Foods you should not eat if you are allergic to protein

Protein allergy must first be strictly avoided. The first category is the natural foods corresponding to the protein that you have already identified as allergenic. The second category is all processed foods with additional added allergenic proteins. The specific range depends on whether you are allergic to animal protein or plant protein. There is no unified one-size-fits-all list, but there are general high-risk categories for reference.

Last week, I accompanied my best friend to take her 3-year-old son with allergies to the pediatrician for a review. A while ago, the little boy ate the "Add-Free Children's Soybeans" specially bought by his grandma. His face was covered with wheals and he could not breathe, so he was sent to the emergency room. After flipping through the ingredient list, he saw the last line of small print read "Added Whey Protein." The old man didn't know that this stuff is a highly allergenic ingredient extracted from milk. He suffered a misfortune.

Let’s talk about the most common high-risk animal proteins first. Eggs, milk, seafood such as fish, shrimps, crabs, and shellfish, as well as lean parts of poultry and livestock meat, are all categories with a high incidence of allergens from foreign proteins. Even insect proteins such as fried silkworm pupae and grilled grasshoppers that are now popular on the Internet have a higher allergenicity rate than ordinary seafood. In fact, there have been two different guidance suggestions in this area: If you only have a serum test that shows mild sensitization and have never had any clear allergic reactions such as rash, vomiting, or difficulty breathing, then there is no need to completely avoid the food. For example, many children are only allergic to the ovalbumin in egg white. It is perfectly fine to eat a small amount of egg yolk. You can also gradually introduce the allergen in small doses under the guidance of a doctor for oral tolerance training ； But if you have had a history of laryngeal edema or anaphylactic shock after eating this kind of food before, you really can’t touch it even if you take a bite. Don’t believe in the old saying that “you can tolerate it after eating it a few times”. If something goes wrong, it will be fatal.

Many people think that protein allergies only mean they cannot touch eggs and milk. In fact, there are quite a few people who are allergic to plant proteins. The most typical ones are nuts such as peanuts, soybeans, almonds, and walnuts, as well as the gluten in wheat, which is what we often call gluten. I have a friend who is a screenwriter who is allergic to gluten. He cannot even touch ordinary brewed soy sauce. Every time he eats takeout, he has to repeatedly check with the store to see if ordinary soy sauce is included, otherwise he will have diarrhea for several days. There are also different views on the taboos of plant proteins: Many nutritionists believe that the fermentation process can destroy most allergenic proteins. If you only have a mild soy allergy, you can try products such as natto and fermented soy sauce. You don’t have to completely black out all soy-related things. However, this premise must be that you have no history of severe allergies. It is best to test your allergy in a small amount before eating normally.

Compared with these natural foods that can be recognized at a glance, what is really hard to guard against are the hidden additives in processed foods. When you go to the supermarket to buy bread, some merchants will not directly write "with eggs", but will only label "oval albumin" and "egg yolk powder" in the ingredient list.” ； If you are allergic to soy, when looking for protein powder, you will have to take a detour when you see "soy protein isolate" in the ingredient list. ； There are also takeout hot pot bases and salad dressings from light food restaurants. Many of them secretly add peanut butter and milk to enhance the flavor. If you don’t ask, the store will never tell you. Nowadays, many Internet celebrity protein bars and plant-based milks are highly publicized, saying that they are "healthy and free of additives". However, the first place in the ingredient list is highly allergenic ingredients such as peanuts and soybeans. Don't just look at the marketing rhetoric, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the ingredient list to see if there is any allergen warning.

In fact, to put it bluntly, the list of taboos for protein allergy is really personal. You may have to go to the hospital if you have a little bit of something that others eat that is fine. Instead of memorizing the general taboo list, it is better to go to the hospital for an accurate allergen test first, remember your own allergens, scan the ingredient list before buying anything, and tell the store clearly what you are allergic to in advance when eating out. It works better than anything else.