Chocolate Allergies and You
Chocolate Allergies and You
By Jeffrey Frasco
Many people mistake an allergic reaction to that due to chocolate. The truth of the matter is that there really is not a allergy to chocolate itself. The allergy is to the ingredients that make up chocolate itself. If you have a allergy to chocolate then you will have symptoms that resemble that of a asthma attack.
If you are allergic to more than one of these ingredients then the reaction will be that much worse on you. The symptoms of a chocolate allergy can be quite severe and cause a great number of health issues.
Now many people will be the first to tell you that the best way to avoid these reactions is to just avoid chocolate all together. This is an ideal solution but in reality not a very effective one. As you can avoid the actual product but the ingredients is what is actually causing the reaction. Most times your doctor will be able to perform a skin or blood test that will help to determine exactly what is causing the allergy and see if it is the chocolate itself or an ingredient in the item that is causing the problem.
Often times antihistamines will help in relieving the symptoms caused by an allergy to chocolate. These can usually be either purchased over the counter or prescribed to you by your doctor. If you get antihistamines that are prescribed then you are less likely to suffer from drowsiness as a side effect from the medicine.
If your parents both suffer from this reaction then chances are that you as well will suffer from this allergy. Many people will tell you that the reason for this is due in part to the fact that you are suffering from a weakened immune system. Some others will tell you that the reactions are caused by the chemicals that are in certain processed foods. If you find that you are sensitive to certain foods then you will become quite experienced in the practice of reading food labels.
Another way to help in your diagnosis is to keep a journal of the foods that you eat and if and when there is a reaction to these foods. This exercise will help in the determination as to what exactly is causing you the reaction. Reading food labels is a wonderful way to make sure that you don’t get a product that contains an item upon which you are allergic to. Once you have established the foods that are safe and the ones that are not safe for you to eat.
Chocolate allergies are easy to manage as long as you have the proper knowledge as to what is causing the issue and what is just appearing to cause the issue.
For more information about Allergic Reactions, Chemical Reactions, and Alcohol Reactions visit reactions.com.
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This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2009 at 10:32 pm and is filed under Health and Fitness Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.