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Allergy to sugar

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
 
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A food allergen can be any food. However, the immune system is directed, as a rule, to a relatively narrow group of allergens.

Allergy to sugar, according to doctors, is nothing more than fiction. Painful manifestations arise when using a variety of sweets: chocolate, confectionery, a number of fruits with a high content of sucrose. Most often, the cause of the allergy is any component of a sweet product, but not sugar itself.

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Whether there is an allergy on Saccharum?

Allergy - the response of the human body to the introduction of foreign protein. Sugar or sucrose belongs to carbohydrates, which bring a charge of energy, vigor and good mood. In the digestive tract, sucrose breaks down into fructose and glucose, which from there penetrate into the bloodstream.

If there are uncleaved food residues in the intestine, sugar can intensify decay processes, the decay products of which are actively absorbed into the circulatory system, thus causing allergic manifestations.

Whether there is an allergy on Saccharum? To this question, modern medicine gives an unambiguous answer - there is no such thing. Sucrose is more likely to act as a provocateur or enhancer of a painful condition, but is not an allergen. With the increase in blood sugar, the existing allergic diseases progress, for example, atopic dermatitis.

Causes of an allergy to sugar

The appearance and course of allergic conditions is due to a variety of factors or a combination of them. It is also possible acute reaction of the body to a certain allergen, which is characterized by a rapid development of symptoms.

Allergies cause exogenous and endogenous causes. The first group includes physical, mechanical or chemical factors. The pathology of internal organs is referred to the second.

Intolerance to sweets or causes of allergy to sugar: 

  • hereditary predisposition; 
  • early acquisition of sensitivity to the allergen (even in the mother's womb); 
  • influence on smoke sensitization of cigarettes, industrial wastes; 
  • periods of the hormonal burst - puberty, pregnancy, menstrual period, menopause; 
  • excessive consumption of sweets; 
  • helminthic invasions.

For the emergence of allergies, it is not necessary to eat a cake or a delicious cake, it is enough to eat fruits that contain sucrose. The allergy to lactose (milk sugar) is also common.

With any food sensitivity doctors recommend refraining from your favorite sweets.

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Allergy to sugar in children

According to medical data, food allergy is found in 6% of children, among adolescents 4% of patients allocate, the adult population accounts for up to 2% of the total cases, the worst for infants is 20% of diseases.

Allergy to sugar in children develops due to the following factors: 

  • the presence of dysbiosis, which is primarily associated with the underdevelopment of the immune system. As a result of immune disorders, a pathogenic effect on the intestinal microflora is observed, which triggers suppression of the pancreatic fermentation. It is enzymatic deficiency that causes sensitivity to a foreign protein; 
  • congenital reasons - if the family has an allergic, then the likelihood of an allergic disease in the child is also great.

Toddlers do not understand that a lot of sweet is harmful to health, so parents should control the consumption of carbohydrate foods. The response of the child's organism will be a rash, urticaria, reddening of the skin, backed up by incessant pruritus. Weak manifestations of allergy to sugar are expressed by a rash on the lips, cheeks with characteristic dryness and peeling of the skin.

In teenagers, the allergy is often aggravated by psychoemotional feelings. Often in a bad mood or depression, a child uses as a dope sugar-containing foods - chocolate, sweets, etc.

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Allergy to sugar in infants

Nursing children are most prone to food allergies. Their intestines are considered to be maximally permeable to foreign proteins. In the stomach of the newborn, less active enzymes are produced, so the proteins enter the intestinal department undigested. A kid's pancreas cleaves the whitish remnants much more slowly.

Allergy to sugar in the baby appears due to lactose intolerance (milk sugar). The fact is that in children the activity of the intestinal enzyme lactase is decreased. A small amount of lactase in the intestinal cells leads to a disruption in the cleavage and absorption of lactose. Entering the large intestine, milk sugar serves as food for microbes, which form lactic acid from it. The process is accompanied by abundant hydrogen evolution.

Insufficiency of lactase is rarely congenital pathology. The reason lies in intestinal infections, where a special role is assigned to rotavirus. The beginning of complementary feeding with milk mixtures in these children occurs with acute diarrhea, which takes the form of a protracted process. The provocators of a decrease in lactase activity can be either serious illnesses, or drugs or anesthesia.

