An allergy is a catch-all word for a wide variety of reactions to substances that the body determines to be foreign. Anything that it does not recognize as itself can be considered an allegeren. When the body encounters a foreign substance, it reacts by making antibodies or releasing certain chemicals. When histamines and other substances are released into the system, they cause an inflammatory reaction we call an allergy. .
The inflammatory reaction affects the tissue and organs, mainly the skin, mucous membranes, lungs and gastrointestinal tract.
Symptoms commonly produced include itching and watery eyes, runny and congested nose and sinuses, sneezing, respiratory symptoms, headache, skin reactions and rapid heart beat. Other symptoms may incluiode fatigue, intestinal gas or pain, abdominal bloating and mood changes.
Mold, spores, pollen from trees, flowers and grasses, dust (actually dust mites), animal hairs and insects are common substances that normally produce upper respiratory symptoms (allergies) in sensitive individuals. These allergy producing substances may cause itching, redness and fluid (water & mucous) may affect the eyes, throat, nose, sinuses, bronchial tubes, and lungs. Any food may be an allergen. The most common are wheat, milk, eggs, com, yeast coffee and chocolate. These may affect most body systems, with the gastrointestinal, nervous, and respiratory and skin areas affected the most when allergies occur.
Both environmental chemicals and food additives can cause allergy reactions, such as pesticides, chemical sprays, hydrocarbons, and hundreds of others. Tobacco also contains many allergens.
Do you suffer from hay fever or other seasonal allergies yet find that when you eat certain fresh fruits and vegetables, you get a strange, tingly, itchy sensation in your mouth? If so, you could have food-pollen allergy syndrome, also known as oral allergy syndrome.
Evidence suggests that in some people with seasonal allergies, their immune system mistakes a plant protein in certain fruits and vegetables for pollen, resulting in sometimes strange symptoms like:
- Itching in your mouth, lips and back of throat
- Tingling in your mouth
- An itchy tongue
- Throat and lips that feel swollen
Allergy specialists call this a “cross-reaction,” and say that about 25 percent of people with a pollen allergy may suffer from food-pollen syndrome. However, many who experience are completely unaware that their itchy mouth upon eating an apple or cantaloupe has to do with their seasonal allergies.
Factors that my lead to allergies:
- Feeding babies solid food too early
- Lack of breast feeding
- Gluten allergies from too early of feeding grains such as corn, wheat and oats.
- Improper chewing
- Poor hydrochloric acid in the stomach
- Lack of pancreatic enzymes and bile
- Excessive fluid intake around meals
Remember, not everyone with a seasonal allergy experiences food-pollen syndrome, but if you do cooking fruits and vegetables can help you avoid a reaction. If your symptoms are confined to your mouth and you don’t want to give up on raw produce, either for the taste or the health benefits, you don’t have to.
"Patients will typically decide on their own, without any discussion with a doctor, whether they enjoy the apple [or other offending food] enough to put up with an itchy mouth, or whether they hate the itchy mouth enough to avoid the apple," Dr. Wood said on CNN.com.
There are other tricks, too, that can help to reduce your food-pollen syndrome symptoms:
- Try removing the peel from the fruit or vegetable
- Opt for freshly picked varieties (storing foods increases the amount of allergen)
- Try a different variety of the food
- Rinse your mouth with water after you eat the offending food.
You may also notice that you only react to raw fruits and vegetables during the season your pollen allergy is most active. In fact, typically as your pollen allergy improves, so will food-pollen syndrome. Fortunately, there are numerous ways to keep seasonal allergies from interfering with your health.