What can you eat with an allergy?
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
If the human immune system reacts sharply to antigens (pollen of plants, wool, dust, insect bites, chemicals) or to haptens (food semi-allergens), then it's allergies.
With allergies, some proteins and polysaccharides that enter the body are mistakenly identified as hostile, and the body begins to develop protective antibodies, and then the neurotransmitters - hormones histamine, serotonin, tyramine. They trigger the mechanism of allergic reaction in the form of dermatitis, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory system. Therefore, you need to know what you can eat with allergies and what you can drink with allergies. Moreover, the allergy is false.
What foods can I have with allergies?
Almost 90% of all allergic reactions occur in products such as milk, fish, seafood, eggs, cereals, legumes, honey, nuts, chocolate (cocoa). Involved in allergies and a fairly large number of vegetables, fruits and berries. By the way, Europeans often have allergies to celery, Japanese - buckwheat, Americans - milk and peanuts, Australians - for certain types of meat.
"Honorable place" among the potential culprits of skin itching and deterioration of general health in people prone to allergies are semi-finished products, canned food, fast food (full of "flavor enhancers" and flavorings), smoked products, ready sauces, sweet fizzy drinks.
In those who suffer from various types of hay fever (hay fever), there is an allergic reaction to certain foods. So, with 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, you should completely abandon the use of raspberries, apricots, oranges, cherries, apples and strawberries, in the chemical composition of which there are derivatives of 2-hydroxybenzoic acid (ie salicylic acid).
What can you eat when you are allergic to cat hair? Almost everything except pork and beef.
What can you eat when you are allergic to house dust mites, cockroaches and daphnia? Here the restrictions apply to the inhabitants of the sea depths, having a chitinous shell (chitin - linear polysaccharide) - shrimps, crabs, oysters, lobsters and lobsters. Also you have to give up snails ...
Can sunflower seeds be used for allergies? If you are allergic to ragweed pollen, you can not (like sunflower oil). With this type of pollinosis, you should also stop using watermelon, melon, strawberry, citrus, celery, dill with parsley and spices (curry, pepper, anise, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and coriander).
What can you eat when you are allergic to cow's milk proteins (lactoalbumin, lactoglobulin and casein)? Everything that is not contraindicated, but the milk itself is contraindicated, all sour-milk products, butter, cream, cheese, ice cream, and also wheat bread. At the same time, tea, compotes, juices, rye bread, all cereals, vegetables and meat, as well as vegetable fats are permissible in the menu.
There are similar recommendations as to what foods can be used for allergies, for those who do not have allergies to milk proteins, but there is lactose intolerance - that is, there is no enzyme lactase necessary for digesting milk sugar. And what can you eat when you are allergic to gluten and similar proteins of cereals? Yes, in principle, everything, except those foods and dishes that contain wheat, rye, oats, barley and millet.
Now, by eliminating the fact that you can not eat allergic people, you can easily identify what foods you can with allergies.
What can you eat when you are allergic to food?
To fully understand what you can eat with allergies, you need to remember about a false allergy or, as experts call it, food intolerance, which is celebrated today more often than 20-30 years ago.
In this case, the negative reaction of the body to many foods has nothing to do with the production of protective antibodies. False allergies can not be detected by any skin tests on a specific allergen, with the total blood of the total immunoglobulin E (IgE) absolutely normal, and there is no specific IgE at all.
Although the clinical picture of such pseudoallergic reactions is expressed in the same redness of the skin and rash, headache, choking in the throat and cough, a feeling of heat and dyspepsia.
Biochemical studies have shown that a similar reaction after the use of certain products 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 products that contain a significant amount of these amino acids.
What can you eat when you are allergic to products containing histidine (which turns into histamine)? All but the foods with a lot of this amino acid, which include: cereals (primarily wheat), egg white, pork liver, shrimp, cocoa, chocolate, cheese, fish (fresh, frozen, salted, smoked, sour) ham and sausages, red wine and beer, sauerkraut, tomatoes, spinach, eggplant, bananas, pineapple, strawberry, avocado.
By the way, it's time to discover the secret, what kind of fish you can have with allergies. In addition to histidine, there is a protein called ichtulin in fish - a fairly strong allergen, which when cooked turns into a soup. So lovers of soup should bear this in mind. But that is not all. Sea fish has more pronounced allergenic properties than freshwater fish. And this, too, is not all. It turns out,
In the process of storing herring, mackerel, sardine, pelamida, tuna, salmon, pink salmon, chum, etc., histidine is converted into histamine (under the action of microflora enzymes present in commercial bases and in stores). And an increase in the content of histamine can many times exceed the maximum allowable level. In addition, the fish contains the amino acid tryptophan, which is converted in the human body into a "hormone of happiness" serotonin. Tryptophan in fish is the same as in sunflower seeds, poultry meat, rabbit meat and beans.
