{"title":"Vegan diet—alternative protein sources as potential allergy risk","authors":"Uta Jappe MD, MSc","doi":"10.1007/s40629-023-00248-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><p>As a vegan diet is per definition a plant-based diet, consumers rely on plant protein sources in order to substitute animal proteins. Plant protein sources commonly used in this context are the following: cereals, like wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum, Triticum durum</i>), oat flakes; pseudo cereals like quinoa; nuts and oil seeds like cashew (<i>Anacardium occidentale</i>), hazelnut (<i>Corylus avellana</i>), walnut (<i>Juglans regia</i>); seeds like psyllium seeds (<i>Plantago ovata</i>), sesame (<i>Sesamum indicum</i>), and chia seed (<i>Salvia hispanica</i>).</p><h3>Methods</h3><p>In order to assess the allergy risk posed by vegan diet, a literature search focusing on the composition of this particular diet and whether the respective foods are potentially allergenic was performed.</p><h3>Results</h3><p>At first glance, it is evident for allergologists that these protein sources are well-known allergen sources. Particularly nuts and legumes harbour storage proteins, oleosins, and lipid transfer proteins that as such are associated with severe allergic reactions to food. In addition, there is increasing evidence that the simultaneous consumption of several of these foods may produce a summation effect where many single allergens of high allergenic potential sum up, thereby inducing anaphylaxis. Furthermore, food processing—or the lack of it—puts patients with pollen-associated food allergy at risk to react to some of the plant foods used in vegan diets.</p><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Therefore, individuals with a history of atopy should be educated regarding the allergy risk of a vegan diet.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":37457,"journal":{"name":"Allergo Journal International","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s40629-023-00248-7.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Allergo Journal International","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40629-023-00248-7","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
As a vegan diet is per definition a plant-based diet, consumers rely on plant protein sources in order to substitute animal proteins. Plant protein sources commonly used in this context are the following: cereals, like wheat (Triticum aestivum, Triticum durum), oat flakes; pseudo cereals like quinoa; nuts and oil seeds like cashew (Anacardium occidentale), hazelnut (Corylus avellana), walnut (Juglans regia); seeds like psyllium seeds (Plantago ovata), sesame (Sesamum indicum), and chia seed (Salvia hispanica).
Methods
In order to assess the allergy risk posed by vegan diet, a literature search focusing on the composition of this particular diet and whether the respective foods are potentially allergenic was performed.
Results
At first glance, it is evident for allergologists that these protein sources are well-known allergen sources. Particularly nuts and legumes harbour storage proteins, oleosins, and lipid transfer proteins that as such are associated with severe allergic reactions to food. In addition, there is increasing evidence that the simultaneous consumption of several of these foods may produce a summation effect where many single allergens of high allergenic potential sum up, thereby inducing anaphylaxis. Furthermore, food processing—or the lack of it—puts patients with pollen-associated food allergy at risk to react to some of the plant foods used in vegan diets.
Conclusion
Therefore, individuals with a history of atopy should be educated regarding the allergy risk of a vegan diet.
期刊介绍:
Allergo Journal International is the official Journal of the German Society for Applied Allergology (AeDA) and the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology (ÖGAI). The journal is a forum for the communication and exchange of ideas concerning the various aspects of allergy (including related fields such as clinical immunology and environmental medicine) and promotes German allergy research in an international context. The aim of Allergo Journal International is to provide state of the art information for all medical and scientific disciplines that deal with allergic, immunological and environmental diseases. Allergo Journal International publishes original articles, reviews, short communications, case reports, and letters to the editor. The articles cover topics such as allergic, immunological and environmental diseases, the latest developments in diagnosis and therapy as well as current research work concerning antigens and allergens and aspects related to occupational and environmental medicine. In addition, it publishes clinical guidelines and position papers approved by expert panels of the German, Austrian and Swiss Allergy Societies.
All submissions are reviewed in single-blind fashion by at least two reviewers.
Originally, the journal started as a German journal called Allergo Journal back in 1992. Throughout the years, English articles amounted to a considerable portion in Allergo Journal. This was one of the reasons to extract the scientific content and publish it in a separate journal. Hence, Allergo Journal International was born and now is the international continuation of the original German journal. Nowadays, all original content is published in Allergo Journal International first. Later, selected manuscripts will be translated and published in German and included in Allergo Journal.