I’m currently getting a second degree in the field of nursing, a complete 180 from my software/IT background.  One of the classes I’m currently taking is Physiology and it’s from this class that I’ve learned so much.  Most of the interesting knowledge are tidbits that my highly eccentric and lively professor adds as an aside to the course topic.  One of the most interesting to me is the subject of how allergies to food come about.

See, pediatricians and even baby books often give an action and a consequence of that action.  Like, “if you feed your child solid foods before 6 mos. your child will be more likely to develop food allergies.”  The parents are supposed to just take that advice at face value.  A lot of parents don’t put much stock in what doctors have to say, and think that they know best.  Or that since their parents fed them solid foods at 3 mos., and they’re fine, the doctor’s advice is full of baloney.  Or they may think giving solids or eggs or strawberries to their 3 mos. old “this one time” shouldn’t hurt.  I think giving a very simple and valid reason for the advice behind delaying solids to avoid allergies can be an effective tactic in getting parents to listen.

It all starts with antibodies

So what is the mechanism to developing an allergy?  Think back to your high school biology class, when you learned that bacteria has antigens on them, telling our bodies that they are foreign to us and need to be killed.  We form antibodies designed to kill them, engulf them, and get rid of them.  Usually, this is accompanied by symptoms such as fever, inflammation at the site of infection, and many more. Seasonal allergies develop similarly, and when our bodies attack the antigens that are present on the invading molecule, we get anything from hives, to runny nose, wheezing, etc.

So how does foods, which theoretically goes down our digestive tract to our stomach, and should get nuked (so to speak) by our highly acidic gastric juices, produce this same response of triggering antibodies and allergic reactions?  In adults, it shouldn’t.  By then, our bodies have matured.  Our cells are all grown up, and we can take in almost any type of food we like, without this allergic trigger.  That is not the case for babies.  Babies digestive system are still immature.  At six months and younger, the body still expects them to be breastfeeding, and antibodies in mom’s breast milk cross what’s called the tight junctions of their cells to get into the baby’s blood stream for immunity.  To simplify, proteins from foods (even wheat!, causing gluten allergy) can cross this unbound tight junctions as well.  Since they are considered foreign, they trigger the formation of antibodies.  The antibodies lie and wait, with the memory of the allergen.  The next time they are encountered, the body treats them as something to be fought, and an allergy has just been born.  This is why even a one time exposure to a certain food can cause allergies for a lifetime.

The part genes play

Genes can certainly play a part in allergies.  But the most important messsage that pediatricians often try to drive home without explanation is, the longer you delay the introduction of food, the less likely your child will develop allergies.  We’ve already disccused one reason why: proteins from food cross into the blood stream to be treated as foreign invaders by our body. If your family is susceptible to food allergies, it’s wise to hold off on introducing solid foods period, and not just delaying the food allergy that runs in the family.  People from families with a strong case of asthma, eczema, hay fever, can also predispose a child to food allergies.  In people with these type of predisposition, they may have overly sensitive immune system that triggers the formation of antibodies against what most people would tolerate well.

Still, there’s hope that they can be overcome, by delaying the introduction of food and waiting for the baby’s digestive system to mature.

Interesting tidbits: the top 8 allergy-causing foods:

Milk, eggs, fish, wheat, tree nuts, peanuts, soybeans and crustaceans like shrimp and crabs, are the most common food allergens.  Proteins in these eight major foods are estimated to cause 90 percent of the allergic reactions in the United States.

I’d love to have the above explanation explained routinely by pediatricians to moms.  I was never told, and I didn’t come across this information while reading my baby books.  I’m the type that loves having a logical explanation for anything I’m being asked to do and a lot of moms would only certainly benefit from such information.

Source: http://www.fda.gov/FDAC/features/2001/401_food.html and my Physiology textbooks and professor .:)

(Note: The author of this article is not a medical expert.  Please consult your doctor when making important decisions regarding your health or the health of your family.)

Allergies in children are on the rise. And the most difficult cases are allergies to common food ingredients like nuts, milk, and – eggs.

Allergy to eggs is not just about not eating eggs for breakfast. Eggs can be found in many things we eat, from bread, cake and pastries to the cookies and noodles our little ones like so much. We may not see the eggs but the allergens, the proteins that cause the allergic reaction are still there. This is a real pain to mommies with egg-allergic children because they have to check the ingredients of each and every food item they buy. And what about the logistical nightmare of birthday parties, school trips, and camps?

German researchers have recently demonstrated a technique that reduces allergens in chicken eggs and can make them 100 times less allergenic than untreated eggs. Uncooked eggs are subjected to a process similar to pasteurization of milk. The nine-step process combines enzymatic breakdown and heat-treatment that can break down the allergenic proteins in the eggs.

The process would be especially useful in reducing allergens in chicken eggs used as ingredients in manufacturing foodstuffs mentioned above without significantly affecting the taste and flavour of the finished product.

If the technique is proven to be economically and technically feasible in large scale, we might soon have noodles and cookies that are hypoallergenic concerning eggs. That would certainly make life easier for kids and mommies alike.

To help kids understand the technique better, the American Chemical Society issued a news release about the research that is specifically targeting the young audience. Check out Science for Kids: An egg-straordinary discovery to help kids with egg allergy.

Food allergies have exploded in the last decade, and the child with no food allergies at all may be the minority someday soon. All of my children have food allergies, which most may consider an unlucky occurrence. I do, however, consider myself lucky. I know exactly what they are allergic to and I can avoid those foods.

To isolate any potential food allergies, try new foods very slowly with your baby. This may be especially important if there is a history of food allergies in the family. Each food should be tried one at a time, with each being eaten for several days before a new food is introduced. If you watch for reactions during those three or four days and see none, it?s safe to start a new food. I found allergies to five separate foods among my kids by doing just that.

One of the problems with trying only one food at a time is that most of the stage two and three foods are mixtures of several different foods. By trying most of the stage one foods on the market, and keeping track of the results, we could try stage two and three foods that consisted only of those ingredients. Most of the foods for older babies have the kind of ingredients that can be bought separately. And if not, we just couldn?t buy them.

Allergies can manifest themselves in a number of ways. The most common effects we found were red blotches on the skin or an itchy rash on the face, but there were others. My youngest?s feet turned purple after the first taste of apples. My oldest?s entire head turned bright red after trying peaches. Sometimes the only effect was diarrhea. But, by keeping a record of it all, I know exactly what to avoid- and so do they. Talking about the allergies at an early age can help kids to communicate them to others before an allergen is ingested.