![If the spinach doesn't get you, the carrots might. [CREDIT: USDA]](http://scienceline.org/_s/files/2006/10/carrot.jpg)
ask scienceline | health | biology
My brother is allergic to raw carrots but has no reaction to cooked ones. How is this possible?
– asks Tony from New York, NY.
The humble carrot, familiar fare for Bugs Bunny and armies of school children, can be a dangerous, even lethal, snack for a small number of people. Heating the carrot, however, can render them harmless to the allergic, according to a recent study.
But how could a little heat turn a vegetable from deadly to delectable? And how can a wholesome carrot be dangerous in the first place?
The carrots we buy in grocery stores are certainly not poisonous. The carrot, native to Afghanistan, is a root that has been grown and eaten for thousands of years. The typical orange variety was developed in 17th century Holland. Carrots are a good source of carotene, the compound that our bodies convert into Vitamin A.
This innocuous, nutritious vegetable is nonetheless dangerous to those people whose bodies react to it as a foreign invader. These people have immune systems that respond to carrots in ways that are usually reserved for illness-causing germs. No one really knows why this happens, but food allergies are becoming more common and seem to be on the rise in the industrialized world.
The cause of this proliferation may be excessive cleanliness. Today’s western children are exposed to fewer microbes not only because of the lack of dirt and germs in the foods they eat, but because they are more socially isolated than children in developing nations. Research has shown that children who attend daycare have fewer allergies than children who remain at home. Furthermore, both children and adults use antibiotics to combat microbes in their environments. In sterile environments, immune systems lack enemies, and may attack food proteins as if they were germs.
Our bodies are protected from germs by the antibodies that constantly roam the blood system looking for foreign invaders. For allergic people, antibodies target food proteins moonlighting as allergens. When antibodies detect an allergen, a reaction occurs. The body’s response to an allergen can cause a variety of symptoms from facial swelling to serious anaphylactic shock. In carrots, several proteins can cause a reaction.
Everyone knows that cooking carrots renders them mushy. A little heat breaks down the carrot’s cell walls, and turns this crunchy vegetable into perfect baby food. Heat, in fact, makes many vegetables more palatable. In their natural state, plants have ways to avoid being eaten. These defense mechanisms are called secondary compounds and can be poisonous to the eater. Most common crop plants have long since lost these harmful effects, and cooking some toxic wild plants can break down their toxins, making them edible.
When carrots are cooked, the potentially allergenic proteins within them unravel, rendering them safe from targeting by the immune system. According to a recent study in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, these denatured carrot proteins can no longer bind to the posse of antibody scouts, and when antibodies cannot recognize allergens, a strong immune response does not occur. The same study found that cooked carrot protein can still activate a milder immune response that causes a less dangerous reaction. Some participants who ate cooked carrots did not swell up and suffer breathing problems, but did get rashes from the second type of immune response. Because of this, researchers recommended that people allergic to carrots avoid carrots in all forms, even though heating reduces risk.
Don’t run to the crisper and dump those carrots just yet, though. Not many people have bonafide food allergies. The FDA estimates that only about 1.5 percent of adults and six percent of children have some kind of food allergy. Children outgrow most allergies, and allergic adults are typically only allergic to a few foods. Allergies to carrots are most common in Europe, where up to 25 percent of people with a food allergy need to avoid this orange root. Some experts say that food allergies develop in adults because of previous sensitivity to pollen; the patient may become allergic to a variety of plants that contain proteins similar to those found in the pollen. For example, celery, which is related to carrots, mugwort, certain spices and birch pollen all contain the same allergenic carrot proteins that some people just can’t stomach.
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October 16th, 2006 at 6:35 am
Thank you for your excellent explanation about why some people are allergic to raw carrots. Our 8 year old son has life threatening food allergies, and I have been reading about this topic since he was born — your article truly stood apart from the rest!
Our son has inspired us to open a gourmet bakery (www.divvies.com) dedicated to being peanut-free, tree nut-free, milk-free, and egg-free. People with AND without food allergies nationwide love our products and can’t believe what’s not in them. We have been featured in GOURMET Magazine, The New York Times, ABC News, Vogue and many other publications.
Please contact me, if you would like to receive a press kit and samples of our products. I am sure your readers would appreciate learning about Divvies!
