Diet taboos for people with urticaria

There is no uniform dietary blacklist for urticaria that applies to everyone. The core taboos are only "foods that you clearly eat that will induce/aggravate the rash."」； During the attack period, it is recommended to temporarily avoid foods with high histamine, strong irritation, and untried high-allergenic risks. There is no need to blindly follow the trend and avoid "favorable foods". Everything should be based on your actual reaction and allergen test results.

I suffered from acute urticaria last spring. I was so frightened by the list of taboos I saw online that I drank white porridge for three days. Later, I went to see a dermatologist and found out that I was just messing around. Interestingly, I asked two doctors in succession at that time, and they had different opinions: The Western medicine allergist told me to do a specific IgE allergen test first, and just avoid foods that were clearly positive, and eat whatever else I should eat. ； When I consulted a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, the doctor advised me to temporarily avoid "eating foods" such as beef, mutton, and seafood during the attack, and not to be greedy even if the test was negative.

Why is there such a disagreement? In fact, the causes of urticaria are too complex. Only about 30% of acute urticaria is directly related to food intake. Food triggers account for less than 10% of chronic urticaria. Most are related to factors such as infection, autoimmune disorders, stress, and hot and cold stimulation. Therefore, dietary taboos cannot be generalized.

I advise you to quickly delete all the posts that list "10 foods you should never eat if you have urticaria." I have a friend with chronic urticaria. She followed the general list on the Internet and avoided eating for half a year. She did not dare to touch eggs, milk, or even leeks and coriander. In the end, she was found to be slightly malnourished. After an allergen test, it was discovered that she was only allergic to mangoes and crustacean seafood. She had been eating nothing for most of the past six months. Everyone's allergens are completely different. Some people get wheezes on their face after eating mango, while others are fine with eating seafood all at once. Your own body's reaction is the only criterion for judgment. If the rash worsens and the itching becomes obvious within 1-2 hours after eating the same food two or three times in a row, just add it to your personal blacklist regardless of what others say.

As for the temporary contraindications during the attack, no matter what the trigger is for your urticaria, the vascular permeability is higher than usual during the attack. Even if you are not allergic to some foods, eating them will aggravate the symptoms. When I was about to recover last time, I was greedy and ate a bowl of spicy snail noodles with ice coke. That night, a new wheal appeared on my back. It was so itchy that I couldn't sleep all night. There are actually several categories of these "minefields" that have been pitted: One category is high histamine foods, such as stale seafood that has been stored for several days, pickled bacon and salted fish, fermented cheese, red wine, and braised products. They themselves contain a large amount of histamine. Eating them is equivalent to directly "buffing" the itching.” ； The second type is highly irritating, such as super spicy food, teeth-shaking cold drinks, strong tea, and spirits, which will directly expand blood vessels in the skin and aggravate edema and itching. ； The third category is novel foods that you have never eaten before, such as the recently popular Southeast Asian snakeskin fruit, or insect dishes. Don’t try new foods during an attack, otherwise you may trigger an acute allergic reaction if you are not allergic to them.

Having said this, someone must ask, should we avoid what the older generation calls "fawu"? This really depends on the situation, and both opinions are actually reasonable: if you are allergic, and you would really feel uncomfortable eating beef, mutton, bamboo shoots, and leeks before, or if you haven't had time to do an allergen test and don't know what you are allergic to, there is nothing wrong with temporarily avoiding common triggers for 3-5 days during the attack period. ； But if you eat nothing and have no problem, and the allergen test is negative, there is no need to avoid food. I met a patient before who was told to avoid all "hairy foods". He didn't even dare to eat pork. Instead, he ate white rice and boiled cabbage every day. The urticaria was not cured, but he was so weak that he could walk with a wave of hair. It was totally not worth the gain. There are also many people who say that you should avoid eggs and milk. Unless you are found to be allergic to these foods, you can eat them normally. Sufficient protein can help you repair your immune barrier, which is much more effective than blindly avoiding foods.

Oh, by the way, there is another common pitfall that I would like to remind everyone. Don’t treat dietary taboos as the main way to treat the disease. If an acute urticaria attack is accompanied by symptoms of chest tightness and tight throat, go to the hospital quickly. Don’t bear it. For chronic urticaria, you need to see a doctor to adjust your immunity. Don’t worry about what you can and cannot eat every day. If you're really not sure what you're allergic to, just keep a food diary. Keep a food diary for two weeks, including what you ate on that day, how many rashes occurred, and whether the itching was severe. It's much more accurate than any general list posted online.