While eight allergenic foods account for 90 percent of food allergies, the other 10 percent of food allergies result from dozens if not hundreds of possible culprits. One of these rarer allergies is an allergy to chicken. As with other food allergies, your symptoms are the result of an immune system response to a protein it mistakenly thinks is harmful. When you eat the chicken, your body releases an antibody called immunoglobulin E in order to neutralize the "invader." In the process, a lot of chemicals are released, including histamine. Histamine can cause a range of allergic symptoms including hives, rash, nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy or watery eyes, nausea, cramps and vomiting. If you have asthma, your run the risk of setting it off via chicken allergy symptoms.
Eggs are one of the top eight allergens, and on occasion, people who are allergic to eggs are also allergic to chicken. This condition is called bird-egg syndrome.
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