Foods That Cause Allergic Reactions

Foods That Cause Allergic Reactions

Over 140 different foods have been identified as causes of allergic reactions. According to a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 90% of food allergies are associated with 8 food types:

Cow's milk
Hen's eggs
Peanuts
Soy foods
Wheat
Fish
Crustacean shellfish (such shrimp, prawns, lobster, and crab)
Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts)
Cow's milk is one of the first foods to consider eliminating from your diet when attempting to determine the foods to which you may be allergic. It contains over 25 different molecules which have been identified by scientists as having the potential to elicit an allergic food response. One of the most common allergens in cow's milk is a protein called casein which is used in many products and is even found in soy based foods to boost their protein content. If you suspect an allergy to cow's milk you should also avoid other products made from or containing milk including cream, creamy sauces, ice cream and milk chocolate.

How a food has been prepared, processed, handled and stored can also have an effect on whether a food will cause an allergic reaction. For example, some molecules responsible for allergic reactions can be destroyed by heat. Individuals with allergies to cow's milk have reported that drinking heated milk does not cause the symptoms associated with their milk allergies suggesting that the molecules that are toxic to these individuals have been destroyed by the heating process. However, the molecules in peanuts that can cause highly toxic responses in people allergic to peanuts are known to be very stable and unaffected by even long periods of heating.

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