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Food Allergy

A food allergy is an adverse immune response to a food protein.  Instead of perceiving food proteins as harmless agents, the body mistakes them for an “invading enemy,” releasing harmful chemicals into the body to try to eradicate them.  Food allergy tends to be hereditary and is common in people with environmental allergies (to pollen, dust, mold, etc.)

Typical food allergies include:

Signs of food allergy:

Symptoms of food allergy range from moderate to severe and usually occur within minutes to hours after eating the “problem food.”

Common food allergy symptoms:

  • Skin rash
  • Itching of mouth, lips, tongue, throat, eyes, skin, or other areas
  • Swelling (angioedema) of the eyes, lips, tongue
  • Difficulty swallowing and breathing
  • Digestive trouble (flatulence, cramping, diarrhea, etc.)
  • Hay fever-like symptoms
  • Hoarse voice
  • Wheezing and/or shortness of breath
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Anaphylaxis

Managing food allergy:

Just as the body can be allergic to dust, mold and pollens, it can have a similar response to food proteins.  When the body encounters those proteins in food items, it may interpret them as an “invading enemy” and mount an immune response to “attack” the enemy.  This can drain the body’s resources and lead to a host of uncomfortable allergy symptoms.

But if you’re tired of simply avoiding the foods that cause your allergy symptoms, there is promising news.  New medical studies1 have validated a treatment called sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) as a useful approach to diminishing allergy symptoms.  SLIT uses under-the-tongue drops of allergenic extracts designed to desensitize the body to food proteins.  SLIT has proven successful in reducing allergy symptoms to various food items.

AllergyEasy clinics offer under-the-tongue serum drops that contain extracts of 59 different food items.  Contact AllergyEasy to find a clinic near you.

1 See Research Studies for medical literature on sublingual immunotherapy and food allergies.

About The Author

Stuart H. Agren, M.D.

Stuart H. Agren, M.D. completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine from Tulane University School of Medicine in 1974. He completed additional training at L.D.S. Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah and then established his private medical practice starting in 1975. Dr. Agren completed a mini-residency in Industrial Medicine at the Robert Johnson School of Medicine at Rutgers University and also completed training to become a certified Medical Review Officer.

Dr. Agren was the Medical Director at TRW and McDonnell Douglas in Mesa, Arizona and at Stauffer Chemical and Kennecott Copper in Salt Lake City, Utah. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at Arizona State University.

In his private medical practice, Dr. Agren specialized in family practice and allergy. In his work as a private practice allergist, he was one of the first doctors in the country to prescribe sublingual immunotherapy to his patients as an alternative to subcutaneous immunotherapy (allergy shots). He has also been a trailblazer in the field of food allergy treatment and research, developing a program to treat multiple food allergies simultaneously using sublingual immunotherapy. Dr. Agren has been featured on local CBS, NBC, and ABC news affiliates and won the peer-nominated “Top Doc” award from Phoenix Magazine.

After 20 years in private practice, Dr. Agren became the Founder and President of AllergyEasy, which helps primary care physicians around the country offer allergy testing and sublingual immunotherapy treatment to their patients. Over 200 physicians in over 32 states use the AllergyEasy program to help their patients overcome environmental and food allergies and asthma.