Perfect storm: Doctors warn of alarming rise in food allergies in adults

More and more adults are suddenly developing allergic reactions later in life, and experts aren’t sure why.

Nearly 50% of adults developed at least one food allergy in adulthood, according to 2019 research published in JAMA.

Illana Golant, founder and CEO of the Food and Allergy Fund (FAF) in New York City, told News Digital that she developed allergies when she was 40 years old.

INTESTINAL IMBALANCE MAY BE DRIVING THE FOOD ALLERGY EPIDEMIC IN THE US, EXPERTS WARN

“That’s not fully understood or recognized… we don’t know why they’re starting at certain points,” he said.

The FAF hosted a forum last week in Washington, DC, attended by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, FDA Chief Martin Makary, and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.

Health officials and researchers are investigating whether allergies can be caused by gut health microbes.

In an interview with News Digital, Makary shared how the function of microbiomes has evolved over time.

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According to Makary, the intestine is home to more than a billion different types of bacteria, which normally live in balance.

“But when it’s altered by the modern diet and by antibiotics and other exposures… that imbalance can cause inflammation. [and] health problems and could be involved in food allergies,” he said.

Golant shared that there appears to be a “critical tipping point” as some foods are more triggering for adults than for children.

“Seafood and shellfish [and] “Nuts seem to be proliferating among adults,” he noted.

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Shellfish was the top allergen in adults, according to a 2018 survey of more than 40,000 people that was published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

Golant said he luckily knew about allergies when he had his first anaphylactic reaction.

“If I didn’t know about food allergies, I would have thought I was having a heart attack,” he said. “Genetics can’t change that quickly. In one generation, food allergies have skyrocketed.”

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According to the FAF, approximately one in 10 adults suffers from food allergies.

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“It’s very much the perfect storm of a variety of environmental triggers,” Golant added. “We still don’t know which and… if there is a primary [trigger]but I guess it’s most likely a perfect storm.”