A good question is what can you eat when you are allergic to foods that have high levels of tryptophan. After all, the number of such products, in addition to those mentioned above, includes chicken eggs, practically all types of meat (except rabbit meat), beef liver, mushrooms, soybeans, melon, bananas, oranges, dates, dried apricots, chocolate, peanuts, almonds. But most of all tryptophan in caviar (red and black) and cheese, both solid and fused. Hence a logical negative answer to the question: is it possible to have cheese for allergies. But the cheeses prepared without enzymes - brynza, Adyghe, suluguni - eat on health.
It's time to answer the question - what can you eat with an allergy that is associated with products containing tyrosine - the precursor of the hormone tyramine, hypersensitivity to which causes headaches, and also itchy skin rashes. To avoid the appearance of these symptoms, you can eat everything except: cheese, citrus, sausages and smoked, marinated (as well as smoked and dried) fish, bananas, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, spinach, legumes. Brewer's yeast and beer are also classified here.
What kind of fruit can you do with allergies?
Everyone knows that, despite the great vitamin value, all the citrus fruits - oranges, tangerines, lemons, grapefruits, pomelo, bergamot, are the most influential allergic organism. Although the vitamin P in them (biologically active substances quercetin, catechin, hesperedin) interferes with the production of histamine and serotonin and facilitates the state of bronchial asthma.
It is established that fruits and vegetables of red color have the highest level of allergenicity, in orange and yellow - a little lower. And only occasionally can there be an allergic reaction to white and green vegetables or fruits. Therefore, even with allergies, you can eat apples and pears with green skin coloring, yellow plum varieties, and from berries - yellow cherry, white currant, gooseberry.
Here it is appropriate to finally determine whether bananas can be used for allergies. Given the high content of essential amino acids of tryptophan and tyrosine in them, there are bananas for allergies not recommended. Those who have an allergy to latex, bananas are simply contraindicated, and along with such fruits as avocados, kiwi, mangoes and pineapple.
What can I drink with allergies?
First of all, you can quench your thirst with purified drinking water and mineral water without gas. No harm will be caused by tea without additives and flavors, compote of dried pears and apples, barley broth.
But to drink cocoa, beer, kvass and fruit carbonated drinks with allergies can not. Also potentially allergenic drinks are all kinds of alcohol, primarily red grape wines, vermouth, various tinctures and liquors.
A separate item is the question: is coffee available for allergies? Unfortunately, the allergy to coffee-containing caffeine and polyphenol chlorogenic acid happens quite often in itself, as well as in people who do not perceive some other products.
Can I swim for allergies?
In the opinion of most allergic doctors, it is possible and necessary to bathe in allergic manifestations on the skin. But it must be done wisely. First, taking a bath is best replaced with a shower. Secondly, the water temperature should not be above + 38-40 ° C. Thirdly, the duration of domestic water procedures should be reduced to 10-15 minutes. So, as you know, the question "is it possible to steam with an allergy" in this situation is not even discussed.
Finally, the presence of allergic dermatosis involves the use of hypoallergenic detergents (without dyes and perfumes), as well as the rejection of hard sponges and various body scrubs.
By the way, the skin condition with atopic dermatitis is beneficially influenced by swimming in the sea - in the velvet season. Although with relapses of this type of allergy, you do not need to take risks.
[Can I sunbathe for allergies?
Increased sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation - photodermatosis - is considered a skin disease, and allergists do not consider it to be allergic as such due to the lack of an allergen of protein nature ... They believe that solar radiation only contributes to the appearance of skin allergic reactions accompanying other diseases or the use of certain types of medications.
But in the presence of diagnosed chronic atopic dermatitis - with exudative rashes, high level of specific IgE antibodies and increased sensitivity to specific and nonspecific irritants - sunbathing, and even more so in a solarium, is contraindicated.
Proper nutrition in allergic diseases, including those caused by certain foods, is an important component of the overall health. When a person with this pathology knows exactly what can be eaten with allergies, and adheres to the doctor's recommendations, he minimizes the manifestations of the disease and thereby improves the quality of his life.