Diet and treatment of food allergy

Today it has become fashionable to talk about allergies. Fashionable, so it interests many people. It is believed that every fifth person on Earth at least once in his life suffered an allergic reaction. Those who have such reactions are repeated, ask many questions, some answer that will help us to this article.

There is inhalant allergy, food allergy, an allergy to insect stings, allergies to medication. Many patients with allergies often manifest atopy, in which the leading role played by heredity. There are three classical forms of atopy: atopic dermatitis, hay fever and atopic asthma. People with atopy are genetically predisposed to produce specific antibodies - immunoglobulin E (IgE), - that respond to environmental allergens (dust mites, animal dander, pollen, etc).

Understand the allergy is sometimes not easy, as apart from most "typical" allergy - atopy - a pseudoallergy having similar symptoms (asthma, rhinitis, hives, swelling).
When pseudoallergic no genetic predisposition of an organism to develop IgE, and consequently, the reactions are not immune and in the body do not develop antibodies in response to exposure to the allergen. So, pseudoallergy to food not being immune reaction may manifest itself outwardly as a true allergy. Pseudoallergy able to develop when receiving food containing histamine, or release histamine during biochemical transformations. Very often the cause of pseudoallergic reactions are food additives: colorants, preservatives, flavors and antioxidants.

The term "food allergy" is only an immune response with a specific clinical picture. More than 10% of children suffer from food allergies, which most of them have seen one year of age. Symptoms can be diverse: digestive (abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea), respiratory (conjunctivitis, rhinitis, bronchospasm), skin (itching, hives, swelling), and occur immediately after exposure to an allergen or delayed. Predispose to food allergy early bottle-feeding and allergic disease in relatives, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Allergic reactions in infants can cause almost any product, but most often cause food allergy cow's milk, egg, fish, grains, nuts, soy.

Cow's milk contains proteins with high allergenic activity and are resistant to high temperatures, so they can maintain this activity even after cooking. A child with an allergy to cow's milk does not necessarily remain so until the end of life. Milk intolerance often goes to 2-4 - years of age. Treating a milk allergy is to eliminate it from the diet and replaced with soy or goat's milk. Unfortunately, very often an allergy manifested by substitutes. In this case it is necessary to use protein hydrolysates (proteins, subjected to partial destruction), allergenic activity is much lower. Ideal feeding necessary to maintain human health throughout life - breast feeding. Human milk in its structure is close to the composition of tissues of the child and completely devoid of antigen, ie allergenic properties and is rich in protective immunoglobulins (antibodies).

Increased sensitivity to egg protein is often associated with allergies to cow's milk, but can also occur separately. Several types of vaccines (measles and mumps), produced in cultures of chick embryos, can also cause allergic reactions in people with intolerance to egg protein. Intolerance of animal protein decreases as they grow older the body, so from time to time to give the child should be re-try the products that it is poorly tolerated (first check with your doctor).

By vysokoallergennym products include fish, especially marine. Fish protein is not destroyed when cooked, its fractions contained in water vapor, so that sensitization may occur by inhalation.

Cereals in recent times is increasingly the cause of allergies. The most active allergens oats, wheat, rye, and less active - rice, barley, buckwheat, kukuruzy.Allergiya for fruits and vegetables are almost always associated with an allergy to pollen. About 50% of people who are allergic to pollen of apple allergic to apples. Allergens of fruits and vegetables are often labile and are destroyed when cooked.

Many foods have common antigens, due to what is cross-reactive. For example, cross-reactions are at the use of nuts, honey, wheat and other cereals.

Diet therapy - the most important stage of complex treatment of food allergy. Exclusion of food allergens, usually leads to stihaniya allergy symptoms. It is advisable to exclude from power all combined products, which include this allergenic protein. Must be aware of the presence of cross-allergy. Elimination diet is strictly individual and is a temporary measure, because after several months of complete elimination of allergenic foods from the diet, most patients can use previously unbearable food. Children under 1 year to prevent the food supply eliminate sensitization of whole cow's milk, up to 1,5 years - chicken eggs, fish and seafood, up to 3 years of age nuts.

If the child is breastfed, and the manifestation of symptoms of food allergies it is necessary to maintain no less than 6 months of age. Optimal for the lack of breast milk is the use of substitutes (formula). It must be remembered that you can not use formulas based on whole-protein cow's milk and yogurt, and whole goat's milk. If the child reveals an allergy to cow's milk protein, then feeding it is necessary to use formulas based on partially or protein (protein splitting into smaller components).

Introduction of complementary foods in children with food allergies is not recommended before 6 months. Better to start with a vegetable puree of squash, color and cabbage and potatoes. Carrots and squash are added later. From 7 months introduce meat puree. When buying baby food is important to pay attention to the additives of preservatives, emulsifiers, dyes. Duration of elimination diet is determined individually, taking into account the level of sensitization and the nature of clinical manifestations of allergy. Upon expiration of strict dieting diet expansion is carried out with sequential introduction of gradually increasing the number of previously intolerable product.

We do not advocate self-medication. We simply help sort out the symptoms that bother you that you can more accurately represent to any medical specialist, you should ask.