Food Sensitivities and Allergies: Here’s What You Need to Know

Eating food is about more than just filling your stomach to get the proper nutrients; it is really an experience. When you sit down to eat a dish or a meal, your body will begin to break down the food that you have consumed into nutrients that your body can absorb for energy and to facilitate necessary bodily practices. Like with any experience that you may participate in, eating can be a good time or a bad time. Typically, what makes the eating experience fun, is the taste and presentation of the food after it’s been made into a dish. On the other hand, what makes your eating experience bad is when your body actually has trouble digesting the food. This is typically due to having a food sensitivity that can either be a food allergy or simply a food intolerance.

Difference Between a Food Intolerance and Food Allergy

It is understandable that you might not know the difference between food allergy and food intolerance. Most people write them off as the same thing, more or less. While they may seem similar, there are some very fundamental differences. A food intolerance tends to have similar symptoms to a food allergy, but less intense. They tend to mostly result in digestive problems.

Food allergies on the other hand, are the result of your food triggering a response to your autoimmune system. Your body’s reaction to a food allergy can be dire and requires emergency medical treatment. The only way to ensure that you have a food allergy and not a food intolerance is to get tested by your doctor.

Next time you physically suffer from ingesting your food, make sure to gauge your body’s response to see if a visit to the doctor is necessary.