Allergic to Truly Raw Cashews???!!

[Raene]

A friend of mine is a raw chef and she made me some fabulous gourmet raw ice cream that she's planning on selling soon. I ate maybe 1/4 of the pint, and my daughter had 2 bowls of it. During the night I woke up scratching my face and throat, and looked at my daughter and saw that her whole face and neck was red and bumpy. This was the first thing I'd ever had with truly raw cashews. I've been scared ever since, and recently I read an article about how cashews are more allergenic than peanuts. Anyone had a similar experience? Thats all I can figure out that could've caused it...it was cashew based coconut ice cream with just a few ingredients, most of which I use every day.

[Betsy]

I am allergic to them, also.

Best to just stay away from 'em.

[juliebove]

I'm not allergic to cashews but I am allergic to almonds. Can't have any almonds whatever.

[Adensspell]

I fortunately don't have any allergies...however I don't mean to start any trouble, but I thought raw foods was supposed to clear up allergies? Aren't they all just based on bad food choices and once the body regulates it is fine or am I mistaken?

[Isadora]

I haven't discovered any allergies... however I am have terrible reactions to anything that has Garlic in it. I've never had a problem with garlic in the past.. and in fact I love it. When I started the Raw Food Diet (about 2 weeks ago now) I said "As long as I can have Garlic, I'm In!". And now everytime I have anything that has RAW Garlic in it.. I feel like I'm going to vomit for a good 2 hours after eating. Never had this reaction to it when it was cooked. EVER!

It makes me sad and is awfully discouraging. Hopefully it doesn't continue..

-Gabrielle

[Adensspell]

Well a lot of raw foodists I know have intolerances to certain things at first, but then they are ok after a while and the intolerances go away. I have also enjoyed raw garlic, even before I was RAW. It's a traditional ingredient in my Grandmother's salad.

[Baby Bird]

Eek! i would totally avoid those cashews, since an allergic reaction like that can be life-threatening. FYI, cashew shells have a toxin in them, similar to that in poison oak and poison ivy, with the same sort of results. Generally, cashew producers use heat (boiling oil, I've heard) to get the cashews out and neutralize the toxin, so the really raw ones have to have a different process. Maybe you're reacting to trace amounts of the toxin, just more sensitive than most of us?

Addenspell, my personal experience with food allergies (born with them) is that raw food cannot clear them up. It's just part of how my body operates. The benefit of raw foods for me is that this way of eating removes most of the problematic foods from my menu. I had to work with a nutritionist (I think of him as a witch doctor, actually) and a few supplements (short term) to restore normal permeability to my intestines. I had leaky gut, causeed/exacerbated by food allergies.