Nausea With Fruit Allergies

Nausea With Fruit Allergies
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Nausea is a common symptom of most food-related allergies. If you have a known fruit allergy, you can develop nausea and vomiting within minutes of eating certain fruits that trigger an allergic reaction. If you notice that certain fruits cause your symptoms to form, make an appointment with an allergist and discuss your symptoms. The allergist will perform allergy tests to clinically diagnose your condition and provide treatment options. Most fruit allergies are treated by avoiding the consumption of the fruits that cause an allergic reaction in your body.

Fruit Allergy

A fruit allergy is a term used when you're allergic to one or more fruits. A fruit allergy doesn't mean that you're allergic to all fruit. The University of Maryland Medical Center states that the most common fruits that cause allergic reactions in most people include strawberries, pineapple, tropical fruits, melons and tomatoes. A fruit allergy occurs when the immune system malfunctions and mistakenly identifies the proteins in certain fruit as dangerous substances, when they are in fact safe. When this mistake occurs, the body begins to protect itself by creating different chemicals, such as antibodies and histamine. These chemicals, along with others, cause inflammation to occur in different parts of the body.

Nausea

Symptoms of a fruit allergy are similar to other food allergies. Symptoms typically develop within a few minutes of eating the fruit. Nausea is the result of inflammation and irritation that occur in the lining of the digestive system. Your stomach can become upset from inflammation, resulting in nausea, vomiting, cramping, stomach pain and diarrhea. Most cases of nausea and vomiting do not last long because once the allergen is expelled from the body, most symptoms subside. Do not use over-the-counter anti-nausea drugs if you develop nausea form a food allergy.

Food Journal

Because you may be allergic to one or more fruits, you need to identify which fruits are causing the nausea to form. Keep a food log for one week of what foods you eat, how they make you feel and how long the symptoms last. If you develop severe allergic reactions during this process, discontinue the process and call your doctor immediately.

Testing

Talk with your allergist about your findings so that she can decide which fruit proteins to use during allergy testing. Allergy testing challenges your body with specific fruit proteins. For example, your allergist may take the proteins from strawberries and tomatoes and infect a small portion of those proteins under your skin. If your skin reacts to the infection with inflammation and redness, you are allergic to that fruit.

References

Article reviewed by Christine Brncik Last updated on: Apr 17, 2011

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