As with many pollen allergies, coming into contact with cedar pollen causes your immune system to produce antibodies that trigger the release of histamine into the bloodstream. Histamine — as well as other chemicals — cause a reaction that leads to symptoms of the condition. Dietary changes have no effect on your exposure to cedar pollen or your allergic response to it. Cedar pollen is an airborne allergen.
Cedar Pollen
If you have a cedar pollen allergy, your body recognizes cedar pollen — or the components in this pollen — as an allergen. Any time cedar trees pollinate, which is usually from December to March, the pollen count in the air rises. If you’re allergic to this type of pollen, you develop symptoms of a pollen allergy, such as runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, sinus pressure and cough.
Treatment
Changing your diet doesn’t limit your exposure to cedar pollen. Even washing fruits and vegetables prior to eating them isn’t likely to make much of an impact on your allergy symptoms because the allergen is still in the air, which can easily lead to exposure. Medication is your best option for treating symptoms of this allergy. Antihistamines work for some people, while others respond favorably to corticosteroids or nasal decongestants. If your allergy is severe, allergy shots can significantly reduce your sensitivity to cedar pollen, according to the Allergy and Asthma Center of Austin. Talk to your doctor about treating your cedar pollen allergy.
Cross-Reactivity
Diet can play a part in the potential for cross-reactivity with pollen allergies. For some people, a pollen allergy can lead to pollen-food allergy syndrome, also called oral allergy. Proteins in some fruits and vegetables share similarities to those proteins found in certain pollens. The most common pollen allergy that can lead to cross-reactivity is birch. With a birch pollen allergy, you may develop an allergy to apples, pears, peaches, celery and carrots, among other foods.
Proteins
As with other pollens, mountain cedar pollen contains a number of proteins. Jun a 3 epitope is just one that contains structural elements that can cause an allergic response comparable to hay fever. A study published in the July 2003 “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,” however, detected a similarity in the Jun a 3 epitope to a number of food allergens, including those in apples, cherries and pepper. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll develop an allergy to these foods, but you may want to discuss the possibility with your doctor or allergist.
References
- Allergy and Asthma Center of Austin: Pollen and Allergen Information
- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America: Pollen and Mold Counts
- MayoClinic.com: Allergies
- MayoClinic.com: Food Allergy
- Biophysical Journal; Homology Modeling and Characterization of IgE Binding Epitopes of Mountain Cedar Allergen Jun a 3; K.V. Soman, et al.
- Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry; Detecting Potential IgE-reactive Sites on Food Proteins Using a Sequence and Structure Database, SDAP-food; O. Ivancluc, et al.
