The Truth About Cashews

I don’t remember how long ago it was when I discovered I was allergic to cashews. Not dangerously allergic; just annoying itchy. (If you know, you know. And if you don’t know, don’t try to find out.) So for years, I have avoided them in trail mixes and anywhere else they are commonly found. One or two is fine, but I always know if I eat too many. 

I know a whole handful of others who avoid them as well and for the exact same reason as me. I used to wonder why they caused such an odd, singular symptom. When I did some research, I learned a very interesting thing. 

Cashews aren’t part of a nut family. They are part of the anacardiaceae family. And guess what? The most commonly known plant in that family is poison ivy. Yeah, poison ivy!! Being in this same family means that cashews are covered in urushiol; the same oil on the poison ivy plant that people react to. 

When I first read this several years ago, everything started to make sense. 

Cashews must be roasted to extreme temperatures before they are considered safe to eat. It can be dangerous to eat raw cashews. Heating them to certain temperatures gets rid of the oil, technically making them safe to consume. And they are - for the most part. But cheap brands of nut mixes may not always get it right. Unfortunately, urushiol oils are secretly hiding in more bags of nuts than you’d probably think. 

I tucked away this knowledge years ago and nearly forgot about it. I avoid cashews, my life is good, and I don’t need to be thinking about this all the time. 

But recently, I was reminded of this truth again in a very shocking way. 

Eric informed me that he was coming down with a case of poison ivy. Both of us groaned a little because he can get it pretty bad. But it bothered him that he wasn’t sure where he got it. We finally decided it must have been in the field he had spent several hours in trying to fix a silage truck. 

By the end of that day, it had spread up his entire forearm and there were huge rashes breaking out on his legs and back. He even took his watch off because his wrist had swollen decently. Neither of us were sure why he had gotten such a horrible case of poison ivy and exactly where it came from. 

He was so uncomfortable, and I was sure he would struggle to get a good night’s sleep, so I suggested that he take a Benadryl. I knew it would help him sleep, but I also figured an antihistamine wouldn’t hurt anything. (In hindsight, I’m so glad I made that decision even though I’m not entirely sure why I did in the first place.)

The next morning, it was still the same. We tried lavender oil and several other things to help soothe the rash. They helped a little, but definitely didn’t take away how awful he felt and looked. 

At the end of the second night while we were getting ready for bed, he suddenly said, “Can I ask you a random question? Remember you said once that cashews are in the poison ivy family? Do you think this is because I had a bunch of cashews on Saturday?” 

And in a split second, my brain connected so many dots. 

Why had I not remembered him talking about snacking on cashews the other day? Why had I not thought of this sooner. Of course that’s what it was! I had never known anyone to break out so badly, but it made sense. If he reacts violently to poison ivy, it would only make sense he would to cashews as well. 

In one sense, it was a relief to know what was going on. In another, it only frightened my poor little brain at the thought of my husband actually having an allergic reaction. Poison ivy technically is too, but this seemed several levels worse suddenly. And although we were already two days into this and he was still alive and breathing, I promptly began to worry he would die of anaphylaxis yet that night. 

He took antihistamines for the next couple of days. And in the meantime, continued to break out in small patches here and there while the worst of the rash slowly got better. 

Moral of the story: no more cashews for Eric!

I also discovered during some more recent research that mangoes are also in this same family. The fruit itself is safe to eat because the oil is on the outside skin. However, if you handle raw mangoes, be sure to keep the skins away from the fruit and be careful not to touch the freshly cut fruit if you’ve been handling the peelings.  

Maybe you already knew these things and, like me, have tucked them into your brain. But perhaps you’ve never heard this before. If that’s the case, I’m happy to potentially save your life. 😂 Okay, that may have been a little dramatic. 

If you like cashews, I’m not telling you to stop eating them; all things in moderation! Just tuck this small piece of information away in the files and use it to help yourself or someone else one day.