Did You Know - Avoiding Certain Foods Can Cause Allergies to Form

Over the summer, I had a conversation with a family friend about her recent, unexpected, and severe allergic reaction. Maggie was at a concert in Boston when she took a few sips of a friend’s iced coffee, which contained almond milk. Maggie had never had a severe reaction to nuts before. Yet, there she was - struggling to breathe and being whisked away by ambulance from a sip of almond milk. At the hospital, doctors treated Maggie for a severe allergic reaction. How did this happen? She had never had severe food allergies, just an occasional itchy mouth or an annoying flare of eczema. Still, allergy testing confirmed that Maggie had an allergy to almonds, even though one she’d never had a severe reaction to them before.

My friend's story reminded me of a National Geographic article I had recently read. A National Geographic article explaining how food avoidance diets, which eliminate certain foods from our diet, can be dangerous for people with allergy history or conditions like eczema. As Dr. Brian Vickery of Emory Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta described in the article, “our digestive track has a very difficult job". It constantly sorts through the food we eat, allowing safe foods and bacteria to remain and aid digestion while simultaneously protecting us from harmful foods. When we eliminate foods from our diet, we can mess with our body’s ability to tolerate that food. This then can cause our bodies to see the food as dangerous when it is reintroduced, often leading to more severe allergic responses. It is important to know that cutting out foods could cause life-threatening reactions for people, especially if they already have or are at high risk of developing allergies.

Often when people outgrow an allergy, their allergist will require them to eat that food once a week, so their body does not become intolerant to it again. This is why I eat peanuts at least once a week, even though they hurt my stomach. My Doctor doesn’t want my peanut sensitivity to turn into a severe peanut allergy. Given my extreme allergy to tree nuts, he knows I am at risk of developing a peanut allergy if I avoid them. If you have a history of allergies or eczema, you may want to talk to your doctor before you decide to eliminate certain foods from your diet.