It is a common misconception (particularly among the national news outlets) that food allergies and food sensitivities are the same thing. They are not.

The word “allergy” comes from the Greek allos (meaning “different” or “strange”) and ergon (meaning “action”). An allergic reaction is the immune system’s action against a particular substance such as pollen or peanuts or shellfish. It is usually a quick onset reaction.

The word “sensitivity” comes from the Latin sentire (meaning “perceive”). Food sensitivities are not allergies; they are a condition that can cause symptoms to develop over a period of time. A sensitivity does not manifest itself immediately; there is a delayed reaction.

One part of your immune system reacts to foods to which you are allergic; a different part of your immune system reacts to foods to which you have sensitivity. Food sensitivity reactions, just like allergic reactions, are an immune system response. Even though your immune system’s response to food sensitivities is very different in that it can take much longer to become obvious and it can affect the body in different ways, it is still an immune response.

In order to fully understand the difference between the two, it’s helpful to get a grasp of the immune system and some of its different components.

The Standing Army

Your immune system is your body’s “armed forces” standing at the ready to repel antigens. Antigens are infectious organisms or other substances that the immune system recognizes as alien and perceives to be a threat to the body. Like any armed force, it has different divisions (similar to way a country will divide its armed forces into army, navy, and air force). These divisions of the immune system produce different antibodies, blood proteins that respond to and counteract specific antigens.

IgE

There are two antibodies that are known to produce food reactions. One of them is Immunoglobulin E (IgE). If you ingest a food to which you are allergic, your immune system instantly responds by producing IgE, which creates the allergic response. If, for instance, someone eats something they are allergic to such as peanuts or shellfish, there is a reaction such as respiratory shutdown or hives. Because the reactions happen quickly, often within minutes or hours, it’s fairly easy to identify the culprit food.

IgG

The other antibody that produces a food reaction is Immunoglobulin G (IgG). It is this antibody that creates a delayed onset response.

The IgG antibody is also the “long-term” memory of the immune system. This long-term memory is the mechanism that prevents recurrence of some diseases. For instance, if you had measles as a child, the IgG antibodies will “remember” the measles and protect you from this disease for the rest of your life.

There are always a few of the IgG antibodies present to enable your immune system to mount a rapid defense against invaders such as a virus or bacteria that you may be exposed to. The IgG antibodies will marshal against the invader so you can recover quickly, often within a few days or weeks (and, yes, “weeks” can be a fast recovery time from some antigen invasions).

If you are sensitive to a particular food, your body will keep some IgG antibodies available. If you do not have a food sensitivity, it won’t. If you are frequently or continuously ingesting foods to which you are sensitive, your immune system will generate a large number of the IgG antibodies because it thinks you are under attack, and these antibodies will build up. IgG antibodies will bind to the offending food substances to create antibody-antigen complexes.

Interesting cells called macrophages are in charge of removing these complexes from the body. They do this by engulfing and digesting the antibody-antigen complexes. Macrophages are very aptly named. The word itself comes from the Greek makros (meaning “large”) and phagein (meaning “to eat”), so the word means literally that they’re big eaters, sort of a voracious biological Pac Man. But if the antibody-antigen complexes are present in large numbers, the macrophages cannot remove them quickly enough and they start to build up in the body.

This buildup can occur in many places in the body such as bowel tissue, joints, and the brain.  Because the reactions are delayed, sometimes by hours or days or even longer, the specific food to which you are sensitive is much harder to pinpoint. You may have been ingesting foods to which you are sensitive over an extended period without realizing that your body has an objection to them.

Food Sensitivity Testing

Because food sensitivities are often not instantly obvious symptomatically, the way to determine if such sensitivities exist is to test for them. Food sensitivity testing measures the levels of IgG antibodies being produced in the body and identifies the foods to which the body is reacting. Once these reactive foods have been identified, a program can be tailored to eliminate them.

There are laboratories that will perform these tests upon a patient’s request, but if you suspect you may have a food sensitivity that is affecting your health, your wisest course is to consult your naturopathic doctor.

Green Apple Health Care practices Cause Based Medicine™ which is the systematic process of finding and treating the core cause of health concerns by using a classic naturopathic approach combined with scientific research to optimize patient outcomes.

Our focus is cause-based.  We are relentless in identifying the root cause, the “why” behind the symptoms, and we address our treatment programs to the cause of the health condition, not the symptoms.

Call us at (780) 485-9468 to book a consultation.  If you prefer, online booking is available for both new patients and repeat patients.