Food allergy, food sensitivity, food intolerance. What’s the difference?

Food allergy, food sensitivity, food intolerance. What’s the difference?

Food allergy is an IgE immune response, and it can cause hives, itching, rashes and flares, gut symptoms, vomiting, trouble breathing, and swelling for example, and can be life-threatening.

Food sensitivity is an IgG immune response, and it can cause gut symptoms, skin rashes and flares, brain fog, joint aches and pains (and more), and points to gut dysfunction and leaky gut. Reactions are not life-threatening.

Food intolerance can cause symptoms like an IgG reaction and also isn’t life-threatening. It results from an inability of your body to appropriate metabolize a food or foods, and it won’t show up on IgE or IgG testing.

Just because your food allergy and sensitivity testing came out clean, keep this in mind!

While I am an anti-diet advocate and help people nourish their bodies rather than restrict food after food to manage symptoms, in some cases there are potentially problematic foods that are causing your symptom flares, including you and your little one’s eczema.

Dairy is a common eczema trigger, even without IgE and IgG reactions.

Cow dairy is a culprit, and sheep and goat dairy can be too. Sometimes people that can’t tolerate cow dairy do ok with sheep or goat. This is because the proteins are a bit different, BUT some of the proteins in all these dairy sources are the same.

If you’re struggling with eczema flares and eat dairy, removing it short term (2-3 weeks) can help identify if it’s a problem or not. Short term is key!

I absolutely recommend working with a professional to help identify and address the root cause of your little one’s eczema, other skin rashes, gut problems, and to appropriately address food allergies, sensitivities and intolerances.

Remember that food allergies and sensitivities are not the root cause, and removing foods, food groups and categories of foods from the diet long term can lead to imbalances, symptoms and health problems. This is because your body runs off of nutrients from foods you eat, and when they are missing, your body lacks the fuel it needs to do all it’s supposed to do!