i cannot seem to find any info on this. if i have a food allergy, if i keep eating that food multiple times per day will my body eventually get used to it? my allergic symptoms aren't life threatening so it wouldn't be endangering my life or anything like that. any ideas?

I read an article last weekend about some researches who had given minute amounts of peanuts to children who were allergic to them. Within a period of time, it desensitized them and they could eat peanuts in moderation. Tat's basically what allergy shots do...give you a small amount, increasing over time, to desensitize you. I doubt though that you should eat large amounts of anything you're allergic to without a doctor's supervision.

The way that I have been told that allergy shots work is that when you get the antigen injected into your arm with the allergy shots, your body produces IgG antibodies to these allergens. These IgG antibodies then "lock up with" the antigens that you would be exposed to in the future. The IgG antibodies do not produce the allergic response like the IgE antibodies do. (You develop the IgE antibodies when you become allergic and they cause all of the allergic reactions.) Therefore, the IgG antibodies that you produce with the allergy shots block the allergic reactions that you would normally have.

I, therefore, don't believe that you can build up tolerance by overwhelming your system with the allergen. A child can outgrow the allergy, however, as her immune system matures.

Was the peanut study all children? If it was, maybe there was something about a developing immune system that allows this treatment to work?

Yes, the study was done on children only. And it was very minute particles...something like starting out with 1/2500th of a peanut...wish I could remember where I read this! I;ve been out of town some over the holidays and I think it was in the New Orleans paper but not sure...

I agree with Sannah. I have gluten intolerance. A recent Finnish study showed if someone is Celiac (the hereditary, autoimmune disease of gluten intolerance) and he/she eats less than a teaspoon, 30 mg, of cake, it could be damaging to their digestive tract. This may be the same for other food allergies, I don't know.
Maybe think of food allergies like smoking... cilia of smokers' throats become paralysized as they inhale toxins. Eventually the cilia die...creating new problems, like emphysema. In my mind, food allergies act in a similar manner. A food that our bodies cannot tolerate is harsh on its system, so may damage the villi of the small intestine (just like the cilia in smokers esophagus), for example in Celiacs. I don't know what type of food allergy you have but as far as I know you cannot alter your body. I would love if I could eat gluten again, but in most cases, a food allergy means a lifestyle alteration. The good new is it gets easier with time... Good luck! :)

Actually many celiacs say that they have a food allergy and I don't think that this is entirely true. I thought that with celiac disease the person is unable to produce the enzyme that breaks down gluten so this unmetabolized gluten is what is wreaking havoc on the body. I don't believe there is any IgE or other antibody involved which is really what allergy is all about. If celiac disease was an allergic disease then wouldn't allergists be involved and wouldn't you all be taking some allergy medicine maybe?