According to researchers, about 8% of children and 5% of adults worldwide have a food allergy. While food allergies are not always life-threatening, taking steps to minimize the effects or even prevent a food allergy is important. One way to go about this is through a food allergy introduction.
What is a Food Allergy Introduction?
As the name implies, a food allergy introduction is when parents start introducing “allergy foods” to babies.
Allergy foods are common foods that are known to cause an allergic reaction. These include peanuts, milk, tree nuts such as almonds and coconuts, wheat, and shellfish.
The goal of a food allergy introduction is to prevent a possible food allergy by introducing allergy foods early on.
While food allergy introduction is done by some parents when their child is still young, there are adults who do try to treat their own allergies and build tolerance against them.
Why Do People Have Food Allergies?
In order to understand how a food allergy introduction works, we first need to understand why people have allergic reactions in the first place.
Allergies are what happens when the body reacts to a foreign substance. What happens is that the immune system tries to “attack” those substances it deems harmful, even if they’re not.
This results in the symptoms associated with allergies, such as itching, swelling, sneezing, or watery eyes. In more severe cases, it can trigger anaphylaxis, which is an overreaction of the immune system that can cause a person to go into shock. Thus, it is important to always seek guidance from your doctor when undergoing this therapy.
How Does Food Allergy Introduction Work?
The best time to start food allergy introduction is as early as possible.
The previous recommendation was that babies should be at least 12 months old before starting an introduction. However, doctors now recommend that parents expose their babies to allergy foods when they are as young as 6 months old.
This is because by the time the baby reaches 12 months, they might already have developed some allergies. By doing it earlier, parents can minimize the chances of developing an allergy.
When allergy foods are introduced, the body slowly gets used to it. Instead of the immune system perceiving allergy foods as a threat, it treats it as just regular food and doesn’t trigger an allergic reaction.
Doctors also recommend feeding different types of allergy foods to babies. Not only does this help babies build a tolerance to food allergies, but it can also let parents know which foods can trigger an allergic reaction in their children.
However, the process is not as simple as just feeding allergy foods to babies. There are certain guidelines that parents need to follow when it comes to introducing allergy foods.
