Does Food Make You Sick?

Does Food Make You Sick?

Do you often suffer from strange symptoms after eating

certain types of foods? Do you get itchy, break out in

hives, swell up or actually vomit? You could be

suffering from a common food allergy.

It’s estimated that over 12 million Americans suffer

from food allergies. Most allergic reactions are mild,

but around 30,000 visits to the emergency room are

reported each year because of the reactions. As many

as 200 deaths each year are attributed to food

allergies.

Studies report up to 8 percent of children have an

allergy to some type of food. The numbers are slightly

smaller for adults, only around 4 percent.

Many children will outgrow their food allergies. But

some will carry these allergies into adulthood and

suffer from them their entire lives.

Eating prepackaged foods, out in restaurants or even

friends homes can cause problems. It’s often hard to

tell what’s added to the foods we eat.

You hate to ask the cook “what’s in this?”, but

sometimes you just have to. Especially when asking can

mean the difference between an enjoyable meal and a

trip to the emergency room.

With the increased cases of peanut allergies, most

packaged foods have started including on the label the

use of peanut oils and even if the processing of nuts

is handled in the same factory.

There’s no cure for food allergies. So the only thing

you can do is avoid the foods that cause the reactions

you can’t deal with.