Latex allergy is a common allergy that affects the skin. People with a latex allergy have to avoid touching conveyor belts, buttons on ATM machines and medical gloves made with latex. Latex is made from the rubber tree, and persons who are allergic to latex can have an allergic reaction from breathing in its pollen or by eating certain foods. Some foods confuse the immune system because they contain proteins similar to those found in latex. Talk with your doctor about which foods to avoid if you have a latex allergy.
Allergic Reactions
Allergic reactions occur when your immune system malfunctions. The immune system protects the body from infection, illness and disease. When you have an allergic reaction, the immune system reacts to the substance as if it is harmful. The body protects itself from infection and disease by creating antibodies and histamine. Antibodies and histamine attack foreign bodies such as viruses but in turn cause inflammation and irritation. The release of these chemicals causes most allergy symptoms. If you're allergic to latex, the immune system can overreact when you breathe in pollen from a rubber tree, eat certain foods or touch items that contain latex.
Symptoms
Symptoms associated with direct skin contact with latex causes skin rashes, irritation and swelling, according to the Cleveland Clinic. You may develop hives or eczema in the location where your skin was exposed to the allergen. If you breathe in pollen from a rubber tree, common symptoms are similar to hay fever. This may include eye irritation, eye watering, nasal congestion, sneezing, throat irritation and a runny nose. If you eat foods that cause an allergic reaction in relation to latex, you may develop wheezing, asthma, coughing, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Food to Avoid
Some foods to avoid may cause an allergic reaction even though they don't contain latex because the body confuses the proteins in certain foods with the proteins found in latex, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Foods to avoid if you have a latex allergy include: banana, potato, kiwi, avocado, fig, papaya, pineapple, peach, cherry, plum, strawberry, melon, nectarine, grapes, tomato, celery, wheat, rye, hazelnut and chestnut, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Consideration
Persons with latex allergy may develop oral allergy syndrome, which is not a food allergy, but rather a reaction to the proteins that the body mistakes as latex pollen. If the allergy is related to a latex pollen allergy, immunotherapy, or allergy shots, may alleviate your condition. Immunotherapy is a method where your doctor exposes your body to small amounts of the allergen in order to desensitize your immune system to the substance. Over time the amount of exposure is increased until your symptoms are alleviated or minimized. Cooking foods may also help prevent an allergic reaction, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
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