Is a food allergies addiction sabotaging your weight loss?
View a list of common food allergies and see if you might have an addiction to your favorite foods.

A food allergies addiction can wreak havoc on your whole body, and can sabotage your weight loss goals.

Here's a brief list of common food allergies:

Wheat (bread, baked goods, etc.)
Dairy (ice cream, cheese, milk, yogurt)
Coffee
Chocolate
Sugar (candy, cookies, cereal)

Do you see any of your must-have foods on this list? That's the rub with a food allergies addiction. It creates a strong craving (addiction) to the very food that you're allergic to! Many of the foods that cause allergies are also high-calorie, high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods. With a food allergies addiction, the more you eat, the more weight you gain.

It's really a vicious cycle. The sooner you can identify the foods that you're allergic to and find out if you have a food allergies addiction, the sooner you can address weight loss on an even playing field.

What Causes a Food Allergies Addiction?

When you eat something that you are either sensitive to, or allergic to, the body produces substances called endorphins. Endorphins are morphine-like "feel good" chemicals. But they only last in your system from a few minutes to several hours. So once their supply diminishes, you become uncomfortable and seek to recreate the good feelings--and you crave the food that caused this reaction so more of those "feel good" chemicals are produced.

The only way to stop this food allergies addiction is to stop eating the food that causes the reaction. That is part of the essential detoxification ("detox") that must begin any diet.

An In-depth Discussion of Food Allergies--Gain Insight into the Physical Connection between Food Allergies and a Food Allergies Addiction

The following article from the FDA provides a thorough explanation of food allergies. In this article, the author discusses the more serious, sometimes life-threatening type of acute, immediate response food allergy. But there are also food allergies that cause less serious (delayed) responses that can cause water weight gain and a food allergies addiction. These types of food allergies are best identified through a blood test.

So get yourself a beverage and read the following article. You'll need to follow the link to where the article continues (on the FDA site), but you'll be well-informed afterwards! You will gain some insight into how food allergies can turn into a food allergies addiction.

Food Allergies: When Food Becomes the Enemy
By Ray Formanek Jr.

Imagine what it would be like if eating a peanut butter sandwich or some shrimp, or drinking a tall glass of milk left you vomiting, gasping for breath, and furiously scratching a fresh crop of hives. For some people with food allergies, that's reality.

A food allergy, or hypersensitivity, is an abnormal response to a food triggered by the immune system. While many people often have gas, bloating or another unpleasant reaction to something they eat, this is not an allergic response. Such a reaction is thought to not involve the immune system and is called "food intolerance".

Only about 1.5 percent of adults and up to 6 percent of children younger than 3 years in the United States--about 4 million people--have a true food allergy, according to researchers who have examined the prevalence of food allergies.

It's critical for people who have food allergies to identify them and to avoid foods that cause allergic reactions. Some foods can cause severe illness and, in some cases, a life-threatening allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) that can constrict airways in the lungs, severely lower blood pressure, and cause suffocation by the swelling of the tongue or throat.

An estimated 150 Americans die each year from severe allergic reactions to food, says Hugh A. Sampson, M.D., director of the Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and a food allergy expert.

Allergic Reactions

Food normally doesn't provoke a response from the human immune system, the body's defense against microbes and other threats to health. In food allergies, two parts of the immune response are involved, according to researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. One is the production of an antibody called immunoglobulin E (IgE) that circulates in the blood. The other part is a type of cell called a mast cell. Mast cells occur in all body tissues but especially in areas that are typical sites of allergic reactions, including the nose, throat, lungs, skin, and gastrointestinal tract.

People usually inherit the ability to form IgE against food. Those more likely to develop food allergies come from families in which allergies such as hay fever, asthma, or eczema are common.

A predisposed person must first be exposed to a specific food before IgE is formed. As this food is digested for the first time, tiny protein fragments prompt certain cells to produce specific IgE against that food. The IgE then attaches to the surface of mast cells.

The next time the particular food is eaten, the protein interacts with the specific IgE on the mast cells and triggers the release of chemicals such as histamine that produce the symptoms of an allergic reaction.

If the mast cells release chemicals in the nose and throat, the allergic person may experience an itching tongue or mouth and may have trouble breathing or swallowing. If mast cells in the gastrointestinal tract are involved, the person may have diarrhea or abdominal pain. Skin mast cells can produce hives or intense itching.

The food protein fragments responsible for an allergic reaction are not broken down by cooking or by stomach acids or enzymes that digest food. These proteins can cross the gastrointestinal lining, travel through the bloodstream and cause allergic reactions throughout the body.

The timing and location of an allergic reaction to food is affected by digestion. For example, an allergic person may first experience a severe itching of the tongue or "tingling lips." Vomiting, cramps or diarrhea may follow. Later, as allergens enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body, they can cause a drop in blood pressure, hives or eczema, or asthma when they reach the lungs. The onset of these symptoms may vary from a few minutes to an hour or two after the food is eaten.

For More Information about Food Allergies

FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

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