Does what you eat during pregnancy and breastfeeding affects whether your child develops food allergies?

Many questions arise when you grow or raise a novel child.

Among them, women often wonder if what they eat during pregnancy or breastfeeding will affect whether their child will have food allergy.

Scientists have also been trying to answer this question for many years.

Exposing the child to food allergens during pregnancy and by mother’s milk is considered important. Experts believe that this may allow a child to start developing helpful immune answers to tolerate food allergens in his diet in the future.

But to what extent this theory takes place and whether the mother’s diet affects the likelihood of the development of food allergies is not yet clear. Here’s what we know so far.

Science about food allergies

Food allergy occurs when the body’s immune system reacts to specific food, as if it was harmful to the body.

In Australia, food that usually causes allergies They include egg, cow’s milk, peanuts, wood nuts, sesame, soy, wheat, fish and other seafood (this may be a bit different in different countries). Although almost every food can cause an allergic reaction.

For people with food allergies, symptoms may appear within a few minutes of eating food. These Symptoms may include A swollen face, lips or eyes, hives or cuffs on the skin, vomiting, breathing problems and persistent dizziness or collapse.

Food allergens can be pregnant Go through the bearing and it can be detected in Amniotic fluidfrom which they reach the child’s digestive tract when the child swallows.

After birth, this process continues when food allergens come out Mother’s milk to the child’s gastrointestinal tract. Both of these paths lead to the exposure of early life to various food products.

It is believed that it helps the developing child’s immune system in accepting food allergens when they are introduced when the child begins to eat the pressure of the bodies. In other words, the immune system can be more vulnerable to food as harmless and do not order an allergic response to food.

Together with food allergens, infants also receive favorable antibodies in mother’s milk. Horizontal Antibodies specific to food allergenwhich could provide protection against allergies, they proved to be higher in children whose mothers ate more food products, including egg, peanuts, cow’s milk and wheat during early breastfeeding.

Lower levels of these beneficial blood antibodies have been related With greater chances of developing food allergies.

Research is trying to answer the question

Although there are scientific explanations of how a woman’s diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding can affect the likelihood of the development of food allergy, we do not have decisive evidence to tell us exactly what the best diet prevented allergies.

Some research tried to look at it, but The results were inconsistent Because they were carried out in various populations, the diet was assessed in different ways and were not always able to take into account other factors that can affect both diet and the risk of food allergy.

Current research is trying to understand this. Enormous Australian study, PreGgnut testHe tests whether the amount of eggs and nuts eat during pregnancy, and breastfeeding affects the risk of their child, which is egg or peanuts allergy.

Over 2,100 mothers were randomly assigned to eat higher or lower amounts of egg and peanuts from pregnancy until their child is four months venerable. The results are expected next year.

Another Australian study, Nut for children’s researchHe tests whether the amount of peanuts and cashews eating mothers during breastfeeding can reduce the chances of developing nut allergies or cashew nuts.

This study has recently begun and searched for 4,000 pregnant women living in Western Australia or Victoria and who plan to feed their child to participate.

So what is the advice?

There are many other things, such as genetic AND Environmental factorsIt can also play a role in the development of the child’s immune system, including their immune cells react to food allergens. And we still have to learn a lot about what causes allergies more widely.

While we are waiting for the results of the above research, Current advice It is for mothers so that they do not avoid any common food -related foods during pregnancy and breastfeeding (unless they are allergic).

The science so far suggests that, if at all, exposure to allergens can reduce the risk of allergies, instead of increasing it.

When the child is ready to eat solid foods, we know We present peanuts and eggs For about six months, it is less likely that the child will develop an allergy to these foods.

It may be helpful to introduce other common foods related to allergies in the first year of life Although evidence Because it is not so powerful compared to peanuts and eggs.

After the introduction of these foods, continuing Take them into account regularly in your child’s mealsAt least once a week, it can also make it less likely to develop an allergy to these foods.