What can you eat when you have allergies?

If a person's immune system reacts sharply to antigens (plant pollen, wool, dust, insect bites, chemicals) or haptens (semi-allergens in food products), then we are talking about an allergy.

In case of allergy, some proteins and polysaccharides entering the body are mistakenly identified as hostile, and the body begins to produce protective antibodies, and then neurotransmitters - hormones histamine, serotonin, tyramine. They are the ones that trigger the mechanism of allergic reaction in the form of dermatitis, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system disorders. Therefore, you need to know what you can eat with allergies and what you can drink with allergies. Especially since allergies can be false.

What foods can you eat if you have allergies?

Almost 90% of all allergic reactions are caused by products such as milk, fish, seafood, eggs, cereals, legumes, honey, nuts, chocolate (cocoa). A fairly large number of vegetables, fruits and berries are also involved in allergies. By the way, Europeans very often have an allergy to celery, the Japanese - to buckwheat, Americans - to milk and peanuts, Australians - to certain types of meat.

“A place of honor” among the potential culprits of itchy skin and deterioration of general well-being in people prone to allergies is occupied by semi-finished products, canned goods, fast food (which is full of “flavor enhancers” and flavorings), smoked foods, ready-made sauces, and sweet carbonated drinks.

Those who suffer from various types of pollinosis (hay fever) experience an allergic reaction to certain foods. Thus, in the case of bronchial asthma, which arose as an allergy to plant pollen, a negative reaction of the immune system is caused by wheat bread, nuts, honey and some fruits. And in the case of so-called aspirin bronchial asthma, one should completely avoid eating raspberries, apricots, oranges, cherries, apples and strawberries, the chemical composition of which includes derivatives of 2-hydroxybenzoic (i.e. salicylic) acid.

What can you eat if you are allergic to cat hair? Almost everything except pork and beef.

What can you eat if you are allergic to house dust mites, cockroaches and daphnia? Here the restrictions concern the inhabitants of the deep sea that have a chitinous shell (chitin is a linear polysaccharide) - shrimp, crabs, oysters, langoustes and lobsters. You will also have to give up snails...

Can you eat sunflower seeds if you have an allergy? If you have an allergy to ragweed pollen, you can't (as well as sunflower oil). With this type of hay fever, you should also avoid eating watermelon, melon, strawberries, citrus fruits, celery, dill and parsley, and spices (curry, pepper, anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and coriander).

What can you eat if you have an allergy to cow's milk proteins (lactalbumin, lactoglobulin and casein)? Everything that is not contraindicated, and what is contraindicated is milk itself, all fermented milk products, butter, cream, cheese, ice cream, and wheat bread. At the same time, tea, compotes, juices, rye bread, all cereals, vegetables and meat, as well as fats of plant origin are allowed in the menu.

Similar recommendations regarding what products can be consumed with allergies are given to those who are not allergic to milk proteins, but have lactose intolerance - that is, they lack the lactase enzyme, which is necessary for digesting milk sugar. And what can you eat with an allergy to gluten and similar proteins of cereal plants? Yes, in principle, everything, except for those products and dishes that contain wheat, rye, oats, barley and millet.

Now, by the process of eliminating what allergy sufferers can't eat, you can easily determine which foods are ok to eat if you have an allergy.

What can you eat if you have a food allergy?

To fully understand what you can eat if you have an allergy, you need to remember about false allergies or, as experts call them, food intolerance, which is observed much more often today than 20-30 years ago.

In this case, the body's negative reaction to many food products has nothing to do with the production of protective antibodies. False allergy cannot be detected by any skin tests for a specific allergen; in this case, the content of total immunoglobulin E (IgE) in the blood is absolutely normal, and there is no specific IgE at all.

Although the clinical picture of such pseudo-allergic reactions is expressed in the same reddening of the skin and rash, headache, sore throat and cough, feeling of heat and dyspepsia.

Biochemical studies have shown that such a reaction after eating certain foods is caused by a sharp increase in the content of biogenic amines - histamine, tyramine and serotonin, which are synthesized in the body from essential amino acids. Histamine is synthesized from histidine, tyramine from tyrosine, and serotonin from tryptophan. And the human body reacts precisely to those foods that contain a significant amount of these amino acids.

What can you eat if you have an allergy to foods containing histidine (which turns into histamine)? Everything except foods with a large amount of this amino acid, which include: cereals (primarily wheat), egg whites, pork liver, shrimp, cocoa, chocolate, cheese, fish (fresh, frozen, salted, smoked, dried), ham and sausages, red wine and beer, sauerkraut, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, bananas, pineapple, strawberries, avocado.

