Health
Gut imbalance may be driving America’s food allergy epidemic, experts warn
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With over 32 million Americans battling food allergies, health advocates and officials are looking for the root cause — which includes looking into microbiomes.
The Food Allergy Fund (FAF) hosted a forum on Monday in Washington, D.C., with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, FDA Chief Martin Makary and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Makary shared how the function of microbiomes has evolved over time.
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The intestine hosts over a billion different types of bacteria, which normally live in balance, according to Makary.
The doctor added, “but when it’s altered by the modern-day diet and by antibiotics and other exposures … that disequilibrium can cause inflammation, it can cause health problems, and it may be implicated in food allergies.”
“Gut health is central to overall health,” said Makary, pictured at a Nov. 16 forum hosted by the Food Allergy Fund. (Ashley J. DiMella/Fox News Digital)
“Gut health is central to overall health,” Makary emphasized. Some beneficial microbes may be missing in modern populations due to dietary and environmental changes, which could play a role in the rise of food allergies, he added.
Researchers at Siolta Therapeutics are testing this theory. Their oral microbiome therapy, STMC-103H, has shown promising results in a Phase 2 trial involving 238 newborns with a family history of allergies.
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Early data suggests the therapy could reduce the risk of developing food allergies by 77%, indicating that improving gut bacteria early in life could prevent allergies before they start.
Final results are expected in early 2026.
Early data suggests the therapy could reduce the risk of developing food allergies by 77%, indicating that improving gut bacteria early in life could prevent allergies before they start. (iStock)
Ilana Golant, FAF founder and CEO, told Fox News Digital “food allergies may be the canary in the coal mine for a much larger health crisis tied to the microbiome.”
FAF launched its Food Allergy Fund Microbiome Collective in New York City to further investigate how gut bacteria could help prevent or treat not only allergies, but also autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.
“Gut health is central to overall health.”
“Solving allergies could reveal how to prevent and treat a range of diseases — from autoimmune disorders to neurodegeneration — that impact millions of lives,” said Golant.
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Food allergies are widespread, affecting one in 10 adults and one in 13 children, according to FAF. Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is treated in the emergency room for a severe allergic reaction.
Peanut allergies are among the most prevalent food allergies in the U.S., with new research showing that early peanut introduction could significantly reduce childhood allergies.
Ilana Golant, FAF founder and CEO (left), chats with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Washington, D.C., at the Food Allergy Fund Forum. (Ashley J. DiMella/Fox News Digital)
Secretary Kennedy observed at the FAF conference that food allergies — particularly involving peanuts — appear to be far more common among children today than when he was growing up.
“When I was a kid, I never met anyone with a peanut allergy,” Kennedy said. “I had 11 siblings and about 71 first cousins, and I didn’t know a single person in my schools or at any of the camps I went to who had one.”
“There may be many causes, or there may be just one — we don’t know yet.”
One of his sons has severe anaphylactic allergies to peanuts, tree nuts and several other foods, he shared.
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“By the time he was 2 years old, we’d been to the emergency room about 22 times,” Kennedy said.
“At first, I focused on how we were going to treat it and keep him safe. But my mind quickly went to the bigger question — why is this happening? I have five of my seven children with allergies,” he said.
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“There may be many causes, or there may be just one — we don’t know yet,” Kennedy continued. “But we’re going to study it. We’re going to break that omertà, end the taboo and find out what’s causing it.”
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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Surviving cancer as a child or young adult may have a lasting impact on aging, new research suggests.
Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center looked at whether life-saving treatments, like chemotherapy and radiation, could speed up biological aging.
They also aimed to determine whether this age acceleration was linked to cognitive issues related to memory, focus and learning.
The team analyzed blood samples from a group of 1,400 long-term survivors treated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, using epigenetic clocks — tools that estimate biological age by examining chemical tags on DNA.
Biological age is determined based on damage the cells accumulate over time, versus chronological age, which is measured by how long someone has been alive, according to scientists.
Biological age is determined based on the damage cells accumulate over time, according to scientists. (iStock)
“These well-established aging-related biomarkers have previously been associated with neurocognitive impairment and decline in older non-cancer populations, particularly in cognitive domains related to aging and dementia, such as memory, attention and executive function,” the study stated.
Most of the group consisted of acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors, or Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. Participants were at least five years past their treatment, though some had survived for several decades.
They underwent neurocognitive testing to measure their attention span, memory and information processing speed.
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Chemotherapy was found to have the greatest impact on aging acceleration. The study suggests the treatment can alter DNA structure and cause cellular damage.
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“It’s no surprise to find out that young people with cancer who have chemo early in life are affected in terms of long-term aging,” Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, told Fox News Digital.
Participants underwent neurocognitive testing to measure their attention span, memory and speed of information processing. (iStock)
Researchers also found that cellular aging was closely linked to cognitive performance, as survivors of a higher biological age had more difficulty with memory and attention.
“Chemo poisons and damages cellular function — hopefully the cancer cells more than normal cells, but there is a significant impact on normal cells as well,” said Siegel, who was not involved in the study.
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“There is also something called ‘chemo brain,’ which causes at least temporary difficulty with memory, concentration, word finding and brain fog,” the doctor added.
The research team hopes to use these findings to focus on intervention efforts, specifically by determining when accelerated aging begins.
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“Young cancer survivors have many more decades of life to live,” lead study author AnnaLynn Williams, PhD, said in a press release. “If these accelerated aging changes are occurring early on and setting them on a different trajectory, the goal is to intervene to not only increase their lifespan, but improve their quality of life.”
The team hopes this research will help in the development of early intervention tools that aim to prevent cognitive decline. (iStock)
There were some limitations to the study. The researchers could not adjust for chronic health conditions or education because they are directly impacted by treatment.
Additionally, the study only looked at the survivors at a single point of time, so it could not directly prove causation.
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The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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