The original post: /r/askscience by /u/PepperAnn1inaMillion on 2025-01-18 10:47:47.

I’m wondering what the science is behind some allergies being more common than others. An allergy to nuts is common, but some food allergies are rare. Why? Is it a simple case of Darwinian chance that more people have inherited a predisposition to nut allergy? Or are nut proteins more likely to be regarded as dangerous by the immune system because of their physical similarity to other proteins? Or is there another cause entirely?