While eating fast food may make things easy in the short term, recent studies are showing that it could present some big complications for kids who have allergies, eczema, and asthma in the long run. While most of us understand that the foods we eat have a direct impact on our immunity, inflammatory response, and overall health, issues could be coming from directions we didn’t expect them. Recent studies have revealed that processed and preserved foods may have a direct and intense correlation with the number of allergy and sensitivity issues that doctors see each year. Let’s explore!
More Fast Food, More Allergy Diagnoses
The first warning sigh that there’s a link between processed food and allergies is the number of new allergy, eczema, and asthma cases being diagnosed each year. The trends of new diagnoses seems to go hand-in-hand with how accessible processed and preserved foods are to kids, so this has been a red flag to many health care researchers. According to one article, the allergy-related issues of over 500,000 kids across the globe have been directly related to dietary issues that may include fast food.
Recent data shows that teenage kids who ate several fast food meals each week had up to a 36% higher instance of allergies and asthma. Wow! How can we ignore statistics like these? The fact of the matter is that processed and preserved foods play havoc on the immune system because our bodies simply don’t know what to do with them. These materials are so complicated for the body to deal with that they take up resources which can lead to a body that simply cannot handle allergies and triggers the way it should be able to.
Processed Foods
Processed foods contain a shocking number of refined sugars, saturated fats, and trans fats – all things that are known to cause issues with immunity. When we have kids who are already dealing with allergies or other sensitivities – these foods can be the tipping point that leads to severe reactions and health issues.
The root issue here is that fast foods and highly processed foods may not be the best choice for anyone who deals with allergies, asthma, or eczema. These foods have the ability to weaken an immune system that has a lot of work do do, and they can stress out the digestive system to the point that good nutrients may not be absorbed as well as they should be. While we all rely on fast food occasionally when schedules are tight, it’s best to avoid it at all cost. Planning ahead with healthy snacks, fresh fruits, and home made meals in the freezer could be the difference between an itch free week or weeks of medications, scratching, and sleepless nights!
More on preservatives here.
For more information about figuring out what foods may be causing an issue for your child, check out our articles on the elimation diet process here.