Allergies and Intolerance - What's The Difference?

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Many parents often struggle to tell the difference between an allergy and intolerance. This can become a common issue when it comes to deciding what your child should and shouldn’t eat, or in some cases, should completely avoid for their own safety.

The easiest way to distinguish between an allergy and intolerance is the severity of the body’s response. If you have an allergy, your body kicks your immune system into gear and often causes a rather severe reaction. If you’re intolerant, then it’s your digestive system that starts acting up.

Symptoms of intolerance

If your child is intolerant to some foods, look for the following symptoms:

Nausea
Diarrhea
Bloating
Gas
Constipation
Cramping

Intolerance can develop at any age, so something your child previously consumed with no issues could become problematic later on. Intolerances usually aren’t life-threatening, but it can put your child under a lot of stress and even pain.

Symptoms of allergies

If your child has an allergy, look out for the following:

Hives on the skin
Swelling and intense itching
Difficulty breathing
Digestive problems

Most food allergies are caused by reactions to milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soybeans, and eggs. It’s important to identify these allergies as soon as possible as the reactions they cause can be fatal. Your doctor will typically give you self-injectable epinephrine to help combat a severe allergic reaction.

Below, we’ve included a helpful infographic that will explain more about food allergies in babies and children and what you should be looking out for.