Food is the first line of defense against baby allergies

Food is eaten every day, and food is also the most common allergen for babies and children. How to ensure that babies need the nutrition they need to develop without causing allergic diseases? First, we should be clear about two points: First, food allergy is not a problem of the food itself. Food allergy only occurs in a small number of allergic patients. Infants are prone to allergies, especially food allergies, because they are new to the world and have no tolerance to many substances. Secondly, only a very small percentage of foods cause severe allergic reactions. For infants and young children, milk, egg white, fish, peanuts, soybeans and nuts are common allergens. What are the manifestations of food allergy? Food allergies most often manifest as eczema, loose or dry stools, and may even present with food-induced asthma, colitis, and other illnesses. Food allergies can be avoided or alleviated in a number of ways. First, we recommend breastfeeding until at least 6 months. Because the heterogeneous proteins (including plant proteins and/or animal proteins) ingested by the mother are digested and broken down by the body, the large molecules of proteins are turned into small molecules of proteins or amino acids, and their allergenicity is drastically reduced or disappeared, which makes it difficult to cause allergy. However, if the lactating mother eats a large amount of high-protein food, the body can not fully absorb and decompose it, and the milk can also cause allergies. Secondly, the correct addition of complementary foods is also very important, we can not mechanically follow the “456, fish, eggs and meat” such as the order to add. Children with food allergies, you can first add pork, chicken, these less allergic to food, and eggs, milk added later; add complementary foods, need to add gradually, it is recommended to add a weekly food, and to ensure that the addition of the food are a single species, do not add a mixture of food, such as “carrot and egg rice noodles” this kind of food! It is also recommended to add one food per week and to make sure that the food is a single food and not a mixture of foods, such as “carrot and egg rice powder”, in order to observe whether the baby has an allergic reaction to the food. If breastfeeding, the mother should also pay attention to dietary control. If the baby is found to be allergic to a certain food by the above complementary feeding test or allergen test, it is recommended to discontinue the use of that food or food containing that food ingredient without affecting the nutritional supply. The usual period of discontinuation is at least 3 months. If the mother is breastfeeding, the food should also be discontinued. Babies who are allergic to cow’s milk must stop the regular formula. Depending on the age of the baby and the degree of allergy to cow’s milk, you can choose either amino acid formula milk or deeply hydrolyzed/moderately hydrolyzed formula milk. The former has no protein at all and will not cause allergy; the latter removes most or some of the large molecule proteins through a process that alleviates the allergic reaction while leaving a small amount of protein to stimulate the body to develop food tolerance.