What is the difference between food allergy and food intolerance?

What is the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance?

• Answer:

  An allergy is caused by your immune system reacting to specific a specific protein or proteins. For example, what some people term an iodine allergy, is actually the body's immune system reacting to a long chain protein which just happens to have an iodine molecule attached to it. A food intolerance is basically, a descriptive term for the body simply not being able to digest and utilize the specific food in question. The body reacts fairly immediately with stomach distress, diarrhea, and or general feelings of discomfort. With lactose intolerance for example, the body reacts with a range of gastric distress signals. Stomach ache, spitting up, heart burn, gas, diarrhea or constipation can all be part of an intolerance presentation. Interestingly, you can have and an allergy to the same food. Allergic reactions are in part caused by a stressed liver, which is no longer able to keep up with the demands the environment and body needs at the present moment. This e plains why the body response to a cold is very similar to it's response to an allergy. Your body might be able to tolerate wheat say, at a certain smaller amount, but when you eat wheat every day, grass allergies might kick in full blown, if you mow the lawn. There are libraries of books on this subject. I hope I've helped not made more confusion.