DNA of course, is the basic component or “computer code” of life and the basis of all proteins that make up all life forms including people, animals, plants, their pollen, bacteria, fungi, etc. The way these mast cells identify these “foreign invaders” (or those substances that are “not on the list to get in”) is by having specific receptors on their surface called antibodies (IgE) that will link up with specific segments of the DNA chains that are integral parts of pollen molecules (mostly proteins) that have come into contact with that person. When that happens, they are programmed to release chemicals including histamine and others that trigger a series of reactions that serve to eject and/or destroy that substance. The response has lots of names: “Oral Allergy Syndrome,” “Pollen-Food Allergy,” “Concomitant Allergy,” and “Pollen-Associated Food Allergy Syndrome” to name a few.įor an allergy response to occur, a group of cells that act as the “sentries” or “bouncers” of our immune system called “mast cells” must somehow be notified that we have come in contact with a substance that for some reason our body recognizes as not part of us (“non-self”) and potentially harmful. What’s going on here is a quirk of our immune system called co-allergy or cross-reactivity. Does this happen to you? Have you observed any trends in these symptoms? Do these reactions happen every time you eat the food or is it more likely these reactions don’t necessarily happen all the time? Do they seem to correlate to times when seasonal allergy symptoms are more prevalent? This may lead to the belief that they are “allergic” to those foods. Or they may note even more typical inhalant allergy symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, and post-nasal drainage. Some have also noticed a strange phenomenon where eating certain foods seems to trigger throat symptoms such as tickling or tightness in the throat or throat clearing and cough. Sometimes called “Hay Fever” people may react to one or more tree pollens, weed pollens, or grass pollens and develop the classic allergy symptoms. Many people with seasonal allergies know they are sensitive to pollens that increase and decrease in prevalence at different times of the year depending on the climate where they live.
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