What’s so bad about allergens that your body would rather kill you than let them enter?

Question

I know allergies are really common, but I don’t quite understand what’s so bad about pollen, peanuts, etc. that you body would rather shut down your airways entirely than let them enter. What exactly would happen if they did get in?

In: 115

Answer 1

>don’t quite understand what’s so bad about pollen, peanuts, etc.

Nothing is bad about them. Allergies are like your immune system having a phobia – extreme fear and over-reaction to something that’s *not actually a threat* at all.

>What exactly would happen if they did get in?

Again, nothing. For proof of this, what happens when non-allergic people eat peanuts or breathe pollen? Nothing. That’s “what would happen if they got in.”

Allergies are your immune system *making a mistake*, and launching a “get this out at ALL COSTS” reaction against a completely harmless thing.