About food intolerance and allergy

Many people think that food allergies and food intolerances are the same, however there are many significant differences as follows:

–   Allergies tend to produce an immediate response after ingestion whereas an

–   Allergies are IgE mediated whereas intolerances produce IgG antibodies

–   The incidence for allergies is relatively low, whereas the incidence for intolerances

is relatively high

–      Allergies tend to be a result from infrequent exposure whereas intolerances result

from frequent exposure

–      The mechanism for an allergic response involves a rapid release of histamine from

mast cells, whereas the mechanism for food intolerance involves the slow

formation of antigen/antibody complexes which are deposited in tissues and cause

inflammation

–      Allergies tend to produce classical predictable symptoms such as rashes, sneezing,

hay fever, breathing difficulties, asthma, and even anaphylactic shock, however

intolerances can produce many symptoms that can affect any part of the body and

patients often report multiple symptoms

–       Allergies can be fatal whereas food intolerances are not life-threatening

–       Allergie elimination of foods that produce high IgG levels

–       Allergies show positive in a skin-prick test, whereas food intolerances give a negative result

–       Allergies are often self-diagnosed as it is usually obvious which food or foods cause

the problem, but it is much harder to say which foods are causing the problem

with food intolerances and therefore the importance of IgG test