If you have urticaria, do you need to avoid certain foods?

Not really

There are many misunderstandings about the relationship between urticaria and diet. Many people believe that patients with urticaria must strictly avoid certain foods, especially avoiding certain foods such as seafood and nuts. In fact, not all patients with urticaria need to strictly restrict their diet. Simply put, food allergies are only one of many factors that trigger urticaria, and they only play a role in some patients.

It should be known that urticaria is a common skin disease, which is mainly manifested by the appearance of red spots or white wheals on the skin, accompanied by itching. The triggering factors of this disease are complex and varied. In addition to food allergies, it may also include immune system reactions, infections, drug reactions and even physical changes such as temperature.

From a group perspective, although certain foods may induce or aggravate urticaria symptoms in some patients, blindly abstaining from food in a "one-size-fits-all" manner will not only fail to help control the disease, but may lead to malnutrition and affect the patient's overall health and recovery.

If you really strongly suspect that certain foods will trigger or aggravate urticaria, especially if this happens multiple times (and coincidence has been ruled out), you can avoid specific foods.

Author: Tang Jiaoqing, MD, attending physician of dermatology

Review | Feng Jun, deputy chief physician of the Dermatology Department of Sinopharm Tongmei General Hospital