Raw Cashews and Mouth Blisters

[Raw000]

Hi all,

I am back on this forum after several years off. I was on a few years ago and maintained a raw diet for about 6 months, then fell off. I went on vacation and ate SAD food and never could quite get back on the raw diet.

But I am back now and have been raw for 10 days! I want to keep at it as I am feeling so much better.

Question: has raw cashews caused anyone here to have mouth blisters at the corners of their mouths?

Last time I was raw I had the same thing happen. I just noticed it last night and I have been eating raw cashews. I have read that the cashews are related to the poison ivy family and raw ones sometimes still have the irritating oil on them.

Or maybe this is just a common detox reaction I didn't know about.

Just curious, thanks!

Amy

[Dimond]

Welcome back to raw, Amy. Are they truly raw, hand-shelled? If not, then they are likely poisonous. Otherwise maybe you're allergic.

[Revvell]

First, are you SURE they are raw? Just because it says so on the package, my not be true. Also, just because they ARE raw, doesn't mean they're good for you.

In one of my interviews recently, we were told that no matter what the package says, to be edible, cashews cannot really be raw.

*shrugs* I dunno. Doesn't happen with me.

If this were happening with me, I'd do a Google search on them.

[rawstrength]

Hi! I'm extremely allergic to poison ivy. This past fall I went to the emergency room because of poison ivy - it's that bad.
I get a rash on my face when I eat mangoes and I get blisters at the corner of my mouth from cashews. Both mangoes and cashews are in the poison ivy family of allergens. Which is a shame, because I love them so. But some foods just don't agree with us, everyone is that way, so we must avoid them.

[Raw000]

Thanks folks, for the replies.

Interesting that someone else here gets blisters around the mouth from the cashews too. Maybe we are both just allergic. It's a shame though because I love cashews and the ones that don't say "raw" on the package don't do that to me. Cashews are by far my favorite nut.

I read that the reason you never see cashews in their shell is because the oil is actually poisonous. That is why they are shelled by machines and not by hand. But raw ones still might have a bit of the poisonous oil on them because the oil is not roasted off. BUT maybe the raw ones aren't completely raw if they are shelled by machines as it probably takes some heat to do it. Dunno know really.

I see a lot of raw recipes with raw cashews listed as an ingredient.

Thanks and I am glad to be back here. Lot of great posts to learn from!

Amy

[Mary Kay]

From my understanding, cashews CAN be truly raw, if handshelled, but you should always buy Fair Trade because the workers can really have beat up hands/poor wages/working conditions etc especially being exposed to the shells. The reason the non-hand-shelled ones are not completely raw, (in our raw-foodie terms) is that they are cracked open with lasers, which can actually heat them somewhat.

Their shells contain urushiol, (no time to look up - from memory - think the spelling is correct)?, which as someone mentioned is in the poison ivy family, so you may be highly sensitive.

Interesting, I didn't know mangoes were too! Thanks for the tidbit.

Sadly, sounds like other nuts are "better for you" than cashews - like cashews are on the acid forming side of nuts, whereas almonds, for example are alkalizing. Sigh, but if I had to list my fave foods ---without regards to health or anything...if I remained healthy and nothing was detrimental, LOL,
my top five would be:
chocolate
cashews
lobster
raw fresh cream/lightly sweetened whipped cream
carrot juice ( go figure, something that's somewhat healthy....LOL)

And I just got a bad batch of cashews from rawguru.com. I haven't complained yet, and I did use them in recipes, but I thought I was ordering whole cashews not pieces, which these were, and there's a bit of dirt in them, and shell fragments. They are the ones from Brazil. I will not order these again, but will order the other ones. The other ones were a bit more expensive.

All I can think of,

Mary Kay
p.s. Sorry, OT, but just thought of another fave food, that really doesn't take health into account!!!! sigh Coffee. But I won't drink it and do miss it!! LOL ...rambling on.....

[TaupeRawMan]

First, are you SURE they are raw? Just because it says so on the package, my not be true. Also, just because they ARE raw, doesn't mean they're good for you.

In one of my interviews recently, we were told that no matter what the package says, to be edible, cashews cannot really be raw.

*shrugs* I dunno. Doesn't happen with me.

If this were happening with me, I'd do a Google search on them.

Revell -

which interview was that?