Chocolate is a passion and addiction of many of us and a must have as often as possible; dark chocolate has also been found to contain antioxidants, which makes us feel less guilty when we indulge more often then we should; however, there are many people who cannot have chocolate at all even if they wanted and that is because they are allergic to it. Here is what cause chocolate allergy and how you can treat and/or prevent it.
The Cause Of Chocolate Allergy
Chocolate is made out of cocoa, which in turn are found in many tropical countries in the form of cocoa beans, which undergo a huge process of fermentation, roasting and grinding in order to produce what we know and eat in chocolate. While the largest part of a chocolate is cocoa there are made other things involved in its making such as, milk, soy, gluten, corn syrup, different types of nuts and fruit as well as additives to produced desired colors and flavors.
Chocolate allergy can be triggered by any one of these ingredients not only cocoa therefore you will find that a person who is allergic to chocolates will also be allergic to one or more food items as well such as, milk, nuts or soy lecithin.
Common Symptoms Of Chocolate Allergy
Some of the common symptoms observed in chocolate allergy are: headache, heartburn, hives, skin rashes, rectal itching, unclear thinking and vision and breathing problems. If you have any other respiratory problems such as asthma, chocolate allergy can trigger it.
In order to determine that you are suffering from chocolate allergy you will require to consult your doctor who will perform a number of tests of the blood and skin to determine it. Chocolate allergy, which is connected to cocoa, is very rare, as usually people are allergic to a number of other ingredients that can be found in the making of the chocolate.
Preventing Chocolate Allergy
The only way to prevent chocolate allergy is to avoid it in any shape or form; your doctor will tell you all the other ingredients, which you must avoid along with cocoa in order to ensure that you don’t get another allergy attack again. Chocolate allergy can be treated through drugs and lotions that need to be applied directly on rashes occurred from the allergy; in some cases one may get cured and even be able to enjoy chocolate again but, many people who have suffered one or more chocolate allergy attacks don’t want to ever try it again.