Having food allergies can be a very scary thing. It can be a nightmare to go out to eat because you’re always fearful of a restaurant getting your order wrong and accidentally eating something that you’re allergic to. Especially if you are highly allergic and might experience anaphylaxis. but there are some foods that are very common to be allergic to but before we get to the list, it’s important to outline what a food allergy is and what it does to the body.
A food allergy is a condition where your immune system has an abnormal response to a certain type of food you’ve ingested. Your immune system recognizes the food as having something harmful or poisonous in its proteins and kicks into protection mode. Oddly enough, the thing that supposed to protect you is the thing that kills you because your body kicks into protective modes such as inflammation or anaphylaxis (which is rare) to try to stop the harmful food from going into your body, but the anaphylaxis causes you to stop breathing or break out in hives.
If you are allergic to any foods, please make sure you carry an EpiPen. Also, make sure that if you are traveling to a foreign country, you have a list of your allergies written in their language so you can avoid having to use your EpiPen. Alternatively, you might want to try to learn how to say the foods you are allergic to in that language in case you are going to a country where people may not be able to read or write their own language.
So without further ado here is a list (compiled by Premier Allergy) of the eight most common food allergies suffered.
Milk
As aforementioned milk, like other products for consumption, contain proteins and proteins are what trigger allergic responses. For whatever reason, a person allergic to milk is triggered by casein and whey. There is a big difference between and milk allergy and a milk intolerance. Intolerance to milk causes stomach discomfort and diarrhea.
Eggs
It might surprise you to learn that some allergies can be outgrown this is true in egg allergies and 68% of children who find themselves allergic to eggs will outgrow this by around age 16.* There are some who can handle eating eggs if they’ve been cooked in say a cake or what have you but there is some who cannot. Also, there are some people who are allergic to egg whites but not egg yolks and vice versa.
Tree nuts
Now tree nuts are a common but unique allergy because we might be allergic to one tree nut, but not the other. However, being allergic to one specific type of tree-nut increases your chances of developing allergies to all types of tree nuts. Tree nuts are unfortunately to blame for half the cases of anaphylaxis deaths.
Peanuts
Now peanuts are unique. Many people think they are a tree nut, but they are not, they are a legume. Peanut allergies effect between 4-8% of children and is it suggested that the allergy might be hereditary.
Shellfish
Shellfish allergies are caused primarily by a protein called tropomyosin. Some people can be so highly allergic to shellfish that even being around them during the cooking process can be harmful.
Wheat
Wheat is a common allergy and it is often confused with celiacs disease which has similar symptoms, but in celiacs disease you are not able to process wheat.
Soy
Soy is one of those allergies that can be outgrown. In fact, it is reported that 70% of all children outgrow their soy allergy.
Fish
Interestingly, in fish allergies one can develop these later in life. Unfortunately, due in part to the nature of a fish allergy, you should avoid all types of fish, as you may not know which you are allergic to and that which you are not.
The Takeaway
For those with a fish allergy or any other allergy, you can lead a full and fulfilling life so long as you take the necessary precautions and avoid your trigger foods. And as always carry an EpiPen with you in case of emergency. If you are unsure of your allergy status to any foods why not book an allergy test with Premier Allergy
