CONCOMITANT AND SYNERGISTIC FOODS
By Dr. Allan Lieberman
CONCOMITANT FOODSA concomitant food is one which provokes a reaction in a susceptible individual when another allergen – such as a pollen – is present. This means that you can be more reactive or more symptomatic following the ingestion of specific foods during certain pollinating seasons. For example: under normal circumstances you are able to eat beans without any adverse reaction – but when the air is filled with grass pollens, you find that you experience reactivity to beans. This is because legumes and grass pollens are concomitant. You may not even have obvious pollen sensitivity, but can exhibit symptoms when this concomitancy is present.
PROVEN CONCOMITANT FOODS |
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SUBSTANCE OR CONDITION |
PROVEN CONCOMITANT FOODS | |
| Trees | Cedar, juniper | Beef, yeast’s (bakers, brewer’s malt) |
| Cottonwood | Lettuce | |
| Elm | Milk, mint | |
| Oak | Egg, apple | |
| Pecan, hickory | Corn, banana, apple | |
| Mesquite | Cane sugar, orange | |
| Grasses | All legumes: beans, peas, soybean, cottonseed oil | |
| Grains | Wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, rice, millet | |
| Weeds | Ragweed | Egg, milk, mint, banana, melon |
| Sage | Potato, tomato | |
| Amaranth family (pigweed, carelessweed) | Pork, black pepper | |
| Marshelder | Wheat, tea | |
| Dust | Oyster, clams, scallops | |
| Candida | Cheeses, mushrooms, vinegar and fermented/moldy foods | |
| Cystic Breast Disease | Coffee, chocolate, cola | |
| Poison Ivy | Pork, black pepper, cashew, mango, ginkgo | |
| Viral infection | Milk, mint, onion, chocolate, nuts | |
| Latex | Arrow root, avocado, banana, chestnut, cinnamon, kiwi, melon, plantain, potato, tomato, walnut | |
| Weeds | Marshelder | Tea |
| Chenopods (goosefoot family, scuh as lamb’s quarters, firebush, Russian thistle, shadscale, and winterfat | Egg, corn | |
| Pigweed | Lettuce | |
| Dust | Nuts | |
| Influenza vaccine | Onion | |
| Trees | Cottonwood | Wheat, tea |
| Oak | Apple | |
| Elm | Lettuce, chocolate | |
SYNERGISTIC FOODS
Synergistic foods are those which, when combined and eaten together in the same meal, can cause an allergic reaction – even though when eaten separately they might cause only a mild reaction or none at all. For example, apple may be a safe food for you when eaten alone – or it may cause a mild but tolerable reaction. But when you combine apple with egg in the same meal, a severe reaction may occur.
PROVEN SYNERGISTIC FOODS |
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| Corn | Banana |
| Beef | Yeast (Bakers, brewer’s, malt) |
| Cane sugar | Orange |
| Milk | Mint |
| Egg | Apple |
| Pork | Black pepper |
POSSIBLE SYNERGISTIC FOODS |
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| Wheat | Tea |
| Pork | Chicken, beef |
| Milk | Chocolate |
| Cola | Chocolate |
| Coffee | Cola, Chocolate |
This information was reproduced with the permission of Dr. Lieberman.
For more information written by Dr. Allan Lieberman please visit the home page of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine.