Why are allergies so uncommon in East Asia?

[jennifer_bloom]

My dad has a lot of Chinese friends and I would say that less than 1 in every 200 have allergies. When we host parties or attend parties, we do not even discuss dietary requirements because nobody in our circle has special dietary needs.

[WindAtMyBack]

Allergies tend to develop against things that you eat a lot. That's especially true of things you eat as children.

For example Americans tend to eat more peanuts that in other parts of the world. Peanuts have chemicals that can cause severe allergic reactions. In East Asia they eat a lot more rice. Rice does not have many chemicals that cause allergies. Some eastern countries eat a lot of soy. Soy has chemicals that cause allergies. BUT, if the soy is fermented, like miso, it destroys much of the chemicals that cause allergies. Fermented foods are a lot more common in East Asia.

It's about the diet in different places, and whether or not the common foods cause a lot of allergies. It's possible there is some genetics involved, but I don't think enough is known about it to know for sure.

[ThrillSeeker01]

Not sure. Interesting, though 🤔

[jennifer_bloom]

I think it’s because of how diverse and herbal the Chinese diet s and prior to the industrial evolution, Chinese food was also organic.

[ThrillSeeker01]

Right, very possible.

[collie22]

Do you know?