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Health & Fitness

What Is Allergy Cross-Reactivity?

It’s bad enough to be allergic to a tree pollen but now we find that certain foods share enough similar DNA to cause the same symptoms as your airborne allergen. 

It seems intuitive that an allergy to a fruit tree pollen would carry over to an allergy to the fruit of that tree.   It makes sense because we can understand how the pollen and the fruit would share basic structures and, when perceived by our immune system, create a similar trigger for symptoms.

However, this cross-reactivity extends to unlikely matches between trees and foods.  For example a ragweed pollen sensitivity is known to cross react with certain vegetables such as cucumbers and zucchini as well as bananas and melons.

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To compound the difficulty in determining one's own sensitivities, it can take up to 3 days after eating a food for symptoms to develop.   By the time 3 days has passed, few people can recall what they ate and discover with certainty the allergen causing their problem. 

Having one of the handy charts such as this:   http://s.doctoroz.com/sites/default/files/im_uploads/3_170_food_seasonal_allergy_chart_PRINT.jpg

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 helps to illustrate the magnitude of the issue.   You will see at least 24 foods that cross-react with the birch and alder tree pollen.  In NorCal we are currently at mid-range for pollen count of birch, alder and juniper.

The allergy elimination treatments I offer locate the pollens and associated foods causing your symptoms and change your body’s response so you no longer perceive them as a threat.  As the threat response is eliminated, your symptoms disappear.  You may be surprised at the variety of symptoms caused by allergies, but that is the topic for another post! 

For more information about my work visit www.allergyreliefclinics.com or call Russell at 415.515.7653.





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