Is chocolate causing hand eczema? It might be if you are allergic to nickel!

Link found between nickel from diet and hand eczema.

For many people nickel allergy means they have a difficult time wearing jewelry that contains nickel.  A rash would appear where their skin touches the metal unless they used Nickel Guard barrier.

Studies have found that certain foods which are high in nickel can cause problems for nickel allergic individuals.  The nickel ingested from the diet can contribute to systemic contact dermatitis (an all over body rash) and especially aggravate hand eczema (hand dermatitis). 

Everyone ingests nickel on a daily basis. Nickel is everywhere.  The amount of nickel ingested varies and depends on whether the food is grown in nickel-rich soil, whether the food is fresh or canned, the cooking utensils used and the amount of nickel in the water that is consumed.

Before giving up chocolate, contact a dermatologist or allergist specializing in contact dermatitis to see if a low nickel diet is recommended. 

Individuals who have severe nickel allergy and have hand eczema (hand dermatitis) may do well to reduce the following foods known to be high in nickel:

• Almonds
• Asparagus
• Baking powder
• Brown lentils
• Beans
• Cabbage
• Canned foods
• Chocolate
• Corn
• Food cooked with or in nickel-containing utensils
• Hazelnuts
• Herring
• Licorice
• Margarine
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• Oysters
• Peanuts
• Pears
• Peas
• Raisins
• Rhubarb
• Spinach
• Sprouts
• Tea
• Tomatoes
• Walnuts
• Whole meal flour

Nickel is also found in medications, vitamins and herbal remedies.  Further discussions to follow.

Cookware can tested with a dimethylglyoxime test (dmg spot test) to determine if it contains nickel.

Comments

[pediatric ENT]

Thanks for the warning, i now know what foods are known to be high in nickel. Hope this post will help others too.

-Luke