My Unhinged Theory: Allergies Are Just A Factor of Your Genes and Your Environment

This one is not based on scientific journals, research papers, or anything that would earn me a Nobel Prize. It's just based on personal observation and thoughts

I feel like allergies are a combination of two things: your genes and the environment you grew up in or have resided in a long time.

Think about it.

People living in different parts of the world are constantly exposed to different plants, foods, animals, weather, and even dust. Over time, their bodies become familiar with those things. So maybe your body learns to tolerate what it sees every day and starts acting dramatic when it meets something completely new.

For example, I highly doubt someone who has lived in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria their whole life is going to randomly discover they're allergic to afang leaves. We've been seeing that vegetable since childhood. If anything, we're more likely to be allergic to something we've never encountered before.

Imagine I finally travel abroad, excited to experience winter for the first time…

...only to discover I'm allergic to snow.

Imagine explaining that to immigration.

“So why are you leaving after just three days?”

“The snow gets my skin very itchy and with swellings.”

At that point, the only solution would be to book another flight to a tropical country where snow doesn't exist.

Problem solved.

But then I'd miss all the fun, snowball fights, building snowmen, and taking those aesthetic winter pictures. My body would literally be gatekeeping my vacation.

Now, I also think genes play a role. Maybe some people inherit a tendency to develop allergies more easily than others. Then the environment decides what those allergies end up being. Some people body has built resistance basednon the environment they find they're self too.. 

Researches has shown that children who grow up in a farm or in a rural area have tendency to develop a stronger immune system compared to children who didn't. Now look at your environment and ask yourself how many people do you know at allergic to something around you (I'm not talking about NEPO babies 😂) 

I hope I don't travel out one day and find out I'm allergic to snow or anything I look forward to doing when I get there😂

Again, this is just me thinking out loud.

I'm not saying this is scientifically correct. It's simply one of those random thoughts that refuses to leave my head.

So now I'm curious.

What's the weirdest thing you've ever been allergic to?

Or…

If you moved to another country tomorrow, what do you think your body would suddenly decide it doesn't like?

Let's hear your thoughts