Thank you for your time,
Lori Sandler
www.divvies.com
October 17th, 2006 at 7:02 am
Read more about the powr and goodness of carrots at the World Carrot Museum, nutrition pages.
October 17th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Kristin-
Thanks so much for the role that you are playing in educating about the severity of food allergies.
As seen on CNN, the goal of AllergyKids is to create universal awareness of life threatening food allergies in order to prevent accidental allergic reactions.
We are using our universal symbol for food allergies as seen at www.allergykids.com to help protect the millions of children with food allergies and to raise money for medical research in the hopes of a cure.
The role that you play in bringing awareness to this issue is so valuable.
Again, thank you so much for your time on this.
With hope for the cure,
Robyn O’Brien
Founder, www.AllergyKids.com
October 17th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
I took the ALCAT food test and the results were interesting. It brought my attention to the fact that certain foods that I enjoy and eat regularly may not be doing me much good — such as bananas and sweat potatoes! Now I don’t feel quite as sluggish after I eat if I just pay attention to following the results of the test.
November 25th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
i read in a french cookbook the i thought at the time obscure information that cooked carrots develop a toxin if left overnight. not being internet literate at the time, i did my own experiment on myself, ate a significant amount of left over cooked carrots, and did indeed feel somewhat “toxified” the next day. and have since avoided using or serving same, which is a bummer since my original recipe make ahead pot roast had included same. I’m thinking freezing the cooked carrots would at least retard the process. I’m surprised as always now that i am internet literate that there is as much info as there is , and think everyone should definitely read dr weils page 39 available on this search re: raw cruciferous veggies. but i am tired of looking specifically for corroboration (sp?)==2nd or 3rd opinions on original question. interesting that 25% of europeans have carrot allergies, doesn’t specify particulars. any french housewives out there, or french trained cooks that can offer more info? or, for that matter, anyone else with more info? we certainly don’t need any more toxins, especially when we think we’re getting something good! thanks so much. jjudyf8888@yahoo.com
November 25th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Interesting article respecting carrots. I thought I was “alone”.. I am 58 years old and became allergic to raw carrots at about the time I went through puberty. I tried one when I was 22 and nearly lost my life! Up until adulthood, I loved raw carrots right from the garden.
My food allergies are limited..raw carrots, raw celery, raw parsley and cilantro, hazelnuts and Brazil nuts–and that’s it!…but because of this strange grouping, it forbids me from trying something new, especially in other countries just in case #7 shows up.
December 19th, 2006 at 2:44 am
I seem to be allergic to carrots. I am 72 years old. For the past five years or so I am sick whenever I eat raw carrots.This never happened when I was younger.
Recently I roasted a dish of winter vegetables including carrots. The next day I ate one of the carrots and within minutes I was sick. This was the reason why I checked this website. I had never heard of an allergy to carrots. The only allergic reaction which I have had previously was to bee stings many years ago.
January 3rd, 2007 at 5:37 pm
thank you so much i also thought i was alone. since i was younger i could never eat that stupid raw vegatable platter at partys. parents always said i was making it up, and other people now think im weird for eating them cooked but cant raw. it makes sense now. also im trying to figure out why especially with raw carrots as well as throat and ear discomfert why my back and chest get exrtremely sore like im being paralyzed. this happen to anyone else?
January 11th, 2007 at 12:40 am
I can’t eat raw carrots, I have an allergic reaction. Also have the same reaction to certain apples like green ones and red ones, but other apples are ok.
February 25th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
I have been unable to eat raw carrots (cooked are fine) and also bananas since puberty, but was able to eat both before then. Anyone else have this combination or know what the common allergen might be?
Thanks for the great article - I have never known that anyone else was allergic to raw carrots before seeing this!
February 27th, 2007 at 2:29 am
In reply to Lisa…it’s so nice (or, maybe not so nice) to see that there are others out there who have similar allergies to mine! I have always had allergies, but have only developed severe food allergies since I turned 32. It began with cantalope but has branched out to also include nearly all raw vegetables, including lettuce. My throat swells, my blood pressure goes up and my asophagus goes into a spasm, making it very painful to swallow anything, including liquids. The pain radiates from my chest through to my back, feeling like stabbing pains. My doctor prescribed me a once-a-day allergy medication that seems to help with the chest pains.
March 30th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
I have a question.
