Oils and Fats Can Be Allergens

I have often heard people give the opinion that you can't possibly be allergic to oils and fats because they don't have proteins in them. This never comes up with regard to gluten, because gluten containing foods don't provide us with any oils or fats. However, this does come up with regard to dairy products and even things such as flax oil.

For many years I have known that people with a dairy allergy also need to avoid butter, because I have seen that in my patients as well as with myself. The same is also true for ghee, or clarified butter. I have also seen patients show up allergic to foods such as flax, and this includes flax oil.

So it seemed obvious to me that fats and oils can be triggers just as well as other foods. However, people who know a little something about allergies often chime in that allergies formed against proteins. This appears to be true, but it is a mistake to assume that there are no proteins in fats. There may not be enough protein to list on the side of the container as having any nutritional value, but there is plenty enough protein to act as an allergen. The same is true for environmental allergens. You typically can't see them, but they sure can affect you.

Fortunately, a group of researchers finally did a study on just this issue. And what did they find? That yes, even refined oils have the potential to be strong allergens. If you'd like to read the abstract for this study you can click on it here: Analytic investigations on protein content in refined seed oils: implications in food allergy. by Ramazzotti M, et al. in Food Chemical Toxicology. 2008 Nov;46(11):3383-8.

And what exactly is an allergy and how does it differ from an intolerance? I will discuss that next time.