food allergies

[vict]

Dear Sirs, Ladies,
i am very confused about the issue of adults who acquire food allergies,, specifically by eating a certain food too much/often.  There seems to be a school of thought amoung the alternative health folks that say eating any certain food more frequently than every 4 days makes one susceptible to developing allergies to that food.  "normal" doctors  totally poo-poo this theory, even the food allergy network.  This issue is consuming my life.  i am pertrified of one day, for no reason except i eat a certain food alot, that i suddenly get an allergy and can never eat that food again.  Please please help me, what  IS the truth on this matter.  it's driving me crazy. do you know how difficult to explain to people at a business  dinner that i can't eat dairy today, but i can in 3 more days???  or making sure a waiter checks that there's no dairy in my meal when he specifically remembers me ordering cheese a week ago? please help!
victoria

[woleile]

The every four days rule is for folks who are already allergic, to avoid developing new allergies. If you don't already have symptoms of food allergy, you absolutely don't have to worry about that.

And BTW developing an allergy to a food doesn't necessarily mean "never again" eating it. More often, you avoid that food for three months or so and that calms the immune reaction enough that you can go back to eating the food in moderation, i.e. not every day.

[LukeL]

I think when they say allergy they actually mean an intolerance where you will get GI symptoms and possible headaches and other vague symptoms. But I would say this is a crazy theory as many people consume a pint or more of liquids like Coffee, Milk, Orange Juice etc every day for decades and never get sick.

The key thing is food rotation. Don't eat Cabbage every single day, some days have broccoli instead. Rotate whole fish with chicken or lean beef once or twice a week. Don't eat the same kinds of cheese every day also. The key thing is to rotate food items from the same food group or family of foods.

By doing this you will be far less likely to get an intollerance if anyone even exists. Also it will keep you on a healthy eating plan by keeping a wide vairety of healthy items in your diet.