What is the Difference Between a Dairy Allergy and a Dairy Intolerance?
For starters, we need to distinguish between allergies and intolerances, which are two very distinct physiological reactions. Allergies are brought on by the ingestion of normally harmless substances that the body recognizes as foreign (such as casein or lactose). This in turn causes the release of antibodies to fight off their presence in the body. Consequently, the body will release chemical triggers such as histamines to alert the body to the invading matter, which can result in inflammation. Allergies can range in severity, and at their most intense can result in anaphylactic shock. Food intolerances, on the other hand, do not involve the immune system. Intolerances result when an enzyme needed to digest certain substances does not exist in the body. Those suffering from lactose intolerance, for example, do not have sufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase, which is responsible for breaking lactose down in the small intestine. Without the necessary amount of lactase, the lactose ge
