The role of nutrition in food allergy has become much more accepted in recent years. It has been seen that the main allergenic foods in childhood are milk, egg, wheat and soy, which is also present in many foods and, therefore, avoiding it can be problematic from a nutritional point of view. Thus, children with food allergy may have their growth compromised by restriction, especially in pre-diagnosis, when foods can be excluded without any specialized nutritional contribution. The management of a food allergy remains largely the exclusion of food, but it is now clear that in doing so, children in particular may be at nutritional risk if not given sufficient attention to the rest of the diet.
Food and allergy
Diet and nutrition play an important role in the development and treatment of food allergy. The diet of pregnant women can have an effect on their offspring in terms of allergic outcomes. A number of confounding factors can influence this, with a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, fish, foods rich in vitamin D associated with a lower risk of allergic disease in your children. More surprisingly, milk consumption has also been shown to have a protective effect. Similarly, the child’s diet can also be important, not only in terms of breastfeeding, but also at the time of breastfeeding.
The introduction of complementary foods, the diversity of the diet and the effect of food play an important role in the development of allergy. One factor that has clearly shown not to influence the development of food allergy is the avoidance of allergens by pregnant women. In addition, in the infant diet, manipulation of the intestinal microbiome to prevent the development of atopic disease is clearly an area that promises a lot. The diet in allergy prevention comes from studies evaluating infant eating patterns that can protect intestinal health by consuming large amounts of fruits and vegetables. Just as well as the consumption of fish during the first year of life has also been shown to be protective.
Clinical practice
The role of food in allergy prevention has been well observed, but there is still no clear picture of the accuracy of the effects of diet on allergic outcomes in the mother or child. Thus, the main objective of nutritional support in pregnancy and childhood should be the promotion of health, with balanced intake of fish, milk, eggs, cereals, fruits and vegetables, and attention to optimize the introduction of allergenic foods and ensure a varied diet. However, it is very clear that children with food allergies are at risk of growth failure and lack of essential nutrients that can lead to deficiency diseases such as rickets and goiter. Nutritional follow-up is essential in allergy conditions, in order to customize feeding according to needs and reduce nutritional risk.
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Article: Nutrition and Allergy –
Skypala IJ, McKenzie R. Nutritional Issues in Food Allergy. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol
. 2019;57(2):166-178. Doi:10.1007/s12016-018-8688-x