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Allergy to sugar in adults

Allergy to sugar in adults is observed more often after 50 years. What is due to physiological changes. People have less need for food and sleep, associated with spending less energy.

Not following the natural restructuring of the body, adults start to give vent to their desires. The over-saturation of carbohydrate food develops into an allergic reaction with the most unpredictable consequences.

Concentrating the pink rash on a small area of the skin few people stops in the desire to try all the sweet delights, which previously had to abstain. When the allergy takes more noticeable outlines - the focal distribution of the rashes on the body, discharge from the nose, cough, then the person starts to think. Allergic symptoms can develop into more severe diseases, such as diabetes.

Adults often behave worse than children, "zaedaya" problems tasty and sweet. If the child can be managed in the process of nutrition, then with adults, things are more complicated.

Symptoms of an allergy to sugar

In infants, allergy manifestations are most often characterized by diathesis (redness of the cheeks), which is dangerous with serious consequences. In the absence of appropriate treatment, it is possible to develop asthma, eczema, rhinitis, neurodermatitis, diabetes mellitus.

Symptoms of allergy to sugar, first of all, are found on the skin with various rashes, redness, itching, flaking. The most common localization zones are the neck, hands, face and legs.

Patients have gastrointestinal disorders: diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen. Much less common complaints extend to exacerbation of the common cold, attacks of coughing and sneezing, difficulty breathing, asthmatic conditions and migraines.

How does the sugar allergy manifest?

According to the nature of the current, allergies are divided into non-severe and severe forms. Severe manifestations include conditions that threaten the patient's life (Quincke's edema, serum sickness, etc.).

Allergies can develop quickly, just a few minutes after eating the product, there are signs of intestinal frustration. Reactions from the skin are observed later. Some manifestations are characterized by protracted processes, when the first symptoms are detected after a while after taking the sweet.

How does the allergy to sugar appear at different ages, for each particular patient? How many people, so many clinical manifestations.

The doctor needs to be able to distinguish between allergies and food intolerance in order to prescribe the right treatment. The lack or absence of some enzymes in the intestine can lead to not splitting certain foods, which causes similar to allergic symptoms. For example, the body of some people is not able to digest fungi.

Allergy to cane sugar

The popularity of brown sugar is explained by the content of plant fibers, vitamins and mineral complex, as well as its low caloric content.

Sugar from cane is recommended when dieting, for recovery after intensive training, in the nutrition of children and allergies.

Black molasses - the main component of "overseas" sugar is rich in potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium, copper, iron and phosphorus.

What can cause an allergy to cane sugar? First, there is an individual intolerance. Secondly, there are many varieties of sugar - "Muscovado", "Barbados", etc. They differ in flavor notes, appearance, and they are used for different purposes. For example, "Muscovado" is ideal for gingerbread, sweets. Thirdly, how will a particular organism react to an exotic product? Fourth, for the allergy sufferer, the conditions for the manufacture and storage of any product are important. After all, the reaction can appear not on the sugar itself, but on the existing impurities. Fifth, any sugar can become a provoker of allergy development.

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Allergy to milk sugar

The allergy to milk sugar or lactose is associated with the inability of the body to digest the product because of a lack of enzyme of the lactase digestive tract.

If there is a violation of the assimilation of milk sugar, 

  • soreness in the abdomen; 
  • flatulence; 
  • vomiting; 
  • diarrhea.

Symptomatology from the skin and respiratory system, as a rule, is not noted.

A way to prevent unpleasant conditions is the exclusion of lactose products from the diet (all varieties of dairy products).

Milk and baby food without lactose was widely distributed.

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Diagnosis of sugar allergy

To recognize the intolerance of lactose in infants, the doctor helps the expressed symptoms - quickened "sour" stool, active gassing.

Allergic manifestations of the multifaceted, so the doctor determines the cause on the basis of the diary of nutrition and the features of the course of the disease.

