Three major types of banana allergies, see which one you belong to

Clinically common banana allergies are mainly divided into three categories. The timing of onset and symptoms vary greatly. Many people have been feeling uncomfortable for more than half a year without realizing that the culprit is the banana they often eat.

The most dangerous type was that I received last year. A sophomore in high school ate an ice banana during recess. Within ten minutes, his lips were swollen and turned up. He held his neck and said he couldn't breathe. When he was sent to the hospital, his throat had already begun to swell. It took him a long time to recover. This is an IgE-mediated immediate banana allergy, which usually occurs within an hour after eating. It can range from numbness in the mouth and wheals on the skin to severe shock and death. However, there are different opinions about this allergy. Nearly 70% of patients with immediate banana allergy are also allergic to latex. Many academic circles believe that this allergy is essentially a cross-sensitization of homologous proteins of latex and banana, and is not a simple banana allergy.

If you don’t react immediately after eating a banana, but instead start to feel uncomfortable after a long time or even a day or two, then you need to consider another situation. I once had an old patient who suffered from recurring chronic urticaria for more than a year. She tried all kinds of medicine but could not get rid of the root. Later, I asked her to keep a food diary for three months, only to find that she had eaten bananas the day before each attack. This is a cell-mediated delayed-type allergy. The onset time ranges from a few hours to 72 hours, and the symptoms are also very complex. Some people have bloating and constipation, some have acne breakouts and headaches, and some have long-term nasal congestion and runny nose. They don't think of banana allergies at all. The academic community is still debating whether this delayed food intolerance should be classified as an allergy. However, when clinically encountering chronic symptoms with no known triggers, we will first advise patients to check for common highly allergenic foods such as bananas. Many people's symptoms disappear immediately after they stop eating them.

There is also a kind of allergy that is more subtle, and many people even think it is an allergic reaction every year. Last week, a girl came to check for allergens. She said that every spring when birch pollen floats, eating raw bananas will make your throat, ears and eyes itchy. The symptoms will disappear after chewing them for two to three minutes. But if you eat grilled bananas or particularly ripe bananas, you will be fine. This is actually a banana allergy related to pollen-food allergy syndrome. Some of the allergenic proteins in raw bananas are highly similar to the protein structures of birch and ragweed pollen. People who are allergic to these pollens will trigger a mild allergic reaction when eating raw bananas. If the banana is heated to above 60 degrees, the allergenic proteins will be denatured, and the allergy will naturally disappear. Many people with this kind of problem will have similar reactions when eating kiwi fruit and mango. It's the same reason.

I have met many people before who think that bananas are mild fruits and are not allergenic at all. If they really feel uncomfortable, they will not think about it. If you have had minor problems that you cannot explain, you may wish to recall whether you often eat bananas. If you are really unsure, you can find out by going to the hospital for an allergen test. There is no need to hold on to it all the time.