Foods that people with allergic rhinitis should not eat

There is no universal list of forbidden foods for allergic rhinitis. The only foods that you need to avoid 100% are the foods that you are clearly allergic to. The rest of the so-called "taboos" must be flexibly adjusted based on the type of rhinitis, stage of attack, and individual tolerance. There is no food that everyone cannot touch.

A while ago, an old rhinitis patient came to me to complain. He said that he found out that the allergen was dust mites. He followed the list on the Internet and stopped eating seafood, eggs, and mangoes for three months. However, he still got rhinitis. Last week, he had a craving for crayfish, but nothing happened. Instead, he drank an iced Americano after get off work the day before yesterday. He sneezed more than a dozen times on the spot, and his nose couldn't stop running. You see, this is where the common taboo list comes in.

Let’s start with the hard taboos that have no room for negotiation: If you have clearly been allergic to a certain type of food through serum IgE testing, food challenge tests, or multiple physical sensations, then you really need to strictly avoid it. For example, some patients are allergic to peanuts. Even eating a cake with crushed peanuts may not only cause rhinitis, but also cause rashes and even respiratory edema. In this case, don't take chances. It's not worth joking about your body.

As for the myth that "rhinitis patients must not eat seafood/mangoes/eggs" that is so popular on the Internet, it is really the most widely circulated misunderstanding. The core view of Western medicine has always been that as long as you are not allergic, you can eat normally. These foods themselves will not induce or aggravate rhinitis unless you are allergic to its ingredients. I am allergic to wormwood and suffer from seasonal rhinitis, which occurs in August and September every year. I usually eat eggs, shrimps, and mangoes. As long as I take precautions to avoid wormwood pollen, I rarely get it without any reason.

Of course, there are also many experienced Chinese medicine practitioners who will mention specific dietary taboos. In fact, many old rhinitis patients themselves feel this. For example, if you usually suffer from rhinitis, you usually have a runny nose, are afraid of cold, and sneeze non-stop when you blow a little cool breeze. It is usually a cold type. At this time, you should avoid touching things that are too cold - it does not mean that you cannot eat watermelon at room temperature, but it is the kind of popsicles, ice sodas, and ice sashimi that have just been taken out of the freezer. One bite will cause the entire upper respiratory tract to shrink suddenly. The fragile nasal mucosa is easily irritated, and the rhinitis may relapse. If you suffer from rhinitis and have yellow pus and runny nose, dry and sore nasal cavity, and are prone to sores on the mouth and tongue, put away hot food such as spicy hot pot, fried skewers, durian, and lychee first. Eating it will easily aggravate the internal heat, and the burning and blocked feeling in the nasal cavity will only become more obvious.

There is also a saying that patients with rhinitis should avoid high histamine foods, such as fermented cheese, cured meats and fish, leftovers that have been left for too long, and even spinach and tomatoes. This is actually for special people with histamine intolerance, and not all rhinitis patients need to avoid them. I have a friend who is like this. He is not allergic to anything when checking allergens. But as long as he eats blue cheese or cooked seafood that has been out for two days, he will definitely develop rhinitis. He will sneeze dozens of times. After checking, he found out that his body's ability to metabolize histamine is weak. In this case, you need to keep track of your dietary reactions and avoid such foods. There is no need for others to follow suit.

In addition, it is the acute stage of rhinitis. Even if you usually eat spicy food and ice cream, it is okay, but it is recommended to tolerate it for a few days. The last time I suffered from rhinitis, my nose was so itchy that it almost burst. I couldn't help but eat Chongqing hot pot. It was so hot that I burst into tears and runny nose. My nasal cavity was on fire. It took three days to get rid of it. It should have been cured in a week, but it took half a month. It’s not that you are allergic to chili peppers, but that spicy and hot stimulation will aggravate the congestion and edema of the nasal mucosa, which will only make the nose that is not ventilated even more uncomfortable.

In fact, to put it bluntly, there is really no standard answer to the dietary taboos for allergic rhinitis. Don’t just follow the list on the Internet. In the end, you won’t eat anything delicious. Rhinitis should be a crime or a crime. It is better to go for a formal allergen test first, and keep a food diary at ordinary times. If your rhinitis is obviously aggravated after eating something, you can avoid it next time. After all, for most people, being able to happily eat what they like is better than anything else. As long as you don't touch the minefields that you are allergic to, there is really no need to be too harsh on your mouth.