"I'm Allergic to..." No! You're intolerant!!

Just have to get this little story off my chest!  I'm getting pretty annoyed at the amount of people (step forward latest culprit Victoria Beckham, who wile in Italy, insisted she was allergic to pasta!) who cut lots of things out of their diet insisting that they are allergic to dairy, wheat, red meat etc....

If you get a little bloating, or discomfort after you eat bread etc... THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE ALLERGIC to wheat!  It means you are potentially intolerant.  An allergy is when you have a more severe reaction to eating something.  My best friend's little boy is allergic to eggs and he swells up like a balloon if he has the slightest touch. Poor mite.

OK - now I've got that off my chest I have to share a recent interlude with a friend of mine.  Whilst chatting to another mutual friend of ours who was coming to dinner, she was informed of all the latest things she was "allergic" to and had to avoid.  The list included among other things, alcohol.  My friends husband upon overhearing this list piped up sympathetically  "Oh - I completely understand.  Whenever I have a few too many beers, I wake up the next morning feeling dreadful!"  Our friend never did quite catch the irony in this statement :o)

I hear ya. My aunt stopped eating all meat and dairy about three years ago.

Now, if she has cheese.. Her eyes swell up.

She's not allergic to it. It's just her body's way of saying "what the heck!" 

I just read a little article in the newspaper that said they tested like 400+ people who claimed to have food allergies and only half did.  So, not only do people not understand the difference between allergies and intolerance, BUT one bad reaction to something and they won't eat whatever they think caused it

I have a wheat intolerance. I know it is only an intolerance, but I find it is easier to say I am alergic, rather than have to go into the very indelicate details about how my intolerance effects me. I think describing it as a little "bloating and discomfort" is not really fair, in my case it can actually be rather painful, not to mention incredibly embarrassing unless I am alone. 

It is also easier for me to say no, if I think of it as an allergy, tell others I have it and therefore in cases where I would otherwise be tempted to have some I have effectively made it impossible to tempted (even though it hurts sometimes pasta, pizza, cake, bread etc are tempting).

I doubt you would talk about a vegetarians voluntary choice not to eat meat in such terms. Real dietary intolerances should not be given less respect than the decision to be vegetarian or vegan.

Original Post by orangejumper:

I have a wheat intolerance. I know it is only an intolerance, but I find it is easier to say I am alergic, rather than have to go into the very indelicate details about how my intolerance effects me. I think describing it as a little "bloating and discomfort" is not really fair, in my case it can actually be rather painful, not to mention incredibly embarrassing unless I am alone. 

It is also easier for me to say no, if I think of it as an allergy, tell others I have it and therefore in cases where I would otherwise be tempted to have some I have effectively made it impossible to tempted (even though it hurts sometimes pasta, pizza, cake, bread etc are tempting).

I doubt you would talk about a vegetarians voluntary choice not to eat meat in such terms. Real dietary intolerances should not be given less respect than the decision to be vegetarian or vegan.

I didn't mean to disparage anybody who truly physically suffers due to an intolerance.  I understand exactly how painful it can be as I suffer myself. I think your key phrase is "real dietary intolerances".  I'm talking about the people who don't have real dietary intolerances, but act as if they do.

e.g. people who say they are "allergic to bread" because if they eat some then they get a slight bulge and their clothes don't lie flat.  I guess what I'm saying is you are not allergic to something if your sole reason for not eating it is because you want to look good in a slinky dress!!

I wouldn't equate a vegetarians decision not to eat meat on the same scale as a dietary intolerance though - unless the reason for giving up meat was an intolerance.

Original Post by alle0299:

I just read a little article in the newspaper that said they tested like 400+ people who claimed to have food allergies and only half did.  So, not only do people not understand the difference between allergies and intolerance, BUT one bad reaction to something and they won't eat whatever they think caused it

That's my husband! He got a bad rash one time after eating salmon, and now tells everyone he's allergic to seafood. I think he just wants an excuse not to have to eat it, though it doesn't stop him from trying mine on occasion.

I've been with my own aunt when her tongue has swelled up and blocked her breathing after eating strawberries or shellfish.  It took a visit to the ER, an adrenalin shot and lots of benydril to enable her to breathe.

That, my friends, is an allergic reaction. 

Feeling a little unwell after eating or drinking too much is not.  It does provide a convenient excuse for not eating something you don't want or to persuade a restaurant to leave something off your plate that you don't want.

Original Post by clairelaine:

I've been with my own aunt when her tongue has swelled up and blocked her breathing after eating strawberries or shellfish.  It took a visit to the ER, an adrenalin shot and lots of benydril to enable her to breathe.

Raw fruits and some raw veggies does this to me. =/

Similar to orangejumper, my own intolerance (lactose) is a lot more than just a little bit of bloat and being uncomfortable for a while. It's considerably worse; as well as your typical diharrea/nausea/gas, one bloating episode had someone asking if I was expecting as my stomach was so swollen and distended it was pressing my shirt outwards a few inches! Extremely uncomfortable and awkward. >__<

However, I also struggle with an eating disorder and am in recovery. For people that know about that, I get a lot of "you're just not eating it because of your ED!" which gets very frustrating. Bleh. Please, you have no idea how badly I miss eating brie, or how inconvenient it is when I want to eat out somewhere.