I am allergic to baking soda, but it doesn’t affect me if it is cooked in something. If it is on the table, in toothpaste, deodorant, or in carpet fresh I have an awful reaction. I don’t quite understand it.
I have no problem with sodium, at least not that I am aware of. The chemical name is sodium bicarbonate, so sodium and carbon. what is the difference between it cooked and uncooked?
thanks Ammy
April 12th, 2007 at 6:42 am
I developed food allergies in my 40’s…to carrots,celery and most fresh fruit and vegetables. I now also have allergies to all nuts. These allergies are very frustrating as most people think it is so very strange to a have allergies to the fruits and vegetables, so it comforting to know that there are others out there with these allergies.
April 22nd, 2007 at 7:37 am
I had my second food allergy reaction, (the first was at age 31 to 4 almonds) last night to raw carrots. The doctors in the ER still think it’s crazy and are convinced it had to be something else (and I ate nothing else prior for several hours). In an effort to research the possibility of carrots being the source, I stumbled upon this site. Just a week before I enjoyed cooked carrots with no problem; and the same happened when I developed my tree nut allergy: one week no problem, the next ER. Just like my first reaction, I know the next few weeks will see me tip-toeing through the food aisles, wondering what is next.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Agh! We need more people to have this allergy to get the word out! (ha,ha) I love salads, but darn the restaurants who list every salad ingredient except carrots and darn the servers who don’t know whether they do or not have carrots and double darn the kitchen crew that messes up and thinks they can just pick the carrots out!!!
My lips itch, ears burn, throat swells and stomach turns. I hate it! And celery too! Can’t enjoy the veggie trays, either…
May 2nd, 2007 at 8:43 pm
i’m glad to find this site. i’m 31 and have recently started to develop food allergies. it’s so disconcerting. i thought i knew my body and it’s weird idiosyncrasies. i’ve always had odd reactions to shrimp so i avoided them, and i’ve always had hay fever, but oh well. at least i knew these things. but now, one day out of the blue i eat and apple and my lips get tingly. then sometime later, a plum, and i feel short of breath. and recently, raw carrots have given me a reaction. what’s next? is there any way to stop the decline to a spelt and rice diet?
June 29th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
I have discovered that I too, have an allergy to baking soda. When I use the toothpaste with baking soda my mouth feels as if I have a chemical burn and it lasts for several days. Rinsing with cold water does give some relief but that seems to confirm that I may be getting something similar to a chemical burn from baking soda. I tried using baking soda by itself on my teeth and the reaction was much worse than with the toothpaste so I am sure my adverse reaction
was to the baking soda. Its very hard to find others who have experienced this problem.
August 24th, 2007 at 6:43 am
I have also an allergic reaction to alot of vegetables, especially spinach & celery! I get the exact same symptoms as when i cut the grass, my mouth and throat swell up, give it an hour and it’s all fine, is there a particluar group of allergies i can put these into?
Many thnaks
September 12th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Wow … why does my MD think I’m out of mind when I tell her about my “latest” allergic reaction to food! As a teen I was allergic to raw carrots and celery … now know problem, as a young adult I developed an allergy to apples, pears, peaches and plums … though I can eat apple pie and in my forties though I had been eating shrimp and crab almost weekly … I suddenly had a reaction to a dish containing shrimp!!! Most recently I had a reaction to a stouffers french bread pizza!
I carry benadryl, an epipen and prednisone everywhere I go do wish I was brave enough to try some shrimp or crab!!!
December 6th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Over the years, after I became an adult, I noticed I developed a reaction first to raw apples, then raw carrots, and occasionally raw potatoes (a childhood favorite) and once or twice to raw celery. The reaction was an itchy throat, eyes and ears, and sometimes a runny nose. The cooked versions never bothered me. I also noticed that my outdoor allergies were worse when the birch pollen was flying. I was not surprised to learn from a sidebar in Prevention that they are related.
But one food reaction baffles me — apple cider. I’m pretty sure it was pasteurized, but I still developed a UTI. (And, oddly, apple cider is one of the natural cures for UTIs.) I am having a difficult time finding any info on this to see if this is an allergy or what. Is it really the apples or could it be another ingredient, and, if so, what are the candidates? Any thoughts?
(Oh, and amen to Renee about the restaurants that insist on adding carrot shavings to their salads.)
