For as long as I can recollect, allergies (food or otherwise) have always been a very predominant aspect of my life. Food allergies were especially prominent in my genetics. My father was allergic to gold and cash money (the ink specifically), my brothers were both allergic to chicken and eggs, and my aunt was severely allergic to shellfish. Suffice to say, there were many asthmatic inhalers and nebulizers in my household growing up.

My allergies included but were not limited to chicken, eggs, and chocolate and consumption of those very specific three items initiated very severe asthma attacks, only for my pulmonary airways to be subdued by a steroid-based inhaler (which tasted awful, may I add) and also added unnecessary weight gain to my 5'3" frame.

As I became older, my asthma tapered off, but my allergies did not and my body's reactions were more adverse, similar to flu-like symptoms, hives and atopic dermatitis in some cases. At the very least, I felt fortunate to escape anaphylactic shock on any of those occasions, but not everyone with food allergies is so lucky.

The world in which we live, one would be inclined to believe that food allergies are very common, with every kitchen restaurant in this day and age flooding with allergy tickets/requests, with some of the most common allergies listed as "gluten allergy," "dairy allergy," "peanut allergy" and the seemingly other endless caveats of food restrictions. However, contrary to popular belief, it is estimated that only 4% of Americans are affected by food allergies. And while the prevalence of food allergies may be linked to higher increases, data on patient records remains sparse, which leads to the notion that perhaps food allergies are not really that prevalent, after all.

So, why the sudden exponential increase of food allergies one might ponder? Because apparently gluten, carbs, and dairy are the new evils that are suddenly going to make everyone fat (spoken with a facetious tone of voice), not the two pounds of "gluten-free" cookies or "dairy-free" ice cream you shove in your face or the french fries you sneak a bite of when no one is watching (even though they were cross-contaminated in a fryer that had gluten products), but since your allergy is fabricated, you need not worry about any allergic reaction, just the "getting fat" aspect, right?. (People who are actually affected by Celiac disease, they wish they could eat French fries.)

That must be nice, not actually having to worry about becoming severely ill from food allergies. That's not a luxury that people with real food allergies typically claim. Obviously, it can only be the gluten and dairy that is making you fat, nothing else right (sarcasm), so why bother being considerate to people who have legitimate food allergies that could actually kill them?

And shall we venture into the hell that every restaurant kitchen on earth has to accommodate for your so-called "food allergies?" When your one food item prints up with ten different modifications, every kitchen who values its customers must adhere to those allergies very severely with glove changes, different fryers, rigorous attention not to cross contaminate your food, because the safety of every guest takes precedence. But the limits of every kitchen can be pushed, and when every other ticket comes up with a food allergy (some which are likely legitimate), each ticket has to be regarded with severity and caution, which adds time and special preparation, causing a domino effect, and suddenly you're left wondering why your food is taking an hour.

So don't be that person that fabricates allergies because you're afraid of getting fat, because the people that actually have food allergies despise you for undermining the severity of what food allergies actually entails.