Some people get itchy skin after eating beef. Others feel allergic when they eat spinach, hilsa fish, or prawns.
But why does this happen? Now we’ll explore what really causes allergies in our body and whether there’s any way to avoid them. Inside every human body, there’s a special defense team called the immune system. Its job is to protect us from harmful things like viruses, bacteria, and dust that come from outside. This immune system has different types of soldiers. Some act like patrol police, moving through the blood and watching for danger. If they find something suspicious, they try to destroy it. Others work like secret agents, gathering information. Some even build tiny bombs to fight off threats. Normally, this system protects us from harmful particles. But in some people, it mistakenly attacks certain foods. For example, someone who gets itchy after eating prawns is reacting to a protein in prawns called myosin. Myosin is actually harmless—it’s a muscle-binding protein. But in some bodies, the immune system wrongly sees it as dangerous and starts an immune reaction. First, the patrol police (like macrophages) catch the myosin and try to destroy it, thinking it’s an enemy.
This is how allergic reactions begin. Inside our body, there’s a smart detective team called dendritic cells. These cells collect tiny samples from anything suspicious and take them to the commander. The commander is called the T-helper cell. When the T-helper cell sees the sample, it gets angry and declares war. This war message is sent to another group called B cells. Don’t worry — we’ll explain who they are.B cells come in two types. One type is called memory cells. These cells remember what caused the immune reaction. So if the same thing comes back in the future, the body can catch it quickly. It’s like saving a photo of the enemy for next time.The second type of B cell makes special weapons — think of them as tiny knives. These knives are called IgE or Immunoglobulin E. Now here’s the interesting part: these knives don’t hurt anyone right away. They don’t attack randomly. They wait quietly for the exact thing they were made for. Only when that same enemy shows up again — like a certain food or particle — do they jump into action.
So what do these knives actually do?
Inside our body, there’s a special type of cell called a mast cell. Think of it like a tiny bomb, waiting quietly. But why is it waiting? You’ll understand in a moment.Let’s say someone eats prawns and their body reacts badly. That’s because a protein from the prawn — called myosin — enters the body and touches a special immune knife called IgE. When myosin touches IgE, it triggers the knife to cut the mast cell — like pressing a blast button.Boom! The mast cell explodes and releases many chemicals. One of the main chemicals is called histamine. This histamine causes most of the allergy symptoms — like itching, swelling, and red patches on the skin.Now imagine that person eats prawns again next week. More myosin enters the body, more mast cells explode, and more histamine is released. That means more itching and stronger allergic reactions.This doesn’t happen only with prawns. People can be allergic to beef, spinach, hilsa fish, or other foods. The immune system sees something in those foods as an enemy and attacks it — even though it’s not harmful.But not everyone has this problem. That’s because not all immune systems are the same. Some people have very sensitive immune systems that react quickly to many things. Others have immune systems that stay calm and don’t react much.
So what decides how sensitive someone’s immune system is?
One big reason is genetics — the traits we inherit from our parents. Your genes help shape how your immune system behaves. If your parents have food allergies, asthma, or any other allergic condition, then your chances of having food allergies are much higher. Age also plays a role. Many children experience stronger allergies when they’re young, but as they grow older, these reactions often become weaker. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone. Another important factor is asthma. If you already have asthma, it means your immune system is very active, and that increases your chances of reacting to certain foods. So what’s the treatment? By now, you’ve learned that your body has a defense team — the immune system — which protects you from harmful germs. But when this team becomes too active, it starts attacking harmless food particles. To stop this, you would need to calm down or weaken your immune system. But that’s not something doctors usually do unless it’s a very serious condition. In rare cases, they may use special immune treatments, but for regular food allergies, this is risky and not recommended. That’s why there’s no permanent cure for food allergies.
The best way to stay safe is to avoid the foods that trigger your allergy. For example, if someone gets itchy after eating hilsa fish but not after eating eggplant, it means they’re allergic to hilsa — not everything. So they should stop eating hilsa fish. You just need to find out which foods cause your allergic reaction and avoid those. Food allergy can sometimes become very serious. Some people have strong reactions that need hospital care. In extreme cases, the person’s throat may swell, they may struggle to breathe, or their blood pressure may drop. If that happens, they must go to the hospital immediately. if someone’s mild allergy becomes severe and they can’t tolerate it anymore, they might need emergency treatment — like antihistamines or other medicines. But there’s no treatment that can remove food allergy completely from your life. That’s the truth. And no one should trick you by saying “Eat this and your allergy will go away.” To cure an allergy, you’d have to weaken your immune system — and that’s not safe. So the best advice is: know your allergy foods, avoid them, and stay safe.