Are you fond of eating peanuts or chocolates with almonds, pecans or walnuts? Did you recently grab your favorite chocolate bar and experienced tingling sensation and nausea? If you are one of those people experiencing these symptoms after consuming food with peanuts on it, then you may probably have peanut allergy. Based on a recent study conducted on mice by Cathryn Nagler, an immunologist at the University of Chicago, Probiotics can help prevent Peanut Allergies. Researchers reveal that bacteria on the gut may be a solution for people suffering from the toxic food allergy.
Food allergies are considered harmful reactions of the body to a particular food. Based on facts presented by Food Allergy Research and Education, there are about up to 15 million people in the United States suffering from food allergies. The prevalence of peanut allergy is amongst the major type of food allergies existing. Peanut and tree nut allergy are regarded as a serious condition affecting nearly 3 million Americans. According to Food Allergy Network, peanuts are considered the prime cause of grave food allergies after eggs, shellfish and tree nuts.
Although the cause of various food allergies is still a big question, researchers suggest that genetics play an integral part in developing the condition. Earlier studies also claimed that hygiene, diet, and the use of antimicrobials can have a vast effect on disturbing the body's microbiota, the natural bacteria thriving on human. These alterations may lead to people's increased vulnerability to food allergies.
The experiment carried out by Nagler and her colleagues on germ-free mice exposed in sterile conditions and on mice treated with antibiotics revealed that when these rodents were rendered to allergens from peanuts, both of them exhibit strong immune system compared to the mice with the regular bacteria on its gut.
Nagler revealed that when they implanted Clostridia, (Clostridium difficile), the highly diverse class of bacteria common in humans on the mice's intestines, it could overturn any sensitivity and avoid the rodent's from having peanut allergy.
The study of Nagler and her colleagues proved that Probiotics can help prevent Peanut Allergies. The group has already filed a patent to further develop strategies to avoid food allergies. Nagler also claimed their plan of tying up with biotechnology companies in initiating probiotic therapies.
