Keep Your Cool: The Milk Allergy Story

Having a milk allergy can be an annoying allergy to have, especially if milk is one of your favorite beverages. Downing a huge glass of moo juice now becomes an enormous problem laced with a fit of rashes and swelling that no glass of milk can possibly be worth. Still, there are ways to overcome a milk allergy so that you can enjoy your favorite white beverage again and this article will briefly outline a lot of what you need to know in terms of what a milk allergy is and how to get around it to enjoy your milk once again.

What is it?

A milk allergy is the body's reaction, via the immune system, to the product of milk or dairy. More specifically, it is how the body reacts to a specific protein in milk or dairy or in the cow's milk product. Many people are allergic to cow's milk and it is likely the most common food allergy in the world. Two proteins called casein and whey are the common allergens in cow's milk. Casein, in fact, accounts for about 80 percent of the milk's protein, making cow's milk a huge problem for allergy sufferers.

Interestingly, several studies have come to show us that some infants (about two to three percent) are allergic to milk at birth but eventually grow out of it. An allergy to cow's milk can, however, come into play later in life and affect lots of grown adults. There is no known common reason as to why or how this occurs later in life but it is quite common that people develop allergies of all sorts of different kinds in their adult and senior years of life.

Symptoms

Symptoms of allergies to cow's milk include, but are not limited to, manifestations that affect the skin, respiratory system, and other systems of the body. The most common skin reactions include reddening of certain areas like the lips or eyes, itchy red rashes, hives, black eyes, and swelling of facial areas. Some digestive reactions also can occur including diarrhea, cramping, bloating, and nausea. Basic respiratory symptoms also occur like sneezing and watery eyes, runny noses and itchy throats.

The Answer?

The only real common answer to milk allergy is to avoid the milk. Stay away from what causes you the allergic reactions and you will be fine. Look for alternative products like soy milk and lactose free milks and enjoy those instead. Milk and cookies is still possible, but it'll have to be without our friendly cow's contribution.