Food Allergies: When Your Body Overreacts to Food

What Is a Food Allergy?

A food allergy is an overreaction of the immune system. The immune system recognizes the food as being foreign and launches an attack to rid the body of the invader. The symptoms can include hives, diarrhea, respiratory symptoms, and in the most severe cases, anaphylaxis. People who have seasonal allergies, eczema, and/or asthma are more likely to have food allergies as these are all manifestations of the immune system overreacting to normally harmless substances. Food allergies can be IgE mediated, non IgE mediated or mixed. IgE causes the immediate reactions, mixed can cause delayed reactions like skin rashes. Non IgE mediated reactions are mainly limited to the gastrointestinal tract, rather than affecting multiple body systems. Though a person can have or develop an allergy to any food, the top eight food allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, soy, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk, and wheat. These foods must be

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indicated on food labels if they are present in the food.¹ Food allergy differs from food sensitivities and intolerances in that the reaction involves histamine (and other inflammatory chemical release) and happens every time the food is consumed and in any quantity.² Approximately 8% of young children have a food allergy and 2-3% of adults have one.³ Dysregulation of the gut microbiome early in life can be a precursor to food allergy.⁴

Oral allergy syndrome is a sub-type of food allergy in which the protein of an airborne allergen is similar enough in a food that one reacts to the food. The symptoms are normally contained in the mouth and throat and include itching and swelling. For example, someone who is allergic to birch pollen may react when eating an apple. Someone who is allergic to ragweed may react to bananas or cucumbers.⁵

Eating Plan

The main eating strategy for living with food allergies is to avoid eating foods you are allergic to. To identify those foods, an elimination diet is used. The elimination diet starts with the elimination phase, which removes all suspected allergenic foods for several weeks. This could be either foods that you suspect give you trouble, the top allergenic foods in general, or a combination. This gives the body a chance to calm down and heal. The second phase is reintroducing foods one at a time and seeing if they cause a reaction. Reintroductions are spaced at least three days apart to catch any delayed reactions. If the food does not cause a reaction, it can return to your diet. If it does cause one, depending on the severity, it will either need to be reintroduced again later or left out completely. In general, true food allergens will need to be kept out of the diet, whereas ones that cause mild gastrointestinal symptoms indicative of a sensitivity or intolerance may be able to come back later with some limits in quantity or other support. The final stage is to live with the personalized diet you need, avoiding food allergens and replacing them with foods your body will like. Working with a nutritionist is helpful to make sure you are not missing any necessary nutrients and having an interesting a diet as possible.⁶

Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish, flaxseed, and supplements have been shown to help with allergic symptoms. By supplementing with 3.2g EPA and 2.2g DHA and improving the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fatty acids, 40% of those in a randomized control trial showed improvement in their respiratory allergy symptoms.⁶ Obviously, someone who is allergic to fish or to flaxseed should not consume them.

Supplements

There are not really supplements that are specific to food allergies, but reducing the overall allergic response can help, therefore, the supplements we look at here are recommended for allergies in general, and the aim is to reduce the overall allergic load.

Quercetin is found in multiple foods like apples and onions and is used to calm down the cells that release inflammatory chemicals in response to allergens. Quercetin can be used as a preventative for allergies. Quercetin is not well absorbed so it is normally sold in blends with bromelain and vitamin C which helps with absorption.⁶

Freeze-dried stinging nettle extract one to three times daily is useful in regulating histamine and other inflammatory chemical release from allergic reactions. 57% of patients said that stinging nettle relieved their allergic rhinitis symptoms. The have been rare allergic reactions to stinging nettle and gastrointestinal upset is possible.⁶

Living with food allergies can be a challenge both for the person with the allergy and those that around them, but by identifying which foods you react to and controlling your allergies in general, you can take control of your symptoms and get back to a more normal life.

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References

1. Yu W, Freeland DMH, Nadeau KC. Food allergy: immune mechanisms, diagnosis and immunotherapy. Nat Rev Immunol. 2016;16(12):751-765. doi:10.1038/nri.2016.111
2. Gargano D, Appanna R, Santonicola A, et al. Food Allergy and Intolerance: A Narrative Review on Nutritional Concerns. Nutrients. 2021;13(5):1638. Published 2021 May 13. doi:10.3390/nu13051638
3. Tordesillas L, Berin MC, Sampson HA. Immunology of Food Allergy. Immunity. 2017 Jul 18;47(1):32-50. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.07.004. PMID: 28723552.
4. Berni Canani R, Paparo L, Nocerino R, et al. Gut Microbiome as Target for Innovative Strategies Against Food Allergy. Front Immunol. 2019;10:191. Published 2019 Feb 15. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.00191
5. Mastrorilli C, Cardinale F, Giannetti A, Caffarelli C. Pollen-Food Allergy Syndrome: A not so Rare Disease in Childhood. Medicina (Kaunas). 2019;55(10):641. Published 2019 Sep 26. doi:10.3390/medicina55100641
6. Rakel, David. Integrative Medicine 4^th ed. Elsevier, 2018.
7. Image by <a href=”https://pixabay.com/users/kurious-679098/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=995053″>Kurious</a&gt; from <a href=”https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=995053″>Pixabay</a&gt;