In europe and america,people are easily allergic to foods like wheat,nuts,dairy products,most gluten product containing products,etc, but in nigeria,personally i have hardly seen or heard of anybody that is allergic to any kind of food or even substances.

Why are africans in general not prone to allergies like westerners?

Food allergies arise mainly from poor immune system development as seen with people who were bottle-fed as infants or weaned too early.

In Africa, babies are mainly bosom-fed, some up to 6 months to 2 years. These babies have very strong immune systems and, as a result, are not prone to major food allergies.

The kinds of food disorder that may plague African children are Lactose Intolerance (fresh milk consumption) and Heart Burn (Legume consumption).

You are very correct,too much food additives and preservatives could have a bad chemical reaction in the body.Africans before now have been free from preserved and chemically adulterated foods,but with the proliferation of imported foods now in african,especially the very poisonous ones from china,allergies and food intolerance will soon become a trend in nigeria,

African children on average,even with all the nightmares mothers face are born healthy and able but in the west,with all the cares and protections almost one in twenty births are in some way deformed or diseased.Yes i agree infant mortality is higher in africa mainly due to complications at birth and poor public hygiene but infant disability is considerably lower for now compare to the west.

People should avoid preserved and imported food,they are not idle for human consumption,especially baby foods.

Yeah. . .Healthy foods.

When hunger dey catch man, allergy no go concern am

Sisi_Kill:

Yeah. . .Healthy foods.

Sisi_Kill:

Yeah. . .Healthy foods.

OP: Yes , Me - Fish (Sea food in general)

.

.

Whoa! Hold on a sec!

Chemical preservation of food is not the cause of Food-borne allergies--that is a whole different episode on its own. Food allergies has nothing to do with chemical preservation.

@ OP, by FOOD ALLERGIES, I presume you mean the major allergies caused by consuming certain types of foods such as:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Peanuts
4. Tree Nuts (Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds)
5. Fish
6. Crustacean shell fish
7. Wheat
8. Soybeans (At type of Legume)

Allergies to the foods listed above are due to "poor immune system development" and not because the processed food may have some chemical additives.

If as a child you are not fed with bosom-milk, or you are weaned to early from your mother's milk, then you may develop food allergies as you grow up. The Immune system of babies is formed from that of mothers through bosom-feeding.

In the West, the reason many of them are prone to food allergies is because they were not bosom-fed as infants. Human milk contains a lot of immune-building hormones, immunoglobins, and proteins. So, those western babies that were fed cow milk (Infant formula) did not get much of these essential hormones, and as a result, they can not properly ingest certain types of proteins in foods which then results to allergies.

African children, on the other hand, are mainly bosom-fed. They develop a good immune system and can consume most of the foods listed above without problem.
If Nigerians should start depending on infant formulas for feeding their babies right from day one, you will start seeing many cases of food allergies popping up in the country.
To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.

FOOD INTOLERANCE is something else.
Take Lactose Intolerance for example. It is a disorder that arises as a result of the direct inability to digest the disaccharide lactose (found in milk). While growing up, African children are fed evaporated milk or powdered milk. The heat-treatment used for the processing of these kind of milks have destroyed the lactose, so there is no need for the babies to develop the enzyme that digests lactose. Then, as adults, when they move to Western countries and consume fresh milk, they start having lactose intolerance (diagnosed by too much gas in the large intestine).
You see, fresh milk is not as severely heat-treated as evaporated or powdered milk and, therefore, still retains most of the lactose. That is why many Africans have Lactose Intolerance.

Some people also have intolerance to food chemical additives like: MSG, Phosphates, etc, etc.

FOOD POISONING is in a different category altogether.
This is where the chemical additives you were speaking of earlier may come into play. Some kinds of additives or preservatives used in foods can definitely kill you or damage something in your system. Some of these build up over time and start causing problems at the adult stage.
Some cause cancer, arthritis, rheumatism, kidney-stones, asthma, ulcer, etc, etc.

