How are Food Allergies and IgE-Mediated Reactions Related and Why Should We Care?
Over the past years, food sensitivities and intolerances have increased, and with food intolerance prevalence increasing, awareness and detection indicators can also help us understand, identify, and address food sensitivities.
IgE-mediated food allergies are triggered when the person’s immune system reacts abnormally to a specific food, occurring quickly from a few minutes to a few hours. When the food is consumed, allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies are released into the bloodstream, causing the typically high-risk symptoms including coughing to anaphylaxis at its most severe.
IgE-mediated reactions are triggered when parasites or other possible pathogens enter the system and a release of histamine occurs, which causes symptoms such as coughing, wheezing, and hives. Additional symptoms include hives, vomiting, coughing, wheezing, and decreased blood pressure. (I experience hives whenever I eat a food that I’m sensitive to but I am currently investigating whether it’s IgE-mediated or otherwise.)
Common food allergens include:
- Milk
- Egg
- Soy
- Wheat
- Peanut
- Tree nuts
- Fish
- Shellfish
For IgE-mediated food allergies, the best approach is to completely avoid these foods due to the high-risk nature of allergy responses. However, recently it looks like the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved an injection that reduces anaphylaxis caused by IgE-mediated allergies. Additionally, the released note notes that the drug is intended for repeated use to reduce the risk of allergic reactions and is not approved for immediate emergency treatment.
Who’s at Risk for Food Allergies?
If you or your family members have a history of asthma, environmental allergies, or eczema, you may have an increased risk for allergy. This is because
How to Monitor and Detect?
Currently, the gold standard for diagnosing a food allergy in a hospital setting is to give you or your loved one the suspected trigger food in a controlled setting. This food challenge test can also be done in the future to measure if you or your loved one has outgrown the food allergy.
Blood Tests
Blood tests can also be used to measure the level of IgE antibodies produced in the body from food consumed, however, negatives can include detection occurring for only foods consumed within a certain time frame. Additionally, blood tests should not be done on foods currently being consumed. Due to these constraints, using blood tests, may not be the best option due to its limited detection capabilities.
Does the Processing of the Food Matter?
Research supports that depending on how the food allergen was prepared, the food may be tolerated without stimulating a major reaction. Examples include cooked eggs in a cake heated at 350 degrees and cooked for 30 minutes, compared to a lightly and quickly heated egg such as french toast, which would be more well tolerated due to a denatured protein structure. However, this is a difficult situation to consider and may put you or your loved one in a compromised position and avoid the food altogether until further grasp on the allergy profile is determined.
Sources
Why our allergies are getting worse —and what to do about it
IgE-Mediated Food Allergies
Pathophysiology of Non-IgE-Mediated Food Allergy
The clinical burden of food allergies: Insights from the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) Patient Registry