Food allergies take probiotics

At present, no probiotics have been proven to directly cure food allergies. Only some specific strains supported by clear clinical data may have a certain auxiliary effect in reducing the risk of food allergies in infants and young children and alleviating the intestinal discomfort associated with food allergies. They cannot replace formal intervention programs such as food avoidance, anti-allergy drugs, and specific immunotherapy, nor are they “just enough to eat”.

A while ago, I saw someone posting on a group of moms who was allergic to milk protein. He said that his baby with milk protein allergy had been given imported probiotics for half a year, and now he can drink regular milk powder at will. I was just about to give a few reminders when I saw several people asking for links. I remembered my girlfriend last month. Mi came to me with half a box of probiotics sent by a relative and said that her baby had just been diagnosed with milk allergy. Her elders said that she didn’t need to drink deeply hydrolyzed milk powder, just take probiotics. I told her at the time: Don’t believe that. If it’s really so useful, why do you need an allergy department?

In fact, the statement that "probiotics can improve allergies" is not groundless, and the logic is completely smooth. 70% of the immune cells in our body are in the intestines. The essence of allergies is immune imbalance. Many people with food allergies are accompanied by intestinal flora imbalance, a leaky intestinal barrier, and undigested food proteins run into the blood, triggering an immune response. Therefore, one school of research believes that supplementing probiotics can regulate the flora, repair the intestinal barrier, and restore immune balance, which can naturally improve allergies. And there are indeed research data to support it: For example, for high-risk newborns whose parents have a history of allergies, supplementing with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) from the third trimester to the first 6 months after birth can indeed reduce the risk of cow's milk protein allergy and atopic dermatitis by about 30%. Some allergic patients also have a lot less symptoms of abdominal distension, diarrhea, and bowel sounds after eating allergenic foods after taking Lactobacillus reuteri DSM17938. This is all measured and not made up.

But then again, the objections are completely valid. If you look at the latest "China Food Allergy Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines", probiotics are not listed as a routine treatment at all. Why? Because the current research results are too "divisive" - ​​those effective studies are basically focused on specific strains and specific groups of people. If you change the strain, or switch to adults who have been diagnosed with allergies, the effect will disappear immediately. There is no unified standard for how much dosage and how long to take it to have an effect. Not to mention that 90% of the probiotics on the market claiming to be able to cure allergies have no corresponding clinical data at all. They are all marketers using the general concept of "probiotics to regulate immunity" and often say "take 3 courses to cure allergies". This is purely to collect IQ tax.

If you really want to give it a try, it’s not impossible, but you have to set your priorities clearly: as long as you are diagnosed with a food allergy, the first priority is always to strictly avoid food allergens. If you have severe allergies, carry an epinephrine pen with you. This is life-saving. Probiotics are always the icing on the cake and cannot be taken as life-saving medicine.

If you are planning to prevent allergies for your baby at home, for example, the couple themselves have a history of allergic rhinitis, asthma or food allergy, and are afraid that the baby will inherit it, you can choose a strain with clear clinical data under the guidance of a pediatrician or allergist. Do not go to the e-commerce platform to search for "allergy probiotics" and buy them blindly. Many of them contain maltodextrin and milk powder, which may directly induce allergies.

If you have an allergic attack and are always accompanied by intestinal discomfort such as diarrhea and bloating, you can also try taking the corresponding strain for 1-2 months. If it works, continue, if not, stop. Don't keep eating it for three to five years. It's not necessary. I have seen too many people take probiotics as a magic medicine and spend tens of thousands. In the end, they still suffer from allergies. It is really unnecessary.

Oh, yes, there is another pitfall that I have to mention. Don’t believe the saying “the higher the number of viable bacteria, the better”. Many products are marked with 100 billion viable bacteria. Without embedding technology, after being corroded by gastric acid and bile, only 1% of them can survive in the intestinal tract. There are also those that add a lot of sugar and flavors, which will mess up the intestinal tract.

Last year, I met a girl in her 20s who was allergic to wheat. She got rashes and stomachaches after eating them. She bought four or five types of probiotics based on the recommendation of an internet celebrity and took them for almost a year. The last time she accidentally took a bite of steamed buns, she ended up in the emergency room. Later, she followed the doctor's advice to avoid food and cooperated with low-dose immune-modulating treatment. Now she can finally eat a small amount of noodles.

To put it bluntly, probiotics are like the "temporary cleaners" of your intestines. When the flora is originally messed up, they come to help clean up the mess, making the intestinal environment better and the immune status more stable. But if you expect them to directly fix the immune bug of "allergy to certain foods", it really can't be done at the moment. Don't be fooled by the salesperson. If you really have an allergy problem, go to the allergy department of a regular hospital to register first. It's better than anything else.