Milk Allergy Symptoms: Know When They Strike
Who has never drunk milk? Certainly, everyone did. In fact, a lot of people like to drink one anytime of the day. There are also numerous kinds of milk products sold, ranging from powdered milk to liquid milk. Some milks are processed, while others are natural, such as cow’s milk. Yet what one might not know about is the fact that there are people who are allergic to it, no matter how delicious it can be.

A typical processed milk is composed of carbohydrates (lactose), minerals, water, protein, and other essential substances. Milk allergy, on the other hand, happens when the body views proteins present in casein, cow’s milk, and whey as foreign substances and thus reacts negatively toward them. Anyone can develop milk allergy, though children are most likely to be affected by it. In fact, an estimate of 3 percent of babies can develop some resistance to milk, though 80 percent of children who are allergic to milk will develop immunity to it once they reach six years old.

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When it comes to food allergy, there’s no exact time as when they will develop. For instance, infants can have them as soon as they are born, while adults who are in their 30s or even 40s can still acquire milk allergy. Luckily, they will somehow disappear in time and the body will stop treating these milk proteins as if they were foreign invaders. The downside is, at least half of people who are allergic to milk can develop other food allergies. They are also prone to allergic reactions from pets, dust mites, and pollens.

There are three types of milk allergy symptoms. Type 1 symptoms immediately surface once a person ingests cow’s milk. Typical reactions may affect the skin, wherein a person can suffer hives or eczema. Meanwhile, Type 2 happens hours after ingestion of cow’s milk, and the sufferer can experience vomiting and diarrhea. The last one, Type 3, occurs twenty hours or more after ingestion of cow’s milk. Diarrhea is the main effect to a person.
Typically, milk allergy affects the skin, so a person develops rashes or even hives; respiratory system, which can then cause asthma or runny nose; as well as the digestive tract, causing diarrhea and bloating of the stomach. Other signs are hyperactive behavior, vomiting, ear infection, watery eyes, allergic shiners, recurrent bronchitis, and failure to thrive. However, these symptoms are not only restricted to milk allergy. People who are suffering from other food allergies will also exhibit these symptoms, especially runny rose, bloating, and rashes.

So how do you prevent milk allergy symptoms? For one, you can at least avoid milk for some time. But then again, the body needs calcium too, wherein one of the major sources is milk. So just imagine taking away around 240 milligrams’ worth of calcium in your diet. Well, you can always take some calcium supplements daily. There also food that are enriched with calcium, namely, seafood, dried fruit, tofu or rice milk, baked beans, almonds, molasses, and leafy green vegetables.