Tomato Allergy: The Symptoms

Tomato allergy does exist and, for people that suffers because of it, it can be quite obnoxious and the outcome really bad. Such people feel certain symptoms of tomato allergy when they come in contact with food containing tomato, like a sandwich or a slice of pizza. Among the symptoms, feeling the lips tingle or the chest constricting are well known.

There are two different types of reactions to food that may be considered too similar to differentiate: food intolerance and food allergy. The first can lead to the appearance of certain symptoms, but it is not life threatening and, even if the symptoms are hard to bear, they are not as bad as in an allergy. Real tomato allergy causes a histamine reaction to a substance existing in the skin or the juice of the vegetable.

A thing that you can do is to write down under which circumstances you feel the symptoms for the first times. Usually, tomato allergy appears immediately after the food containing tomato is eaten. You can provide your physician a lot of information, so they can identify if you suffer from a real allergy or just food intolerance.

Among the symptoms determined by tomato allergy are a swollen mouth, hives, vomiting, diarrhea, or difficult breathing and skin rash. You should know that you can experience these symptoms not only when you eat tomatoes, but even when your skin gets into contact with the raw fruit. On the other hand, other people with tomato allergy can even eat ketchup or tomato juice, if the product is processed.

Tomato allergy usually does not come only by itself. As the tomato is part of the Deadly Nightshade family, as well as the potato, the eggplant and the tobacco, it is to be expected that you can develop bad reactions to these plants, too.

In order to discover whether you really have a tomato allergy or not, you can ask for an appointment with an allergist, so you can run some tests. The doctor will ask for a blood test and an allergen test. The later consists of some food proteins to be injected into your back, so the doctor can see very fast whether your skin develops particular symptoms in that area. The result of the blood test will show if you experience an increase of IgE allergy antibody in your blood.

The best way to counterattack the symptoms of tomato allergies is to stay away from them, if you notice that you develop some reactions immediately after you eat tomatoes, or foods containing traces of tomatoes. You should know that allergies worsen after each ingestion of the food causing them, so it is best to take action right away.

Also, at the first signs of allergy, like difficulty in breathing or a swollen neck, you should call for the doctor, to avoid getting into anaphylactic shock.