Can you be allergic to cheese but not dairy?!


Question: Okay, I have wheat allergy so I'm familiar with what a food allergy feels like. After eliminating wheat from my diet I've felt much better but on occasion I still have slight symptoms of a food allergy even when I'm 100% sure I didn't get any wheat. This had lead me to think I have a secondary food allergy. I've pretty much narrowed it down to cheese. I've already checked and the cheese is gluten/wheat free yet I still get a reaction, but I eat ice cream and have drank very small amounts of milk and been fine. So this leads me to the question, can you have a allergy or intolerance to cheese but not dairy? Or maybe I'm allergic to something they do in the processing of cheese? Let me know what you think!


Answers: Okay, I have wheat allergy so I'm familiar with what a food allergy feels like. After eliminating wheat from my diet I've felt much better but on occasion I still have slight symptoms of a food allergy even when I'm 100% sure I didn't get any wheat. This had lead me to think I have a secondary food allergy. I've pretty much narrowed it down to cheese. I've already checked and the cheese is gluten/wheat free yet I still get a reaction, but I eat ice cream and have drank very small amounts of milk and been fine. So this leads me to the question, can you have a allergy or intolerance to cheese but not dairy? Or maybe I'm allergic to something they do in the processing of cheese? Let me know what you think!

Here's some info I found
Histamine toxicity: Some natural substances (for example, histamine) in foods can cause reactions resembling allergy. Histamine can reach high levels in cheese, some wines, and certain fish, particularly tuna and mackerel. In fish, the histamine is believed to stem from bacterial contamination, especially in fish that has not been refrigerated properly. Remember that mast cells release histamine in an allergic reaction. If a person eats a food that contains a high level of histamine, therefore, he may develop histamine toxicity, a response that strongly resembles an allergic reaction to food.

Food Additives: Another type of food intolerance is an adverse reaction to certain compounds that are added to food to enhance taste, provide color, or protect against the growth of microorganisms. Consumption of large amounts of these additives can produce symptoms that mimic the entire range of allergic symptoms. (Although some doctors attribute hyperactivity in children to food additives, the evidence is not compelling, and the cause of this behavioral disorder remains uncertain.)

The compounds most frequently tied to adverse reactions that can be confused with food allergy are yellow dye number 5, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and sulfites. Yellow dye number 5 can cause hives, although rarely. MSG enhances flavor, but when consumed in large amounts, can cause flushing, sensations of warmth, lightheadedness, headache, facial pressure, pain in the chest, and feelings of detachment. These symptoms occur soon after eating large amounts of food containing added MSG, and are temporary.

Sulfites occur naturally in some foods and are added to others to enhance crispness or prevent the growth of mold. In high concentrations, sulfites can pose problems for people with severe asthma. The sulfites emit a gas called sulfur dioxide, which the asthmatic inhales while eating the food containing sulfites. This gas irritates the lungs and can induce in an asthmatic a severe constriction of the air passages to the lungs (bronchospasm), making breathing very difficult. Such reactions led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the use of sulfites as spray-on preservatives for fresh fruits and vegetables. Sulfites, however, are still added to some foods, and they also form during the fermentation of wine.

I know that what a cow ingests is sometimes past on through the milk. Cheese is more concentrated, maybe if there is any wheat in the cows diet, it could be passed along. Otherwise you may have some reaction to dairy, just that cheese is more concentrated than milk.

This article may help:

http://www.articleadventure.com/Article/...

You are probably intolerant to something used to process the cheese. Even if you read the ingredients on the cheese, you can't be sure there aren't unlisted, undeclared substances in there that might be causing your problems. Cheese is one of the most commonly-recalled products, sometimes due to substances such as sulfites. This site http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html lists food recalls, and it's surprising how often this happens.

I am allergic to milk products and wheat





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