Monday 30 January 2012

Athletes and Food Allergies

What is an allergy? This is any anomalous reaction where the immune system is involved. Your immune system, which is your body's system of defense, has the ability to produce 'markers' for substances it doesn't like. These 'markers' are antibodies. There are two types of antibodies involved in food allergies: Immunoglobulin type E (IgE) and Immunoglobulin type G (IgG).
There are also two types of allergic reactions. The first occurs when IgE antibodies attach themselves to mast cells in the body. When the offending food, called an allergen combines with an IgE antibody, the IgE molecule forces the mast cell to release tiny granules containing histamine and other chemicals that cause the symptoms of classic allergy - skin rashes, sinusitis, eczema and even asthma. All of these reactions are immediate, severe, inflammatory reactions.
However, most food allergies are delayed reactions, do not involve IgE antibodies and their effects are not limited to your skin or airways. They take anywhere from an hour to three days to show themselves and are more difficult to detect. These are the second type of allergic reactions and involve IgG antibodies.
Delayed food allergy is your digestive tracts inability to prevent large amounts of partially digested and undigested food from entering the bloodstream, to which the body reacts. IgG antibodies do not initiate severe, immediate reactions. However, a large build up of IgG antibodies to a particular food indicates a chronic, long-term sensitivity, or food intolerance. Studies have also found that certain foods can cause the release of histamine and invoke a classic allergic symptom without involving IgE. These include tomatoes, mango, mustard, papaya, pineapple, chocolate, buckwheat, sunflower, lectins in peanuts and shellfish. Researchers also believe that undigested proteins could directly affect mast cells in the gut, causing the classic symptoms of allergy.
There are many reasons why you can develop a food allergy. You may have a lack of digestive enzymes, frequent exposure to foods high in irritant chemicals, an immune system deficiency or an imbalance of bacteria and yeast in the gut, which leads to leaky gut syndrome.
How do you test for food allergies?
The best test for detecting which foods you are sensitive to is a quantitative IgG test. This test shows not only if you are allergic, but also how strong your allergic reaction is.
I have personally experienced the negative side effects of food allergies. My sport suffered a lot, as a result. Do not let this happen to you. Have an IgG allergy test done and move another step closer to peak performance!
I am the proud owner of Diet and Nutrition TV. [http://dietandnutritiontv.com]
The idea for creating Diet and Nutrition TV developed from my personal experience working with athletes, bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts, who all believed what worked for someone else would work for them too. They made the error of dieting and supplementing the same way!http://www.allergy-zero.com/

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