One of the most common allergies that children have is an allergic reaction to wheat. It’s difficult to avoid foods containing wheat or gluten, since in addition to being found in bread, pasta and crackers, wheat is found in foods such as soy sauce and ketchup. While there are more gluten-free foods available now than formerly, kids are known to ‘sneak’ foods that they shouldn’t have or simply eat a food containing wheat by accident.
Food allergies may be the most difficult of all allergies for children or adults to deal with. As Dr. C. Steven Smith wrote in Food Allergy: Accurate Diagnosis Is Often Hard To Reach, the person may not be allergic to the food itself so much as to toxins, preservatives, dyes or other manufactured substances within the food. Other people have a digestive intolerance to gluten or lactose. A natural food, such as an apple, is made up of carbohydrates, fats and proteins (although the food may also contain man-made toxins such as an insecticide). The proteins cause the allergic reaction, which can be life-threatening.
The only cure for food allergies is to avoid eating the food entirely. A child may outgrow the allergy to some foods, but many food allergies are lifelong. Over 90% of all food allergies are to only eight foods: eggs, peanuts and tree nuts, milk, soy, fish, crustaceans and wheat. Doctors recommend that anyone who has a severe food allergy should have immediate access to an epinephrine pen.
C. Steven Smith, MS/MD, FAAAAI is an Allergist in Louisville, KY at an Accredited Asthma, Allergy and Food Intolerance Center. Dr. Smith has been researching environmental allergy control since 1979. A Kentucky native with a lifelong interest in botany, he founded AllerSmith Research Labs and has invented many drug-free products for allergy control. He is highly credentialed. Dr. Smith is board certified in pediatrics and in both pediatric and adult asthma, allergy and immunology. This very experienced Allergist in Louisville, KY and his staff provide extensive evaluations to their patients. The high quality of the care provided mandates that the practice must limit the number of patients that they see. The practice has helped patients with skin contact and food allergies, including allergies to wheat and gluten, as well as sinus infections and asthma.
