I decided to conduct an experiment tonight.
Perhaps I should back up a bit and give you a little background story. A while ago I noticed that when I ate just a few Pistachios, I would start getting a reaction in my throat, mouth and ears. I've tried to eat them several times after and its been the same every time. Then one night not too long ago, we had a jar of almonds, macadamia nuts, and cashews. I ate some, and soon realized I was having the same reaction. I was pretty certain that it wasn't the almonds or the macadamia nuts since I eat them more often than other nuts and have never had a problem. I started googling online, and soon realized that apparently people who have a reaction to pistachios have a cross reaction to cashews. Basically that means you can have a reaction to something and have a reaction to something else that is different, but similar to what you had a reaction to. Cashews and pistachios belong to the same family, Anacardiaceae, which also happens to be the family that Mango belongs to, however, I just ate Mango a few weeks ago and was fine. But there is a popular cross reactivity between the Cashews and Pistachios.
So my experiment was that I purchased a jar of Cashews from the store to eat to see if I got another reaction. Now basically, I had made note that in the jar of mixed nuts I had a reaction to not too long ago had contained some oils I was not familiar with, and hoped that was what causing my reactions, so I made sure to purchase a jar of Cashews that did not contain that same oil. Well, folks, its true, I am DEFINITELY allergic to Cashews and Pistachios. Goodbye Pistachios and Cashews. I will miss you. I will now make friends with Benedryl.
Perhaps I should back up a bit and give you a little background story. A while ago I noticed that when I ate just a few Pistachios, I would start getting a reaction in my throat, mouth and ears. I've tried to eat them several times after and its been the same every time. Then one night not too long ago, we had a jar of almonds, macadamia nuts, and cashews. I ate some, and soon realized I was having the same reaction. I was pretty certain that it wasn't the almonds or the macadamia nuts since I eat them more often than other nuts and have never had a problem. I started googling online, and soon realized that apparently people who have a reaction to pistachios have a cross reaction to cashews. Basically that means you can have a reaction to something and have a reaction to something else that is different, but similar to what you had a reaction to. Cashews and pistachios belong to the same family, Anacardiaceae, which also happens to be the family that Mango belongs to, however, I just ate Mango a few weeks ago and was fine. But there is a popular cross reactivity between the Cashews and Pistachios.
So my experiment was that I purchased a jar of Cashews from the store to eat to see if I got another reaction. Now basically, I had made note that in the jar of mixed nuts I had a reaction to not too long ago had contained some oils I was not familiar with, and hoped that was what causing my reactions, so I made sure to purchase a jar of Cashews that did not contain that same oil. Well, folks, its true, I am DEFINITELY allergic to Cashews and Pistachios. Goodbye Pistachios and Cashews. I will miss you. I will now make friends with Benedryl.
1 comment:
good controlled experiment!! Glad you are okay!
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