Eating one trendy food during pregnancy may slash risk of food allergies, scientists say

Daily Mail​

12-05-2025

When it comes to avocados, millennials may have actually got it right.
Eating the bright green fruit during pregnancy could slash the risk of food allergies in babies, scientists have suggested.
Finnish researchers, who tracked more than 2,200 mother and baby pairs, found infants had a 44 per cent lower chance of developing allergies aged one, if their mothers had eaten the avocados while pregnant.
Experts today, who labelled the findings 'encouraging', said it adds to a growing body of research exploring the link between maternal diet and allergies in infants.
But the scientists, from the University of Eastern Finland, said they couldn't be sure exactly why avocados alone reduced the risk.
Dr Sari Hantunen, an expert in public health and clinical nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland and studt co-author, said: 'As a care-giver, the growing prevalence of food allergy feels very scary and out of my control.
'There is no cure for food allergy, but promising prevention and therapeutic strategies are in development as well as emerging research such as this.
'Based on these findings, it's encouraging to know that eating avocados may provide even more value to maternal and children's health, beyond the benefits that have already been established through scientific research.'
The number of Britons allergic to everyday foods such as cow's milk, eggs, nuts and shellfish has more than doubled in ten years, the latest research shows.
And it's particularly an issue for young children.
While just 0.5 per cent of over-45s are affected, around eight times as many preschoolers—four per cent—now have a serious allergy.
These can cause significant stress to parents, and can even be life-threatening.
Symptoms range from itchy skin, rashes and hives to vomiting, facial swelling, wheezing and chronic conditions such as asthma or eczema.
And for some, the reactions can lead to anaphylaxis—a serious over-reaction of the immune system in response to an allergen which causes the throat and mouth to swell up, restricting the ability to breathe.
In the fresh research, scientists assessed avocado intake of expectant mothers using online food questionnaires in the first and third trimesters, between 2013 and 2022.
After adjusting for factors including education, diet quality, smoking and alcohol consumption, food allergies were 'significantly higher' in infants of non-avocado consumers (4.2 per cent) compared to avocado consumers (2.4 per cent).
The findings published in the journal Pediatric Research, also showed that mothers who consumed avocados generally were older, less likely to undergo a Cesarean section, more likely to be non-smokers and first time parents.
Researchers theorised that it is the antioxidants in the avocado's that may help guard against allergies.
They also suggested that the fibre in the avocado's promoted a healthy gut microbiome and led to less allergies in the participants.
Although positive results were found for food allergies, the study did not find an impact of avocados on allergic rhinitis—hayfever—and eczema.
Experts estimate that 10 Brits die from an allergic reaction to food each year, with 5,000 people hospitalised for severe reactions.
Children with allergies are considered to be especially at risk from severe reactions as, due to their smaller body size, small amounts of allergens provoke bigger reactions.
Allergies are also often discovered in childhood meaning parents may not have an emergency injection to hand if an allergic reaction occurs.
Bereaved families of those who have lost children to allergic reactions have repeatedly called for the Government to appoint an allergy tsar to improve NHS services and awareness of allergies, to prevent avoidable ill health and death.