Help I Am Allergic To Banana

If you are allergic to banana then you suffer from allergies Type 1 or contact allergy. The protein found in banana called chitinase, causes the immune system in some individuals to overreact and treat the protein as harmful to your body. The reason the body overacts to certain foods is not clear and more studies are needed. The protein called chitinase is also found in avocado and kiwi fruit.

Bananas originated in Malaysia around 2,000 B.C. and then spread throughout the Philippines and India. Alexander the Great recorded them being grown in India in 327 B.C. Today bananas are grown in most tropical and subtropical regions around the world with the main commercial producers located in Central America. With the development of rapid transportation bananas have become widely available.

Vaso-active amines are histamine like substances that occur naturally in foods and can trigger symptoms that can mimic allergy reactions. Vaso-active amines are called histamine, phenyl-ethylamine, serotonin, tyramine and dopamine.

Serotonin is found in banana, and the symptom of serotonine ingestion include cramping, flushing of the skin, headache, and heart palpitations. The severity of the symptoms is dependent on the amount the histamine like substance ingested and the lack of the histamine metabolizing enzyme diamine oxidase in your system.

Most food allergy or food intolerance reactions usually happen within a few minutes to a few hours after eating the bananas. Most mild to moderate reactions last less than a day and can involve a rash on the skin, cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, runny nose, watery eyes, wheezing and coughing.... Read more ...