Anyone have Oral Allergy Syndrome?

liog
liog Posts: 347 Member
Defined from the Children's Hospital of Philly:

"Oral allergy syndrome is due to a cross-reactivity between plant proteins from pollen and fruits or vegetables. When a child or adult with pollen allergy eats a fresh fruit or vegetable, the immune system sees the similarity and causes an allergic reaction. Interestingly, many patients with oral allergy syndrome can eat the same fruits or vegetables when they are cooked. The cooking process changes the protein enough that the immune system does not recognize the food as being the same as the pollen anymore."

I have had OAS since I was about 12, maybe earlier. I remember that the first reaction I had was to oranges and through my teen years I eventually reacted to every raw fruit and vegetable I have tried to eat. It seems the more ripe a fruit or veggie, the worse the reaction. For me it is swollen throat, tongue, lips, hives, and my voice deepens - I guess it does something to my vocal cords.

Just wondering if anyone else here has this and looking for new ideas/recipes for well-cooked veggies, and any healthy ideas on fruits besides canned or baking a pie.

Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Wow, I'd never heard of that allergy before.

    Try grilling fruits. Pineapples, especially, are delicious when grilled. Baked apples and pears, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar are also great. Try cobblers instead of pies. Much easier, IMO.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    Defined from the Children's Hospital of Philly:

    "Oral allergy syndrome is due to a cross-reactivity between plant proteins from pollen and fruits or vegetables. When a child or adult with pollen allergy eats a fresh fruit or vegetable, the immune system sees the similarity and causes an allergic reaction. Interestingly, many patients with oral allergy syndrome can eat the same fruits or vegetables when they are cooked. The cooking process changes the protein enough that the immune system does not recognize the food as being the same as the pollen anymore."

    I have had OAS since I was about 12, maybe earlier. I remember that the first reaction I had was to oranges and through my teen years I eventually reacted to every raw fruit and vegetable I have tried to eat. It seems the more ripe a fruit or veggie, the worse the reaction. For me it is swollen throat, tongue, lips, hives, and my voice deepens - I guess it does something to my vocal cords.

    Just wondering if anyone else here has this and looking for new ideas/recipes for well-cooked veggies, and any healthy ideas on fruits besides canned or baking a pie.

    I used to not, but apparently I have gotten an onset of allergies to kiwi, pineapple, bananas and mangoes recently. Bummer because these are some of my favorite fruits.
  • Yes, I have something similar. My doctor told me that a fruit or vegetable that cross-pollinates with something I am allergic to could trigger a reaction. It is hit or miss with the reaction. I have a better chance of reacting in the summer when the pollen is higher. I tend to eat the trigger foods in the winter when the pollen is down. Good Luck!
  • Defined from the Children's Hospital of Philly:

    "Oral allergy syndrome is due to a cross-reactivity between plant proteins from pollen and fruits or vegetables. When a child or adult with pollen allergy eats a fresh fruit or vegetable, the immune system sees the similarity and causes an allergic reaction. Interestingly, many patients with oral allergy syndrome can eat the same fruits or vegetables when they are cooked. The cooking process changes the protein enough that the immune system does not recognize the food as being the same as the pollen anymore."

    I have had OAS since I was about 12, maybe earlier. I remember that the first reaction I had was to oranges and through my teen years I eventually reacted to every raw fruit and vegetable I have tried to eat. It seems the more ripe a fruit or veggie, the worse the reaction. For me it is swollen throat, tongue, lips, hives, and my voice deepens - I guess it does something to my vocal cords.

    Just wondering if anyone else here has this and looking for new ideas/recipes for well-cooked veggies, and any healthy ideas on fruits besides canned or baking a pie.

    I can't be much help since I don't have this but when I used to not eat meat I loved lasagne made with pumpkin instead of meat, so you could make yourself a lasagne (with meat of course if you eat it) but chuck in pumpkin, mushrooms, onions and peppers. Other then that the only thing that comes to mind is my friend, I don't think she has OAS but she is highly allergic to most fruits and veggies (if she accidently eats them she needs a shot from her epi-pen and has to go hospital for observation it's very bad she will die if she eats them) but she can eat carrots, and she gets bored of carrots, so sometimes she'll boil them then whilst they are still slightly crunchy drain them, and mix in melted butter with different herbs, or she'll finish cooking them in honey, neither are particularly healthy ideas per say, but I'm sure there's a few ways of adapting those so they are healthy, plus it's more interesting then plain boiled carrots :)
  • tiarapants
    tiarapants Posts: 1,015 Member
    I have it with strawberries and bananas - a fact I have to keep reminding my DH, even though we've been together over 23 years!
  • Saxmis
    Saxmis Posts: 84
    Yes, I have this too. I thought it was just strawberries, but it turns out I'm allergic to most fruits. I had a particuarlly bad reaction when my throat got really swollen after a cherry and I went to my GP, she confirmed the allergy.

    One of my symptoms is a bitter taste in my mouth, so all the raw fruits and veggies I've been avoiding for years because I didn't like the taste was purely just an allergic reaction.

    I haven't really got many suggestions as to how to cook them. I really struggle with having too many carbs in my diet so pies etc. are out of my allowance and doing baked fruit etc. with syrup terrifies me true.

