Careful what you eat! Cross-allergies of pollen

Did you know that what you are eating could be worsening your pollen allergies?

There are cross-allergies to every pollen allergy, meaning that some allergy sufferers cannot tolerate certain foods.

Cereals, peanuts, lentils or tomatoes, for example, should be treated with caution in the case of a grass pollen allergy, as these foods can be responsible for cross-allergies.

Mugwort allergies on the other hand, can react with herbs, spices and vegetables including celery, carrot, potato, cucumber and many more.

Tree pollen, such as birch, can cause food allergies with fruits such as apples, cherries, kiwis and pears. They can trigger ulcers and itching in the mouth, though this is not exclusive to everyone with pollen allergies.

Cross-allergenicity depends on two things; how similar the allergen is to pollen and the strength of the pollen count. So it may be that someone cannot tolerate raw apples in spring, but in autumn they can.

Keep check on the pollen via our app forecast feature, which you can see more about in our video below: