Summer pleases us with a wide variety of fruits and berries, rich in vitamins and minerals and useful for the growing body. But are they all equally safe for children with allergies?
First of all, it is better to use seasonal fruits and berries. If they are grown in artificial conditions, they can contain a significant amount of chemical additives. It should also be remembered that, for example, strawberries and strawberries are histamine liberators, that is, they can stimulate the release of histamine. When consuming a large amount of these berries, children, especially small ones, with an immature enzyme system, may experience allergic rashes on the skin, urticaria, or Quincke's edema.
Summer – it is also a period of vigorous flowering of grasses and trees. Children with manifestations of allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis in the period from June to August may have increased sensitivity to cereals and meadow herbs, and in the period from August to September – to weeds such as ragweed and wormwood.
It is important to know that fruit and pollen allergens are proteins and have a similar structure. Therefore, children allergic to tree pollen when eating fresh vegetables and fruits (apples, peaches, strawberries, celery, carrots) may complain of a burning sensation in the mouth, and they may also develop allergic rashes on the skin accompanied by itching.
Children with allergies to grass and meadow grass pollen can react to almost all types of plant food in raw form. Often, a variant of cross-allergy can be observed between ragweed and wormwood pollen and all fruits with stones (plum, peach, apricot, cherry).
It is interesting that during the flowering season, children with pollen allergies react to fresh vegetables and fruits, and outside the flowering period, these symptoms are usually absent. However, sometimes there are still reactions throughout the year.
Features of fruit allergens include the ability to change their properties during cooking. Thus, heating leads to a change in the protein structure, which reduces their allergenicity. Pasteurization, sterilization, and deep freezing have little effect on the degree of allergenicity of fruits and berries. In the process of ripening vegetables or fruits, on the contrary, the allergenicity increases sharply, which is explained by the formation of so-called "rot proteins". In overripe fruits, the level of these proteins is extremely high.
Thus, it is desirable for children to consume seasonal fruits, and children with immaturity of the enzyme system should limit the use of fruits with a high content of histamine liberators. It is important to take into account possible cross-reactions, as well as, if necessary, use heat treatment of fruits and berries.
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