What dietary taboos should you pay attention to when you have urticaria?

First of all, we need to break the misunderstanding that many people have accumulated for a long time. There is really no need to blindly blacklist all "hair products" for urticaria. The most important thing to avoid is the food that you eat that will definitely induce rashes and aggravate itching. The remaining taboos only need to be paid attention to during the attack period.

When I was rotating in the dermatology department, I met an aunt who had been suffering from chronic urticaria for three years. She did not dare to touch seafood, beef, mutton, eggs or even milk. Her face was sallow and skinny, and she could not even climb the third floor without gasping for breath. As a result, I did a specific IgE test and found that her only allergens were dust mites and mangoes. The things she had been avoiding for three years were in vain. After two months of eating home-cooked food, her resistance improved, and the frequency of attacks dropped by more than half.

Someone must have asked, isn't it completely unreasonable for the old man to say that "hair objects" cannot be touched? No, it's just a scoring situation. During an attack, our body's ability to metabolize histamine is weaker than usual. Some foods either contain extremely high histamine content or promote the body's release of histamine. Even if you are not allergic to them, eating them may slow down your recovery or even aggravate your symptoms. For example, salted fish and bacon that have been marinated for more than half a year, leftovers that have been stored for two or three days, fermented fermented bean curd, pickles, and stale deep-sea fish and shellfish are all typical high-histamine foods. Last month, a young man almost had his hives gone, so he went to eat an afternoon of leftover braised shrimp with his friends. That night, he swelled up into a sausage mouth, and half of his face could hardly open his eyes. He went to the emergency room and died in the middle of the night.

Nowadays, there is a lot of controversy in the academic circles about the so-called "food taboos". Traditional Chinese medicine usually recommends avoiding warm foods such as mutton and durian during the attack period to avoid aggravating wind evil. However, the view of Western medicine is that as long as you don't feel any discomfort after eating it, you can eat it normally and there is no need to cut it all. I have encountered two completely opposite cases. One girl ate durian hot pot during the attack and went directly to the hospital. Another young man ate mutton soup for three consecutive days, but the rash disappeared faster than usual. To put it bluntly, individual differences are more effective than any general standard, and your own body reaction is the gold standard.

There are also many people who ignore the additives in processed foods, such as artificial colors, preservatives, and sweeteners, many of which can induce the release of histamine in the body. A while ago, a four-year-old child suffered from hives that could not be cured for two months. After searching many times, he finally found that the problem was caused by the lemon yellow in the colorful lollipops he eats every day. After stopping, the rash disappeared within three days.

In fact, there is really no need to make eating like a challenge. I usually keep two food diaries. If the rash worsens after eating something on a day, I will write it down. I can avoid it next time. If there is no reaction, eat what I should. After all, if you keep up with nutrition and your immunity is stable, urticaria will heal faster, right?