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Sometimes the body is affected by allergies of a modest nature that, in and of themselves, don't cause any particular disturbance; a classic example is that of a person without any particular respiratory symptoms who, however, has a 1^ class RAST rating for environmental dust or in other words, dust mites.
This case is typical of those people who don't normally manifest allergic symptoms, but who start sneezing incessantly when they clean the attic, raising large quantities of dust; in this way the amount of "enemy substances" becomes so great that it triggers a reaction in the body. In these cases a blood exam can show small quantities of Immunoglobulin E, signaling to us that we're facing an allergy, even if the symptoms are extremely limited.
On the other hand, a different phenomenon occurs in this kind of situation when food intolerances or other hypersensitivities that raise the level of inflammation within the body are present at the same time. Under these conditions, even a very mild allergy can give rise to extremely intense or serious symptoms that often astound the very doctors who treat them. The reason why such a small quantity of IgE can provoke such important symptoms is actually quite simple and can be explained with an analogy. Every body has a threshold level that can be saturated by various forms of inflammation and when the level is exceeded, the allergic symptoms that we all know appear.
Consequentially, as mild as the allergy may be, it still has the same effect that a cup of gasoline would have if poured over cold ashes: no reaction if the fire is really out, but if there are still some hot coals under the ash (as in the case of a coexisting inflammation caused by a food intolerance), a blazing flame is produced. At that point, the most effective therapy for a form with these characteristics is one which is first of all directed towards regulating the food intolerance or the underlying inflammation, and in a second moment addresses the regulation of the allergy.
In other words, it can happen that people with pollen or dust mite allergy symptoms are cured thanks to a rotation diet with regard to tomatoes or cheese. This has also been documented and qualified for serious respiratory pathologies , as for diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
Despite their obvious differences, in clinical practice it's necessary to keep in mind how allergies and intolerances affect each other in turn, explaining the appearance of many symptoms that are difficult to interpret from a classic allergological standpoint.
An intolerance to milk (perhaps on the part of a patient who likes it very much and who has never had a problem digesting cheese) can be the cause of a headache that is resistant to any type of cure, it may hinder the healing of a genital infection, it may amplify the pain of a complex pathology like rheumatoid arthritis. On the other hand, curing the intolerance can help us keep these symptoms under control, as well as others like the acute reactions of a respiratory or skin allergy. However, we must not confuse the psychological (or digestive) dislike for a certain food with food intolerance which, on the contrary, often involves a food that is liked and therefore eaten regularly. As a matter of fact, one of the most strongly implicated mechanisms in the formation of food intolerances seems to be the body's lack of a ‘rest period' with regard to certain substances. Today, almost every food is constantly present at mealtime and because of this our immune systems are no longer able to eliminate the overload of certain food antigens.
Even though not all diseases can be linked to this type of reaction, experience clearly points to the fact that these phenomena can sustain numerous pathologies. This is demonstrated by the fact that, when we cure a food intolerance, the symptoms of an evident pathology are almost always alleviated, the pharmaceutical therapies function again and the patient's overall well-being improves as well.
Doctor Attilio Speciani
Clinical Allergist and Immunologist
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Food allergies 
