Is it possible to be allergic to chocolate, or is it generally just sensitivities or intolerances to chocolate? Is it more likely to be caused by a specific ingredient in chocolate rather than chocolate itself?
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Answers ( 2 )
Yes, it is possible to be allergic to chocolate; in fact, it is possible to be allergic to nearly anything, at all.
Nearly all food allergies are to a protein in a food or specific food stuff: For instance, the "...major allergens in peanuts are generally considered Ara h 1 and Ara h 3 that are members of the cupin superfamily of proteins, and Ara h 2 and Ara h 6 that are members of the prolamin superfamily." (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4785306/) And, of course, chocolate is made from a bean- the cocoa bean; it is a source of protein, and most food allergies are to proteins.
However, a true cocoa allergy is rather rare- instead, folks are usual sensitive- which means they react, not with their immune system, which is a true allergic reaction, but with their digestive system: nausea, vomiting, indigestion, flatulence diarrhea- or all the above. Most folks who appear to have an allergic (immune system) response to chocolate, are usually reacting to the milk proteins, or soy lecithin, tyramine, phenylethylamine, theobromine, caffeine, flavorings, and emulsifiers.
Me, it appears I have a sensitivity to oatmeal- which is a real shame. Before the holidays last year, I made many, many batches of Chocolate-Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies- yum Dear Husband took a big plate of them into his work, and I tasted A LOT of them. A whole lot of them. Lots. They were delicious.
And the next afternoon, still tasting to the exclusion of nearly all other foods, my abdomen blew right up- I looked eight months pregnant- and it HURT. It took awhile but it was just gas, which worked its way through the small and then large intestine, and went away. But I was queasy afterwards- I didn't eat any solid food for over twenty-four hours to make sure things were fine in there- let everything kind of just rest. But within an hour of testing another oatmeal cookie- queasy, nauaseated, nasty. Huh. That sucks.
It took me a couple weeks to get over that assault on my digestive system, but I was nice and stayed away from oatmeal, and took famotidine for indigestion, simethecone for gas upset, and zofran if I was nauseated. No oatmeal. Until we stopped at a Subway for a lunch while out shopping, and I had a tuna-on-honey-wheat- with oats sprinkled on top- and reacted within an hour. Damn!
I'd never heard of such a thing, but there is a specific odd protein in oatmeal, and I am sensitive to it. Which means no more oatmeal, no more oatmeal creme pies, no more whole grain breads, no more granola, no more--- sucks.
But better than freaking my digestive system out again, just for oatmeal.
If you are having any symptoms of allergy (usually pulmonary or hives) or sensitivity, speak with your licensed health care provider- and avoid that food stuff until you know what's going on,.
Some non-light reading: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14680621/
As, J says, you can be allergic to anything. Even better, you can have different reactions to different, but similar things. When your boy perceives something as an invader, you immune system goes after it hard.
So, one day, for no reason at all that I ever figured out, I started breaking out in hives when I ate chocolate. Painful, itchy hives on my legs and face mostly. They'd last about 45 minutes. Milk chocolate, dark, anything. I stopped eating chocolate for a couple of years and sometimes just sucked it up to have a bit or two of some really exceptional chocolate.
A few years later, they stopped. No reason that I could tell, I had a bite of chocolate and nothing happened. Now I can womp down a chocolate cake and I'm fine. WTF histamine response.