There are a number of myths floating around about food allergies. On this page, we are going to clear up a few of the most common misconceptions. Hopefully this will ensure that you are a touch better educated, whether you are the one dealing with an allergy, or whether you are close to somebody who is.
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Food allergies are rare
This is completely false. Sure, food intolerances (slightly different) are more common, however, food allergies are by no means rare. Roughly 6% of people will suffer from some food allergy. Most may not even know that an allergic reaction is occurring since the symptoms are so minor.
You can’t develop allergies
Yes. You can. In fact, it is more common than you may think. During your younger years, you may be able to eat a particular food without too much trouble, however, once you start heading into adulthood, you may start to have an adverse reaction to that type of food. Allergies that develop this way tend to be based upon a high amount of exposure to a particular food.
In addition to allergies developing overtime, you can actually also grow out of allergies. It is not as common, however, it does happen! It seems as though milk and egg allergies are the biggest ones which can be grown out of.
A problem after eating a particular food means that you are allergic
This is completely false. You have to remember than an allergy is a very specific thing. An allergy occurs when your immune system acts in a particular way to a component of the food that you are eating. Food allergies are actually fairly rare. It is more likely that you may be intolerant to food, or the food is just plain bad for you. However, if you do have symptoms which occur over and over again, then you should probably talk to your doctor who should be able to provide you with a wealth of information to help you out.
There are specific techniques for eliminating a food allergy
It is hard to call this one a myth. There are a few people out there who have ‘trained’ their immune system to accept a food which they were previously allergic to. However, please note that this method can actually be fairly dangerous to ‘try out’. If you are going to go down this route, then you are always going to want to receive assistance from your doctor first. They are going to need to monitor the process for you.
You always need an epinephrine when you have a food allergy
This is not strictly true. If you suffer from a mild allergy, then you probably will not need one. However, it is always useful to have one in close proximity as you never know when that mild allergy may develop into something slightly more severe. Remember, an epinephrine can mean the difference between life and death, so it is important that you have one to hand.