I guess the one advantage with my particular intolerance is that I can take lactaid tables or enzymes. Shame they're so ruddy expensive.

But I see where you're coming from on the "allergy =/= intolerance" problem. Allergic to PASTA? What the hell?

When I had nutrition class I was taught that intolerance to food is when you suffer from GI-related symptoms (nausea, cramps, diahrrea, etc) and a true allergy is not that instead you'd have hives, rash, swelling, troubles breathing, etc.  Apparently those two types of reaction have completely different physiologic-reactions.  

However, that said, I've been in a countless number of other classes over the years that have simply defined an allergy as an adverse reaction to food.  I think that's the way most people believe it.  Also, AA if founded on the belief alcoholics suffer an 'allergic reaction' to alcohol - this allergic reaction results in an inability to control one's self while intoxicated and an inability to avoid drinking.  I don't agree with this at all, it's just kind of interesting.

Interesting.. I have an intolerance to broccoli and what I believe to be an allergic reaction to distilled alcoholic beverages.... with the former I get bloated, feel nauseated, and have awful cramps even with the tiniest amount. With the latter, I develop a rash/swelling on the insides of my arms and legs and tiny bumps (don't know how else to describe them) on my palms and soles of my feet..

Obviously I avoid both and like others have mentioned, I am more inclined to say that I'm allergic to broccoli than intolerant especially when eating out. Restaurants are mindful of allergies, as in they will prepare a meal making sure there are absolutely no traces of the allergen near or in the meal much more than of an intolerance. I've been to restaurants where I've specifically ordered a dish without broccoli given my my intolerance, only to be served the dish with broccoli and expected to just 'pick it out' of my plate because it's only an intolerance and not a full blown allergy... It doesn't work! I hope that makes sense!

I do know people who say they are allergic to things just so they don't have to eat it or worry about the restaurant puting it in their food.

I'm thinking Mrs. Beckam probably is "allergic" to alot of foods.....

Im allergic to certain amounts of high calorie foods - they make me break out in fat.

oh Jayne, that was too funny!

Original Post by tankgirl124:

OK - now I've got that off my chest I have to share a recent interlude with a friend of mine.  Whilst chatting to another mutual friend of ours who was coming to dinner, she was informed of all the latest things she was "allergic" to and had to avoid.  The list included among other things, alcohol.  My friends husband upon overhearing this list piped up sympathetically  "Oh - I completely understand.  Whenever I have a few too many beers, I wake up the next morning feeling dreadful!"  Our friend never did quite catch the irony in this statement :o)

I know this person... and it drives us all crazy to hear about it... constantly hear about ugh

If you really want to get technical, an allergy causes swelling, rashes etc through a histamine response. A minor allergic reaction might just be a bit of itching, tingling and redness or a slight wheeze, and a major one goes all the way up to anaphylactic shock. You might have a minor reaction (so minor you don't even notice it)  to something a hundred times and then suddenly have a whopping one and end up in the ER. It can kill you. An intolerance won't actually kill you, it'll just make you wish you were dead... but there isn't any practical difference in what you should do about it - avoid the known triggers, because allergies AND intolerances both get worse with exposure as your body gets more sensitive to whatever it can't handle. Most people don't know what an intolerance is unless it's to lactose (that's common enough people know all about it...) so it's a lot easier to say 'I'm allergic to X' if you have to tell them anything at all. At least that gets the idea across that you can't eat it, not just that you don't like it or that it's okay if they just expect you to pick it out of the plate.

 coffincritter

You have an allergy.

Celiac Disease is a reaction of gluten in wheat. It's hard to follow a gluten feel diet but it has gotten easier with stores offering things. MSG also make me really sick. I didn't make it through a meal at a resturant because they used so much,  stomach pains diahrrea, vomitting. I have a friend that can't eat certain meat but she isn't sure which ones because of the additives -her throat closes up.  I can't eat walnuts , I keep an eppy Pen - my mouth and throat will start itching and will close up. I can eat other nuts. I have students at school with nut allergies, dairy allergies It's fun keeping up with all of them.  Red wine makes me sick - hot/face flushed/ sick after one glass.  It' weird how our bodies respond to things.

Original Post by e-runs-with-scissors:

Original Post by tankgirl124:

OK - now I've got that off my chest I have to share a recent interlude with a friend of mine.  Whilst chatting to another mutual friend of ours who was coming to dinner, she was informed of all the latest things she was "allergic" to and had to avoid.  The list included among other things, alcohol.  My friends husband upon overhearing this list piped up sympathetically  "Oh - I completely understand.  Whenever I have a few too many beers, I wake up the next morning feeling dreadful!"  Our friend never did quite catch the irony in this statement :o)

I know this person... and it drives us all crazy to hear about it... constantly hear about ugh

 I also know this person, she wrote in big block letters on her reply card to my wedding all the things I couldn't have at my reception.  As it I wasn't already GLARINGLY aware of her food issues after knowing her for 15 years.

I have an allergy to green grapes, and flax seeds.

How do I know it's an allergy and not an intolerance?

I don't just feel sick, bloated and nauseous.

It's bad enough that I throw up within half an hour of eating them, more often than not if I eat even a handful of grapes, it'll be 5 minutes later that they're back up and out.

I am then sick the rest of the day, and don't want to eat anything at all.

I would think that's an allergy? Or is that a very severe intolerance?