A major kind of Food Poisoning is the one caused by micro-organisms. If you ingest improperly processed foods infected with deadly microbes, may God be with you.

i was bottle-fed from day 1 and was prone to allergies, asthma, colds.

i was allergic to eggs as a child. i think i outgrew the allergy somewhere along the line but don't know for sure as i didn't start eating eggs till i was 19. then i noticed i have a kind of intolerance to eggs; i can eat a pack of 10 eggs over a period of one month to 6 weeks without any problem. but if i eat eggs for about 3 or more consecutive days then i develop mild symptoms.

also, i noticed last year that i'm sensitive to groundnuts. i get allergic symptoms (oral & ear) everytime i eat boiled groundnuts. as for the roasted groundnuts, i've only noticed symptoms when i ate a lot at once, or ate them quite frequently.

i have an uncle who had severe allergies to red meat, and a cousin who is allergic to fish, eggs and draw soups. i wonder if there is a genetic component to allergies.

redsun:

African children on average,even with all the nightmares mothers face are born healthy and able but in the west,with all the cares and protections almost one in twenty births are in some way deformed or diseased.Yes i agree infant mortality is higher in africa mainly due to complications at birth and poor public hygiene but infant disability is considerably lower for now compare to the west.

People should avoid preserved and imported food,they are not idle for human consumption,especially baby foods.

actually poor hygiene strengthens babies' immune systems.

davidif:

When hunger dey catch man, allergy no go concern am

Best answer so far.
Its only the rich and comfortable that knows allergies,when u are hungry,u eat anything,

i eat any eatables. bring them to me if you can't eat them

Nigerian don suffer too much to have poor immune system
Imagine a man allergic to gari and yet no get money.

However, it is possible and we just dont pay attention to it.

I have a friend in Lagos who never can eat peanuts (groundnuts), She does she get huge bumps all over her body for days on end. And another I know who never touch shrimps or snails.

NATURE IS THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING EVERYTHHNG! Human excessiveness ( new method of growing fruits & animals, fishes etc with d total disregard to d natural process) brought about many ailments as well some allergies. God placed people of different races and cultures at d ideal and appropriate locations for their development be spiritual, cultural even regarding d foods for a healthy living. But in d course development and movement from one nation/region to d other there are bound 2b changes in our body responses to certain things i.e, FOODS, i believe d best we could do is to study ourselves and adjust gradually to d new environment/foods etc. because nature will always find a balance. Imagine a man who was raised eating nigerian dishes from birth, he then moved abroad, lets say europe he'll need to adjust 2d new foods there in order avoid health problems. Things like this at times brings about allergies THOUGH NOT IN ALL CASES. I BELIEVE UNDERSTANDING NATURE & OURSELF WILL DEFINITELY BRINGS ABOUT A HEALTHY LIVING!

Yes, judging from the high incidence of bad skin problems along with protruding abdomins in Nigerians. I would bet we are especially because we tend to have a poorly balanced diet, leaning on specific types of food. Sometimes having too much of something can eventually lead you to being allergic to it.


We dont tend to listen to out bodies anyway, we just want to feel full. there is only an emergency when we are dying and even then we dont look at the root cause, instead we go for "deliverance", lol

Of course Nigerians can also have food allergies - they're human too.

EVERYTHING GOES FROM GBUREE TO ISHAPA SOUP AND 6 DAYS EBA WITH MOCURS,

IF PEPEYE (DUCK) CHOP STONE NAH WATER HE GO CHEET FOR TOILET.

ALLERGIES OR ACHITECTS FOR WHERE , WEY BETTA HUNGA DEY AROUND CORNER,

I love eating pounded yam but when I'm done all hell is let loose I tend to fart all day and men are they toxic!   If I continue this way I may erode our ozone layer faster than the ,

Yes Hausa foods ohhhhhhh

GL:

actually poor hygiene strengthens babies' immune systems.

Are you indirectly encouraging poor hygiene?

redsun:

In europe and america,people are easily allergic to foods like wheat,nuts,dairy products,most gluten product containing products,etc, but in nigeria,personally i have hardly seen or heard of anybody that is allergic to any kind of food or even substances.
Why are africans in general not prone to allergies like westerners?

