Jax
07-10-2009, 03:24 PM
The topic of food allergies, intolerances or sensitivites can be a confusing one, especially when you start out on this voyage of discovery and especially if you are attempting it alone. From what I've read and seen, I find that sometimes sensitivity and intolerance are one and the same, or allergy and intolerance are grouped together and called a sensitivity to food.
So I thought I'd stick a post in that might help you distinguish between the categories. I've taken the following categories from Erica White's book The Beat Fatigue Handbook;
Sensitivity - where the immune system is involved. "There are definite symptoms affecting the pulse rate, causing a headache or depression or making you feel systemically ill."
Intolerance - "When there is no apparent immune reaction but a definite disturbance in the gastro-intestinal tract" such as diarrhorea, babdominal cramps and or bloating.
Allergy - I think most peopele realise that this entails anaphylactic shock in reaction to a food e.g. shellfish, peanuts.
There's plenty more information on the net and in books to see if you can define it better, but from the amount I've read so far, Erica puts it quite succinctly.
So I thought I'd stick a post in that might help you distinguish between the categories. I've taken the following categories from Erica White's book The Beat Fatigue Handbook;
Sensitivity - where the immune system is involved. "There are definite symptoms affecting the pulse rate, causing a headache or depression or making you feel systemically ill."
Intolerance - "When there is no apparent immune reaction but a definite disturbance in the gastro-intestinal tract" such as diarrhorea, babdominal cramps and or bloating.
Allergy - I think most peopele realise that this entails anaphylactic shock in reaction to a food e.g. shellfish, peanuts.
There's plenty more information on the net and in books to see if you can define it better, but from the amount I've read so far, Erica puts it quite succinctly.