February 9th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I too always loved carrots.
Recently when I eat raw carrots I have noticed my throat feels funny, kind of hard (like there might be a little chunk of raw carrot stuck there).
I am 33 and in excellent health.
Cooked carrots don’t bother me. Very interesting web site.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I’m happy to know that I’m not the only one who has the strangest reactions to certain foods. Okay, I haven’t noticed if I have any reactions to celery. I know I can eat it cooked as I do put it in my tuna casserole and have no issues there. Carrots and apples: When I eat both (and it does depend on the apple), my throat feels like something is stuck there and it throws out my back as well (pain I would not wish on my worst enemy). When carrots are julienne sliced or shredded a bit in salad, I seem to be okay there. I have the same reaction to those two as I do to shell fish. In addition to the reaction to carrots, while I can eat it cooked, even when I’m cutting them up, my eyes gets incredibly itchy and red and swollen. My husband and I noticed that last night so he has to cut them now. I took an allergy test when I was about 13 but truly don’t recall if amongst my allergies were those things. But like I said in the beginning, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one. All this time, I thought I had a problem with my esophogus!!
March 10th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
MCA, I would love to speak to you, you have basically the same type of allergies like me.
And nobody seems to understand my frustrations. Maybe you can tell me what you use to help ease the discomforts. I am also allergic to carrots and all nuts.Struggle with this on a daily basis.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Wow, I didn’t even know poelpe had such adverse reaCtions to some vegetables. OK so we all know someoe who has a ‘nut’ allergy, and i’m not be-littleing the anaphalactic shock (please excuse the spelling) reactions that some have, but peanuts and sesame are par for the course now.
In the UK nearly EVERYTHING comes with a nut warning - even the most stupid thing - Bag of peanuts - may contains nuts ! (I would hope so !)
But why didn’t everyone have these problems 50 years ago ? Was it due to the food that peolpe ate was more restricted (as in the kiwis - see above) ?? I think this comes back to the nuture vs nature thing - people who are brought up on a particular food have a natural relisiance to it. and those who don’t; don’t. It makes sense that some people are more resistant to chemicals that are of the region they come from (i.e. evolution) and then there will be some who are not (particularly when considering ‘fruit’ from a far off land). It is more a genetic make-up thing… a simple example is alcohol, some people (native - europeans) have a better tolerance to alcohol than other people (native- north americans). This has been shown in studies of cultural diversity and geneology. With the proliferation of ‘foreign’ foods and culteral diversity (the gene pool) it is no wonder that some foods are being a ‘problem’ for some people as thier genetic make-up cannot digest the food properly; and in cases causes very adverse reactions.
NB. I used to work in a restaurant where we had a allergen manual and could advise as to ALL the ingredients in food, for those with allergies.
I, myself, may well have an intollerance to lactose as I seem to have a VERY bad stomach after digesting milk produce ! But it one of those things I live with; perhaps that is why I have never liked the taste of milk or cream - my body telling me NO !
March 10th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Also…..
I would just like to take moment to poke a stick at all the people who go into restaurant who do not know the difference between an allergy and a dislike.
You are the people who say they are allergic to X (cooked or uncooked) and then say they can have the desert containing X because ‘it’s ok this time’.
These people make it harder for the poeple with REAL alergies (not dislikes) to be taken seriously as it is a REAL issue for those with in tollerances.
Sorry had to have my ’soap box’ moment
March 16th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
i am 11 years old and i have had a few reactions. the first 1 i couldn’t stop coughing and my throat swelled up the second my eye hurt.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
My 15yr. old is severely allergic to carrots,celery, and potatoes.He does not take it as seriously as me. He carries an epi pen,but i worry every time he leaves the house. I read every ingrd. in all food products bought. I tell all his friends parents,but Iknow it’s not taken as seriously or watched as closely as i do. Anyone out there with suggestions with the same allergies?
March 28th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
It is nice to know that I am not the only one. Thank you so much for this information. I ate carrots as a kid and when I became an adult, just like you say, I became allergic to raw carrots. In fact, I had not eaten raw carrots in a really long time and I recently thought I would take a couple bites. I had a terrible allergic reaction. I even have avoided cooked carrots because it scares me that much to eat carrots raw or cooked. I even have to wear gloves when I peel and cut carrots.