Diagnosis of allergy to sugar is carried out by the following methods: 

  • skin test - using a disposable scarifier in the forearm area, make a scratch or skin puncture, where the tested allergen is placed. By the reaction of the skin, the doctor makes a conclusion about the sensitivity; 
  • tests for specific antibodies Ig E - causative agents are detected in the study of venous blood of the patient; 
  • methods of provocation - used in a hospital with the direct application of a small amount of an established allergen; 
  • Elimination testing - the elimination of the allergen from the diet.

Treatment of allergies to sugar

Treatment of allergy to sugar is carried out by canceling the intake of sugar and sweet foods. Taking medication is required in particularly acute cases of the disease that threatens the patient's life. An important aspect of therapy is diet compliance and the maintenance of a diary.

From the diet, spicy, spicy dishes, preserves, products containing preservatives, dyes, flavors, etc. Are excluded. The allergologist is engaged in adjusting the diet, which will recommend the reception of vegetarian soups, vegetable oils, buckwheat, rice, oatmeal, diabetic cookies. You also need a diet that excludes overeating.

Among medicinal products isolated "zaditen", used to treat adults and children over 3 years of 1 mg in the morning and evening (during meals). To children till half a year prescribe a medicine in the form of a syrup with a dosage of 0,05 mg per kilogram of weight, and children from half a year to three years - 0,5 mg twice a day. Duration of admission - up to three months.

Acute manifestations of allergy require the use of antihistamines (suprastin, peritol, etc.) in two-week courses. When treating children with allergic manifestations, it is important to pay attention to the nature and frequency of the appearance of the stool, and also to monitor the number of enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract. If necessary, the use of enzyme preparations - "panzinorma", "abomina" or "pancreatin" for several weeks.

Any symptoms of allergy, especially acute its course, requires consultation and supervision of a specialist.

What to replace sugar for allergies?

What to replace sugar for allergies? Rich in vitamins, minerals, as well as glucose, vegetables and legumes.

List of products with glucose: 

  • fruit and berries - grapes, cherries, cherries, plums, raspberries, watermelon, strawberries; 
  • vegetables - pumpkin, carrots, white cabbage.

Fructose is an excellent substitute for sugar. It contains all of the above fruits, as well as apples, pears, black currants and melons. Vegetables are less rich in fructose, only a small percentage have beets and cabbage.

Carbohydrates are in bee honey, which is a natural sweetness. Of course, if there is no allergy to this product.

Among the obvious advantages of fructose are its low calorie content compared with sucrose, the possibility of using in baking. The daily dose of fructose should not exceed 40 g, since excessive intake increases the risk of heart disease.

Instead of sugar, you can use sweeteners - xylitol, stevia or sorbitol.

Most sorbitol contains mountain ash, less - apples and apricots. Sorbitol reduces the consumption of vitamins in the body, is a cholagogue and has a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora. Sorbitol is a very high-calorie product, so people who are trying to lose weight may not be suitable. Overdosing (more than 40 g per day) can be accompanied by nausea, swelling, intestinal disorders.

Xylitol is a component of most toothpastes and chewing gum. An excellent alternative to sugar does not cause caries, improves the secretion of the stomach and has a choleretic property. Large doses cause a laxative effect.

Stevia grass is a natural sweetener. Much sweeter than sucrose, does not have harmful effects on the body, prevents a number of diseases, and also relieves allergic diathesis, improves sleep.

Prevention of allergy to sugar

The most important condition for prevention is the correct diet of a pregnant woman, a nursing woman, and a baby for up to a year.

Prevention of allergy to sugar includes the maintenance of a special diary of nutrition, which records data on the sensitivity to the products and the description of the symptoms that appear.

In cases of hereditary predisposition to allergic manifestations, it is recommended that a diet that eliminates the main food-allergens is recommended. Such people need to monitor the health of the internal systems of the body, not to allow the emergence of chronic or protracted processes.

An important role is played by methods of increasing immunity, eliminating factors provocateur (for example, passive smoking). Sometimes it is appropriate to apply immune therapy, based on the gradual addiction to the allergen. According to doctors, desensitization is the only way that affects the cause of the allergy to sugar and not only, which brings a lasting effect.

Allergy to sugar requires a person to be moderate in the consumption of easily assimilated carbohydrates, leading to problems with weight. Balance of nutrition in combination with an active way of life and balance of mental state is the best way to prevent the development of allergies.

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