What Is Gustatory Rhinitis? What Foods Cause It And How To Cure?

Rhinitis is a common medical problem and every person in his lifetime may have experienced running or congested nose. In rhinitis, the lining inside the nose (mucus membrane) becomes inflamed and irritated. It leads to excess production of thin watery fluid (mucus) and we call it running nose.

Running nose, nasal congestion and postnasal drip can be due to three major reasons; bacterial or viral infection, allergy and non–allergy conditions. Gustatory rhinitis is non- allergic form of rhinitis. Various other non-allergic forms of rhinitis include; vasomotor, drug induced, autonomic etc.

What Foods Cause Gustatory Rhinitis?

Gustatory rhinitis occurs after eating certain foods especially spicy and hot food. There is no involvement of any bacteria or virus or an allergen in gustatory rhinitis. This form of rhinitis can affect any person; adults as well as children. However people who have allergic rhinitis and smokers are at great risk of suffering from gustatory rhinitis.
Gustatory rhinitis occurs because certain food irritates the nerves present in the nasal passage as well as the Vagus nerve. As a result, the mucus membrane of the nose becomes inflamed. It produces more secretion inside the nose to wash off the irritants.
Although hot and spicy foods are the prominent cause for gustatory rhinitis, they are not the only ones.

There are many other foods that are responsible for the condition. Here are some of the foods responsible;

• Hot chili pepper, as it contains capsaicin
• Hot and spicy food
• Chocolate
• Coffee, tea
• Tomatoes
• Alcohol
• Vinegar
• Oranges, lemon and other citrus fruits

Gustatory Rhinitis Symptoms

• Running nose is the main symptom of gustatory rhinitis. The person experiences running nose soon after eating or drinking certain types of food, especially hot and spicy.
• Few people may also complain of postnasal drip, nasal congestion (stuffy nose), coughing and sneezing.
• The discharge is profuse, watery and thin. It occurs as a result of dilatation of tiny blood vessels of the nasal lining.
• The symptoms appear during or within few minutes after eating the offending food. This is the characteristic feature of gustatory rhinitis.

How To Cure Gustatory Rhinitis?

Gustatory rhinitis is a self limiting condition. You may not need any treatment and the symptoms heal on its own. Often gustatory rhinitis becomes a nuisance. The most practical cure of gustatory rhinitis is to identify and avoid the foods that are responsible for producing the problem.
However, if you cannot resist eating those tongue tingling spicy dishes, some experts suggest taking anti histamines one hour before eating these foods. But one school of thought believes that anti histamines are of no use as gustatory rhinitis does not occur due to histamine release.
Nasal corticosteroid sprays, anticholinergic agents, mucolytic medicines are beneficial if symptoms of gustatory rhinitis worsen.


Source: tandurust