Soooooooo, your information helped me even more because I recently tried to eat raw celery and had an allergic reaction to celery as well and I could not figure out why. I have the same reaction to apples and some other fruits. But I do not get a reaction every time I eat these fruits.
The reaction I usually get is intense itching down deep in my ears, scratchy/itchy throat. Sometimes I sneeze and have like a hayfever reaction.
Anyway, thank you.
March 31st, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Yep I have it too
Allergy to raw but not to cooked celery and carrots..
May 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I too have a baking soda allergy among many other allergies also. Even baked items with it cause a reaction. My mom gave it to me in the mouth as an infant to rid my mouth of thrush. Today i experience alot of acidity or acidosis of my stomach/body. I have trouble even with calcium carbonate to settle the acid. It’s related to sodium bicarbonate so I have trouble fixing my acid body. Anyone else have similar circumstances?
May 10th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Like other posts have suggested…wow, I thought I was just crazy. It used to be that if I had even a small bit of raw carrot my stomach would shutdown and eventually just return everything back up a few hours later. Cooked carrots (even heated up just a bit) give me no problems. I’m now 38 but have noticed over the past couple of years I’m able to tolerate a couple of small bits if it gets accidently mixed up in some other food.
I have some intolerance to eggs… can’t eat them if they have been hard boiled. Any other format seems to be okay (we’ll I’ve never tried them raw).
May 13th, 2008 at 11:53 am
As a mother of 3 kids, all heading into puberty, I have noticed all 3 developing allergic reactions to carrots, celery, apples, and more recently strawberries. Symptons include itchy throat and puffy lips. Their pediatrician had never heard of such a thing, as he didn’t think any of these foods were related and advised we see an allergist.
May 13th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
hey yea i have the whole cant eat vggies or fruits unless its cooked thing happy to see i am not suffering alone! so im sure as most of you do when i have a salad i usually enjoy some lettuce and croutons and dressing, anything else is quite dangerous..but lately it seems even dressings are doing it to me! why do i feel like i just ate a carrot after italian dressing? are they putting differnt stuff in dressings now a days or is my allergy just getting worse? anyone have the same problem?
May 29th, 2008 at 2:11 am
It’s a relief [or a not] to see that I thought I was going crazy when I would tell people that I cannot eat raw carrots, celery, mackintosh and granny smith apples because of the heinous reaction they give me. I thought it was just a childhood symptom, but at 23 now, it may seem permanent.
I figured since I can eat cooked carrots [love them like that!] I would give it a whirl and have a small midnight snack of carrots and sour cream. It was a good snack [or so I thought] and then 15 minutes after the snack and laying down, my throat started to close up. I started to cough and then my back and chest would turn red and itch. And then this horrible gut wrenching pain in my throat, chest and back would take over. I convulsed a few times and thought I was going to throw up.
After about almost 20 minutes of pain and torture, the effects wore off. It seems to have gotten worse over the years. It felt like I was going to die. I love my celery and peanut butter stalks and apples, but the side effects are just something I would not like to experience ever again.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:37 am
A month ago, I had dinner which include a packet of raw baby carrots and celery sticks. Felt like I was have a heart attack because of excrutiating chest pains. Had no idea of the cause. But this morning, I happened to order some fresh carrot juice with my lunch, and before I could even consume half of my 12 ounce cup, I was feeling “funny”. My reaction was not as severe. Chest pain was not as painful, but I did experience some other symptons such as gas which can be released by lots of burping. Now, I’ve lost my voice. I’ve never had any allergic reaction to any foods before.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:35 am
I am severely allergic to raw baking soda! I can generally tolerate things that have been cooked with baking soda, but toothpaste and/or raw and it’s over. I discovered this in high school when I started using baking soda toothpaste and my lips became severely chapped and my gums would not stop bleeding. Dumb me, 10 years later, I forogt about this and bought more baking soda toothpaste. After 3 months of swollen, red, severely chapped lips and skin around the lips, I finally realized why I was having this reaction. Also, my gums have been bleeding a lot more and have been sore. I feel like an idiot for not realizing it sooner, but yes! There is such a thing as a baking soda allergy!
August 11th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
i have the same problem as the commenter doug (above) i believe i’m allergic to both carrots and bananas and have the same reaction to both. anyone know if they share something in common?