Common Food Allergies
In adults, the most common foods to cause allergic reactions include:
• Shellfish such as shrimp, crayfish, lobster, and crab
• Tree nuts such as walnuts
• Fish
• Eggs
• Peanuts, a legume that is one of the chief foods to cause severe anaphylaxis, a sudden drop in blood pressure that can be fatal if not treated quickly.
New drugs are being developed for people who have peanut allergy.
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In children, the pattern is somewhat different. The most common food allergens that cause problems in children are:
• Eggs
• Milk
• Peanuts
Click here for more information on food allergies in infants and small children.
Adults usually do not lose their allergies, but children can sometimes outgrow them. Children are more likely to outgrow allergies to milk or soy than allergies to peanuts, fish, or shrimp.
If someone has a history of allergy to shrimp, testing will usually show that the person is not only allergic to shrimp but also to crab, lobster, and crayfish as well. This is called cross-reactivity.
Exercise-Induced Food Allergy
At least one situation may require more than the simple ingestion of a food allergen to provoke a reaction: exercise-induced food allergy. People who experience this reaction eat a specific food before exercising. As they exercise and their body temperature goes up, they begin to itch, get light-headed, and soon have allergic reactions such as hives or even anaphylaxis, an often severe or sometimes fatal reaction that involves the whole body including constriction of airways, low blood pressure and shock. The cure for exercised-induced food allergy is simple - not eating for a couple of hours before exercising.
Source: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