As we know, Africans live mostly on undiluted natural food and still maintain those natural ways of food preservation, like drying and smoking method, while the west live on unnatural foods with canned and chemical method of preservation. The wheat, nuts, you mention are grown with chemicals so called fertilizer, while we grow ours Naturally. Their cows for dairies are being fed with food mixed with chemicals to increase output, while our cows eat fresh leaves or dried preserved one of chemical free.
There was a news last year about some Chinese eggs being contaminated, becoz they mixed excess chemical in the chicken feeds to highten the breeding output.
Also this their issue of half done food and meats, i see people eating fresh meat with blood in the name of half-cooked, or half roasted meat. You see people eating uncooked fish, jst few mins after eating they start complaining of allegy.
That is also why we always have low cases of all these their Bird flu, swine flu in Africa .

Yes, Nigerians can be allergic to food.

We are a hardy breed but I believe there is something we are doing right for us not to have too many cases of allergy. Maybe it is bossom-feeding like someone pointed out or the hot weather ensures our systems move fast and are in top form. The Oyibo cold is something else and I believe it helps to make their systems delicate. I often wonder at them when they are listing things they are allergic to. Here we eat everything and no shaking.

Going by our poor hygiene and general carelessness, we all ought to be down and in hospital. God is good sha.

pfft like sumone up there said before, alergies have nothing to do with the processing methods of the food.
simply put, we are less prone to lots of them because our bodies have adapted to the digestion process since day one by creating the right enzymes to break them down.

davidif:

When hunger dey catch man, allergy no go concern am  

. . . .because he has been exposed 2 drinking garri and groundnut since day one which his body wouldnt have a problem digesting now that he's all grown up (for instance)

madam L:

We are a hardy breed but I believe there is something we are doing right for us not to have too many cases of allergy. Maybe it is bossom-feeding like someone pointed out or the hot weather ensures our systems move fast and are in top form. The Oyibo cold is something else and I believe it helps to make their systems delicate. I often wonder at them when they are listing things they are allergic to. Here we eat everything and no shaking.

Going by our poor hygiene and general carelessness, we all ought to be down and in hospital. God is good sha.

it is indeed but that makes us lactose intolerant later on. . .

having said that, some nigerians still have allergies. . .like my bro
his body was all swollen. we all didn't know wat it was
d stupid roadside chemist we went to almost finished d guy with injections lol. . .ignorance is bliss

i'm actually allergic to honey. the truth is that most nigerians haven't eaten anything they are allergic to. Nigerian diet is too basic to be allergic to. Rice, beans, yam, etc. Wut's there to be allergic to.

lactose intolerance (alergy to milk sugar) affects 70-95% of africans while only 10-25% of whites (depending on study).

as far as other alergies the ratio of food alergies to population by race is: 0-17 years. All. 3.8%. White. 3.8%. Black. 3.7%. Asian. 4.3%. Multiple race. 4.6%. Hispanic. 2.8%.  courtesy of the office of minority health.  (link provided below)

http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/content.aspx?ID=5155&lvl=3&lvlID=319
http://www.healthcentral.com/allergy/c/3900/55508/minorities-free

i have noticed in africa there is a "do not discuss health issues" mentality while in places like the us and europe things are openly discussed.  there is little to no diff by race as far as alergys are concerend but a huge diff in the discussion of such.

princekevo:

That is also why we always have low cases of all these their Bird flu, swine flu in Africa .

 the reason there are low cases of flu in nigeria or any tropical region is because of climate ONLY.  viruses have a temperature range where they can survive just like most plants and animals.  the flu is a cold weather disease just as malaria is a warm weather disease.

i know nigerians that have allergies.
i have a friend,Ayo.the guy is allergic to fish-any sea food.his lips would be so sore and swollen coupled with severe iching.
another guy i knw is allergic to rain.if he gets in the rain,you would think he was in a fight.i have seen he face like that and i was asking who beat him up.

plenty of nigerians with allergies - they are just known by different terminologies - brief illness - jazz from village etc

i am allergic to salad. lol i was also allergic to pizza but am eating it now. but i dont like fruits at all. only eat them like 1 or 2wice a year. lol

na wa for u guys oh,  na person wey get many food they get allergic oh, person wey be say na garri, morning and night go see rich and platain with chicken sey im they allergic, 
anyway seriously we that are breastfeed are not allergic to anything ,  there is no meat i ve not eaten in asia, from  frog to tortise, abeg no be small thing. as for children feed with bottled milk u always be allergic to somethings,  no offence

Yep - am allergic to very oily fishes (yea those ones)  -  gives me throw ups!!