How many true food allergies are there?

According to the Mayo Clinic, nearly any food can cause an allergic reaction, but there are 8 foods that account for 90% of allergies.

Milk
Eggs
Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Wheat
Fish
Shellfish
Soy

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/food-allergies/AA00057

Good information, @Seek_Kolinahr. So a person really can be allergic to onions? Seems so.

I am REALLY allergic to brazil nuts. I’ll get hives, itchy and if I actually consume them I’ll vomit. They are not common but just when I all but forget about them I’ll eat a cookie or something with small chunks of brazils hidden inside. It’s no small “sensitivity” it’s pure hell when I contact them.

@ibstubro

I worked with a girl who was allergic to spicy foods. Poor thing. People just assumed all the time that she was a weenie and would feed her things saying “Oh, no this isn’t hot”... and then we’d have to break out the epi-pen.

She was Cuban, too. Her dietary life was quite difficult.

Well the reason I asked the question, @Seek_Kolinahr, was that I’ve worked with people that claimed allergy, “if they could taste it”. To me an allergy is a physical reaction to certain chemicals (or combinations of chemicals) being presented to someone’s body, regardless of the amount. Otherwise, I expect the reaction is the result of a childhood experience such as “Foundering: To become ill from overeating. Used of livestock.” Us farm folks could founder on a food and never appreciate it again. lol

Some people are allergic to Strawberries.

I wonder why tree nuts are such a problem, @ARE_you_kidding_me. Evolutionarily wise?

@talljasperman it appears they can be allergic to any food. Why are you allergic?

@ibstubro I’m not I just watched it on television… I’m allergic to amoxicillin.

@ibstubro Who knows, it’s an allergenic protein in nuts that is the cause. As far as I know there are no brazils in europe or africa and I’m not allergic to any others. Evolution has not been a factor here.

I used to have a physical reaction to bananas. Never did figure out what caused it. They would make me shake, like I was in a cold swimming pool for too long.

Went away after my son was born, oddly enough.

shrug

@Seek_Kolinahr postpartum suppression

My doctor gave me a blood test which could show sensitivity to 95 different foods. Turns out I’m highly sensitive to dairy and gluten. My grandson is sensitive to corn and eggs so trying to feed us both is a chore!

@ARE_you_kidding_me you’re pretty lucky to only be allergic to Brazil nuts. I’m allergic to all of them but for me pistachios are the worst. I’m also just allergic to the protein which is nice since that means I can still have peanut oil. Life would be hell without chinese food :P

A week or so ago at work someone was heating up a pie that had nuts on it in the microwave and left it in for entirely too long so the thing burnt and the kitchen filled with the smoke from it. Had a reaction from that. I’ve never had a airborne reaction like that, normally I have to actually ingest it. Pretty scary.

@uberbatman I know I am lucky. Brazils are basically only grown in south america and are expensive so you don’t encounter them too often.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Yea, I only ever really see them around christmas in bowls of mixed nuts. They’re so ridiculously big and obvious too, bet you don’t have reactions very often? I’ve been to the hospital more times than I can remember :P

Plus the fact that Beazil nuts are nasty!

@uberbatman never had to go myself. I’m pretty careful and I have never had a reaction so bad that I could not breath. I have only accidentally ingested them a couple of times. How bad can it get?

@ARE_you_kidding_me Well, I’m incredibly lucky, if I ingest nuts I have ~30 minutes to take benadryl . If I take it during that period I’ll be fine, just have to pass out somewhere for a couple hours. If I don’t take it soon enough then the reaction really begins. My throat starts swelling and closing and the vomiting starts. I also have a tendency to hallucinate a lot while going through my reactions which has led to me getting a drug test every single time I go since the Dr’s always just think I’m really fucked up on something :P but once I get into the back they just give me an IV of benadryl and if it’s really bad (only happened once or twice) a shot of epinephrine.

If it weren’t for benadryl I would have been dead about a million times over by now :P

Wow, bad delayed reaction! I vomit within minutes of ingestion and in an hour or so it’s like it never happened except for a bit of hives and mild itching that lasts for an hour or more. I also will take a benadryl and it puts me into a calm sleep.