    Going to keep an eye on this thread to see if there are any other suggestions =)
  • liog
    liog Posts: 347 Member
    It's good to know I'm not alone in this, but I'm sorry that you all have some of the same experiences. Has anyone suggested allergy shots to any of you? I had an allergist suggest it, but I was nursing my son at the time and didn't feel it was the right time to try it. I'm not sure it would be worth it.
  • Another idea (can't believe this slipped my mind earlier since I love it) is to make stuffed peppers/courgettes. You can add other veg in there and use rice/lentils/quinoa (sp?) to fill it up. Nice satisfying meal made with well cooked veg :)
  • marygrutland
    marygrutland Posts: 1 Member
    My symptoms are relatively mild for the most part and take weekly allergy shots, but here are a few things that have worked for me:

    1) The canning process usually involves high temperatures and/or pressures for pasteurization and sealing, so anything that is canned should be safe. I recommend that if you do home canning, you use an actual pressure cooker.

    2) Canned fruits packed in juice or water - don’t go for the sugar free varieties as these usually have sugar substitute additives add fruit is usually sweet enough to stand alone.

    3) Canned vegetables, again packed in juice or water - no sodium if you can get it, low sodium if you can’t. You can always add extra salt (or sugar for fruit), but you don’t have control of amounts canned goods unless there is none to start with.

    4) Freezing isn’t a great option, the cold may help delay the reaction, but I still have some issues with frozen pineapple.

    5) For me, dehydration works pretty well and can be done in a regular oven. That said, dehydration is done at a lower temperature than most cooking and may not be suitable for stronger reactions than mine. Dehydration can get you anything from fruit leather to veggie chips.

    6) Pickling is another option as the point of the procedure is preservation, a byproduct of which is the breakdown of what is being pickled to a small extent, but again, proceed with caution. If your recipe calls for you to stick fresh onions in vinegar for a hour and calls it pickle, you should probably skip them.

    7) Pasturization is a process that commonly uses a short period of intense heat to kill potential pathogens. In theory, juices and other similar products may be just processed enough to break down the proteins causing cross reaction. Caution, check labels for pasteurized products before trying.

    8) For smoothies, you can used that canned fruit. You can freeze it or the juice first, to use it instead of ice cubes. Add some blanched spinach, kale, or carrot for an additional boost. Again, this can be frozen after. I like using either oat milk or almond milk for the liquid, but the canned juice or water is an option.

    9) Spiralized veggies. I don’t know how I managed before the spriralizer. Spiralized veggies are fun alternatives to standard flour pasta, and they cook faster too. They even have them pre-packaged (zucchini and butternut squash at least) in the produce section of the grocery store. I don’t recommend frozen unless using them for baking or smoothies.

    10) Soups and stews are, of course, a staple. I recommend finding a good vegetable or minestrone soup recipe for easy dinner days. Other good standbys are beef stew and potato soup. For something with a bit more oomph, try a chili recipe or New Mexican Pozole Stew. Don’t be afraid to get creative and add in extra types of veggies if you feel the one you’re working with is not enough.

    11) Obviously, applesauce is a mainstay. My godmother used to make a pink version that used cinnamon candies instead of cinnamon sugar. However, it is not just applesauce, add pumpkin pie spice to a bit of pumpkin purée mixed with cream or milk, and you have a fabulous dessert.

    12) Have you ever tried a wilted salad?

    13) If you are throwing all diets (and perhaps good sense) out the window, then I recommend Bananas Foster ala Mode.

    14) As an aside, both Brussel Sprouts and Asparagus are somewhat smelly to cook even if they taste great. I recommend making these dining out treats if the smell bothers you.

    15) Want something really easy? My bother has a tendency to add whatever herbs and spices or sauces (premade or packaged) he wants to the meat and veggie mix for the night, before spreading the whole concoction on a sheet pan and sticking it in the oven till it’s done.

    16) Just last week, I took a prepackaged Jimmy Dean scrambler mix with kale, onions, cheese, turkey sausage, etc. and a bag of frozen mixed veggies and spread them over a 10”x15” sheet pan. After whisking a dozen eggs with no more than a cup of oat milk (sorry, I didn’t measure), I poured the mix over the veggies and stuck it in the oven at 350. Again, I didn’t time it, but check doneness at 30 min mark to evaluate. It gave me almost 3 weeks of breakfasts and it is freezeable.

    17) For a fun drink, try mixing seltzer water with pasteurized juice. I am fond of watermelon with a hint of mint.

    18) If you have picky eaters, try emulsifying you veggies in the food processor and exchanging a bit of the wetter ingredients in your next casserole with the mixture.

    19) Most grocery stores have microwaveable bags of fresh veggies in the produce section (freezer section too). For a quick snack, I am fond of the edamame or snap peas. For a quick lunch, a sweet potato stuffed with leftover barbecue hits the spot.

    20) There is also such a thing as hot chicken salad. I am not sure if a healthy version of this recipe exists, but there is a mix of ranch dressing powder, sour cream, cooked shredded chicken, cheese, onions and celery; all placed in a casserole dish, topped with Ruffles, and cooked.

    I should probably stop here. Hope some of these concepts help a few people.