reactions to food can cause serious illness and, in some cases, death. The foreign protein that causes the reaction is known as an allergen. In food allergy, a particular type of food is the allergen.

Food allergens are proteins in the food that enter your bloodstream after the food is digested. From there, they go to target organs, such as your skin or nose, and cause allergic reactions. An allergic reaction to food can take place within a few minutes to an hour. The most common food allergies in adults are shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and eggs and the most common food allergies in children are milk, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts.

It is common observed that you cannot get allergic symptoms the first time you eat a new kind of food. But because traces of foods are found within other foods, you may not be aware of the first time you came into contact with a particular allergen. After the food is digested in your stomach; you may have GI symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, or pain. The onset of these symptoms may vary from a few minutes to an hour or two after the food is eaten. People can be allergic to any food, but eight common allergens account for most food allergy reactions. They are Milk, eggs, peanuts, soy, wheat, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.

You might be unaware of the fact that more than one-fourth of all adult Americans agree in one way or other that some of the foods they take in daily routine, cause them recurrent symptoms. These may include, skin rashes, diarrhea, and vomiting etc. The interesting thing is that, most of the time these allergies are not taken as allergies, instead are considered more as food intolerance.

Some people are really food allergic, and they try to control it by making drastic changes in their diets. But not taking few essential foods will not help avoiding allergies, instead it’ll deprive them of very important nutrients.

Health experts are of the opinion that true food allergies are quite rare, probably affecting less than 2% of the adult population. But still, having it checked and consulting a doctor will only and only improve your health condition.