A food allergy can be defined as a chronic or immediate inappropriate reaction to ingestion of a food. Broadly speaking, if the immune system is involved in the reaction, it is called an allergenic response. If the immune system is not involved, such as in upset stomach, nausea, cramping, or headache, it is called a food "sensitivity" response. This distinction may seem academic, but it is important to distinguish to provide proper treatment. With a bona fide food allergy, whose classic symptoms will be discussed below, the best approach is to "decrease the burden," in other words avoid the allergen whenever possible. After a period of clearing the offending food from the bloodstream (which may take 7 days to 7 months to forever) some people may be able to take the food in frequently (no more than every 4 days) without ill result. The very best way to determine food allergenicity is the "elimination and challenge" diet discussed in Dr. Ronzio's article. Food sensitivities may be healed by heeding Hippocrates' maxim, written many hundreds of years ago, "to many this has been the commencement of a serious disease when they have merely taken twice in a day the same food which they have been in the custom of taking once."

Some foods contain histamine, the biological chemical responsible for itchiness, red skin rashes and increased mucous production. This is why you can buy synthetic "antihistamines" in the drug store to temporarily quell symptoms of allergy. Much better to avoid the foods: sausage, sauerkraut, tuna, wine, preserves, spinach, tomato. Other foods cause excessive release of histamine from the white blood cells ("mast" cells) that store it: eggs, milk, shellfish, strawberries, tomatoes, chocolate, bananas, papayas, pineapples, certain nuts, alcohol. How about supporting our natural antihistamine, cortisol, which is secreted from the adrenal gland cortex? Licorice root is excellent for adrenal support. Check it out. Each and every person in a unique individual, and treatment must reflect this principle. Ironically, the most common food allergens are ones that are ubiquitous in the American diet: wheat, corn, milk, sugar, soy. It is almost impossible to find canned, boxed or prepared foods without most of these ingredients lurking silently within. "Amaranth" and most all other cookies have wheat as the first ingredient; sparkling "natural" sodas contain corn syrup; good old Campbell's soups may contain lactose, dextrose, corn starch, soy oil. Why are so many people suffering from food allergies today? Hearken back to the quote from Hippocrates. Because we eat wheat, milk, orange juice, sugar, corn and soy constantly, daily, without a break.

Some of the most common warning signs of food allergy are:

• Dark circles under the eyes (allergic "shiners")
• Puffiness under the eyes
• Horizontal creases in the lower eyelids
• Fluid retention and bloating (not the premenstrual kind)
• Chronic swollen glands (under the jaw, armpits, groin)

• Gastrointestinal: Canker sores, celiac disease (an extreme intolerance to a fraction of wheat called gliadin, which produces crippling diarrhea and weight loss), stomach ulcer, gas, irritable colon, malabsoprtion, ulcerative colitis (may often produces blood in the stool and a constant hungry feeling).
  
• Genitourinary: Bed-wetting (eneuresis), chronic bladder infections (cystitis), kidney disease
  
• Immune: Chronic infections including ear infections
  
• Mental/Emotional: Anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, insomnia, irritability, mental confusion, personality change, seizures.
  
• Musculoskeletal: Bursitis, joint pain, low back pain.
  
• Respiratory: Asthma, chronic bronchitis, wheezing.
  
• Skin: Acne, eczema (dry or weeping, itchy, thickened, reddened patches of skin usually on the face, wrists and inside elbows and knees), hives, itching, skin rash.
  
• Other: Irregular heart rate, edema (fluid swelling), fainting spells, fatigue, headache, hyperlglycemia, itchy nose or throat, migraines, sinusitis.