least allergic food

First of all, let’s be clear - there is no food that is 100% non-allergenic. However, based on the clinical statistics of the Global Allergy Society and the common food allergen database of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), refined ordinary white rice is the common food with the lowest incidence of allergies in the population. The global average allergy rate is less than 0.1%, which can almost be said to be a "safety item" for people with allergies.

When I was rotating in the nutrition department of a tertiary hospital, I encountered a little patient who had just turned 2 years old. He was screened for 200 food allergens, and the results were positive for everything from milk and eggs to wheat, soybeans, and even common fruits such as apples and blueberries. During the acute allergy period, even drinking deeply hydrolyzed milk powder caused rashes. In the end, the diet plan given by the doctor was only porridge cooked with white rice and distilled water, and no salt was allowed to be added. After eating it for 10 days, the allergy indicators slowly dropped.

Don’t underestimate this mediocre white rice. Its low allergenicity is really engraved in its genes. Unlike wheat and barley, which contain a large amount of allergenic gliadin, the main storage protein of rice is glutenin, which does not have the amino acid sequence that easily triggers the body's immune response. In addition, the refining process removes all the outer germ and bran that may contain allergens, so the remaining allergenic components are so small that they can be ignored.

Interestingly, the allergy community actually has different opinions on the classification of "least allergenic foods". One group of doctors believes that if drinking water is included in the broad category of food, purified water that has been treated by reverse osmosis will be truly zero-allergenic. After all, there are no impurities that will trigger an immune response. However, the opposition is also very direct: water is not a food that can provide energy in the traditional sense, and it should not be included in this selection. There are also a few studies that believe that the allergy rate of deeply hydrolyzed whey protein is lower, but in reality, even if it is a formula powder hydrolyzed to the amino acid level, a very small number of children who are extremely sensitive to milk protein will be allergic, and the popularity is far less than that of white rice.

Oh, by the way, don’t believe the “hypoallergenic quinoa” and “hypoallergenic avocado” boasted by Internet celebrity bloggers. In the past two years, I have met at least five patients who suffered from acute urticaria after eating quinoa. Allergy to avocado is even more common. These “healthy ingredients” that have only been popular for a few years have not been screened by generations of people. The probability of allergy is much higher than that of white rice that has been eaten for thousands of years. If you go to the hospital to do a food challenge test, you will know that the first thing on the list of foods the doctor arranges for you is always white rice. If you can tolerate even white rice, you can add other ingredients little by little. This is basically the default operation of the allergy department.

Of course, this does not mean that white rice is absolutely safe. In the past two years, our department received an extremely rare case of rice allergy. The patient was a 3-year-old boy. His mouth would become red and swollen with rashes when he ate white porridge. It was later found out that he was allergic to a special hydrophobin protein in rice. There are less than 100 cases of this kind of case reported in the world so far. It is an extreme case that is only one in a million and is basically untouched by ordinary people.

When I give dietary guidance to people with allergies, I always give them a rough-and-tumble plan: If you suddenly get a rash or itchiness after eating something you don’t know you are allergic to, stop all messy foods as soon as possible, drink boiled white porridge with warm water, and observe for 24 hours. In most cases, the condition can be stabilized and the allergic symptoms will not be aggravated. I have given this tip to no less than a hundred patients, and basically no problems have occurred.

To put it bluntly, looking for the least allergenic food is essentially looking for common ingredients that have been proven to be eaten by humans for the longest time. Those novel foods packaged in fancy packaging are not as safe as a bowl of plain white porridge, no matter how healthy they are. Of course, if you really feel uncomfortable even after eating white rice, don’t hold it back, go to the allergy department for a systematic screening and find a doctor to customize a diet plan for you.