Foods to Fight Allergies

Health Envoy's Blog

Ask Dr. Anna Feldweg
Q: Which types of fruits or vegetables will help decrease inflammation due to allergies? I've heard that eating broccoli, tomatoes, avocados, and cherries helps.

— Fran, Texas

 
A: I don’t think that eating more of these particular foods will reduce the inflammation of allergies to a meaningful degree. The dietary intervention that has shown the most promise in scientific studies is a diet rich in the type of fats in fish oils, but you have to be careful with fish oil capsules because they can be contaminated with heavy metals.

I have never read or seen a study that claimed that allergies can be treated to any significant degree simply by eating certain foods. I wish it were that easy. Also, fresh fruits and vegetables, although unquestionably good for your overall health, can actually be difficult for some allergic people to eat.

For example, people with hives often notice that their hives get worse if they eat a lot of tomatoes, and people with tree pollen allergies often get itching in their mouths when they eat fresh cherries (this is caused by proteins in the cherries that are similar to pollen proteins).
Everyone, whether they have allergies or not, should eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables for all the health benefits those foods can provide. I’m sure there are compounds in certain fruits and vegetables that, when purified and concentrated and poured onto cells in an experiment, may have anti-inflammatory properties. But this does not necessarily mean that eating that food will treat an established allergic problem. I’m afraid you will be disappointed if try to treat your allergies with diet alone.