By the way, it's time to reveal the secret of what fish can be eaten if you have an allergy. In addition to histidine, fish contains the protein ichthulin, a fairly strong allergen that turns into the broth when cooked. So, fish soup lovers should keep this in mind. But that's not all. Sea fish has more pronounced allergenic properties than freshwater fish. And that's not all either. It turns out that

During the storage of herring, mackerel, sardines, bonito, tuna, salmon, pink salmon, chum salmon, etc., histidine is converted into histamine (under the action of enzymes of the microflora present in trading bases and stores). And the increase in histamine content can be many times higher than the maximum permissible level. In addition, fish contains the amino acid tryptophan, which is converted in the human body into the "happiness hormone" serotonin. There is as much tryptophan in fish as in sunflower seeds, poultry, rabbit meat and beans.

A good question is what can you eat if you have an allergy to foods that have a high tryptophan content. After all, such foods, in addition to those mentioned above, include chicken eggs, almost all types of meat (except rabbit), beef liver, mushrooms, soybeans, melon, bananas, oranges, dates, dried apricots, chocolate, peanuts, almonds. But the most tryptophan is in caviar (red and black) and cheese, both hard and processed. Hence the logical negative answer to the question: is it possible to eat cheese if you have an allergy. But cheeses made without enzymes - feta, Adyghe, suluguni - eat to your health.

It's time to answer the question - what can you eat if you have an allergy to foods containing tyrosine - a precursor to the hormone tyramine, hypersensitivity to which causes headaches, as well as itchy skin rashes. To avoid these symptoms, you can eat everything except: cheeses, citrus fruits, sausages and smoked meats, pickled (as well as smoked and dried) fish, bananas, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes, spinach, legumes. This also includes brewer's yeast and beer.

What fruits can you eat if you have allergies?

Everyone knows that, despite their high vitamin value, all citrus fruits have the highest allergenic effect on the body - oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruits, pomelo, bergamot. Although vitamin P (biologically active substances quercetin, catechin, hesperidin) included in their composition prevents the production of histamine and serotonin and alleviates the condition in bronchial asthma.

It has been established that red fruits and vegetables have the highest level of allergenicity, orange and yellow ones are slightly lower. And only occasionally can there be an allergic reaction to white and green vegetables or fruits. Therefore, even with an allergy, you can eat apples and pears with green peel, yellow plums, and from berries - yellow cherries, white currants, gooseberries.

Here it is appropriate to finally find out whether bananas are allowed if you have an allergy. Considering their high content of essential amino acids tryptophan and tyrosine, eating bananas if you have an allergy is not recommended. For those who have been diagnosed with an allergy to latex, bananas are simply contraindicated, as well as fruits such as avocado, kiwi, mango and pineapple.

What can you drink if you have an allergy?

First of all, you can quench your thirst with purified drinking water and still mineral water. Tea without additives and flavorings, compote of dried pears and apples, rosehip decoction will not cause any harm.

But you can't drink cocoa, beer, kvass and fruit carbonated drinks if you have an allergy. Also, all types of alcohol are considered potentially highly allergenic drinks, primarily red grape wines, vermouth, various tinctures and cordials.

A separate point is the question - is it possible to drink coffee if you have an allergy? Unfortunately, allergies to caffeine and polyphenol chlorogenic acid contained in coffee are quite common in themselves, as well as in people who do not perceive some other products.

Is it possible to swim if you have allergies?

According to most allergists, bathing with allergic reactions on the skin is possible and necessary. But it should be done wisely. Firstly, it is better to replace bathing with a shower. Secondly, the water temperature should not be higher than +38-40°C. Thirdly, the duration of home water procedures should be reduced to 10-15 minutes. So, as you understand, the question “is it possible to steam with allergies” in this situation is not even discussed.

Finally, the presence of allergic dermatosis suggests the use of hypoallergenic detergents (without dyes and fragrances), as well as avoiding hard washcloths and various body scrubs.

By the way, swimming in the sea during the velvet season has a beneficial effect on the skin condition in case of atopic dermatitis. Although, in case of relapses of this type of allergy, it is still not worth taking risks.

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Is it possible to sunbathe if you have allergies?

Increased sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation - photodermatosis - is considered a skin disease, and allergists do not classify it as an allergy as such due to the absence of an allergen of a protein nature... They believe that solar radiation only contributes to the appearance of skin allergic reactions that accompany other diseases or the use of certain types of drugs.

But if you have been diagnosed with chronic atopic dermatitis – with exudative rashes, high levels of specific IgE antibodies and increased sensitivity to specific and non-specific irritants – sunbathing, and especially in a solarium, is contraindicated.

Proper nutrition for allergic diseases, including those caused by certain food products, is the most important component of overall health. When a person with such a pathology knows exactly what can be eaten with an allergy and follows the doctor's recommendations, he minimizes the manifestations of the disease and thereby improves the quality of his life.

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