So I guess the deities have decided to have a bit of fun with me for being a naughty atheist or something. I’ve developed an allergy to freakin’ CHOCOLATE. Well, maybe not an allergy as such (nothing like anaphylaxis or hives or anything) but it now makes me violently ill. WTF?
I like chocolate. I LOVE chocolate. Chocolate and I have been through some special (and not so special) times together. Chocolate dances upon my tastebuds and gets me in the groove. I’m a better person for chocolate, really!!
Not anymore! For the last few months I’ve suffered episodic gastric distress. Waking up in the middle of the night with pain and an urge to upchuck…violently. It took me some time to make the connection, but it’s fuggen CHOCOLATE that does it.
Have you developed a food intolerance to something that you were previously more than fine with?
Bloody chocolate. Why couldn’t it have been carrots or brussel sprouts?
Could it be a combination of age AND … that you’ve eaten too much?
I never had allergies until I hit 40, and then one day tried to eat a whole bag of walnuts - instant surprise walnut allergy, complete with throat closing up (N.B. eating a whole bag of anything at 30 was business as usual)
Same deal with strawberries - now I have to stop after 10, or face the music.
TheKid’s all time favorite fruit is pineapple. Loves it. Fresh, canned, juice only - doesn’t matter.
She became allergic to it about a year ago. She has anything pineapple, her tongue swells and she gets hives.
I used to be able to scoff a whole block of chocolate without repercussions (well, without IMMEDIATE repercussions, I’m sure my bathroom scales would tell a different tale!)
But last choc intake, I ate two small squares to test my tolerance, and yep…come 1:00 am, I was driving the porcelain bus as the old saying goes. The amount doesn’t seem to be critical.
Yep. At 18 I developed an allergy to basil. I can no long eat anything that contains any sort of tomato sauce that wasn’t cooked in my own home because nearly all of them contain basil. I haven’t had a professionally cooked pizza in 15 years because the last one I ate earned me hives inside my mouth and throat
Unfortunately, I get hives at even trace amounts that could come from contact with utensils that recently touched basil, so I can’t order anything even made in a pizza shop let alone try a white pizza. I’ve gotten hives from someone eating pizza and using my mouse before washing their hands, so every time my coworkers suggest pizza it fills me with the same unhappiness it would most people if I suggested we all rub poison ivy on the tables and doorknobs.
Gastric distress? Is it chocolate or is it a reaction to the milk products in the stuff? If I dare say it (being a chocoholic myself, by the way), have you considered substituting carob? Oddly enough, I like that stuff as well as chocolate.
I’ve had to learn to avoid soy lecithin; there are other things which give me asthma as well, but that one is the worst since it’s everywhere and it’s hidden, you really need to read lists of ingredients carefully. Avoiding mustard isn’t a problem; avoiding cod is ok although it’s pretty much taken Portugal off my list of places to visit (kidding, I’m sure I’ll be able to find something to eat so long as I don’t insist on picking restaurants called “the House of Cod”), but… why is there soy lecithin in yoghurt, ice cream, or chorizo? Chorizo needs thickener now? DaFUQ?
I’d been merrily chugging milk by the bottlefull until then one day I could not. My first “hint” that I needed to start being careful about milk and milk products came from a pizza that… didn’t go down well. Age 34.
I’ve developed an intolerance in the past 2 years to pineapple, falafel (not sure why but it’s not the chickpeas, as those I can still eat) and quinoa. The last 2 are real buggers as I don’t eat meat, and those are the go to vegie dishes around if you eat out. I get horrible stomach cramps about 2 hours after ingesting any of the above, even a tablespoon or so is enough. But assume it’s not a full allergy as I don’t get any other symptoms?
You don’t have to have anaphylaxis (hives, breathing problems, swelling, etc.) to have a real allergy. They can manifest as gastric distress/vomiting. Also as skin rashes.
Adult acquired allergies for me include lentils, green peas, and barley. The peas weren’t hard to give up, never cared much for them anyway, but no more lentil stew and barley? Used to cook it as a side dish like rice, make pilaf, and no more beer!. I loved barley, now, no more ever.
Also, that means nothing with barley flour, barley malt, etc… all too damn common in bread and bread-like baked goods.
I was going to ask this too. I’m a wholehearted, drop-dead chocoholic and I’ve discovered I can’t indulge with as much gusto now compared to, say, when I was in my 20s or 30s. I have a slight lactose intolerance to begin with, but for some reason lactose + a healthy chunk of chocolate sends me to the loo post haste more than once, depending on how much chocolate and who made it.
I haven’t had carob in ages. To me, it’s a sort-of-kind-of-substitute and not a very good one at that, especially if you expect it to taste exactly like chocolate.
You could try a square or two of white chocolate and then, a few days later, a pinch of unsweetened cocoa powder. If you’re allergic to some additive in the bar, but not the actual cocoa, you might be able to find some specialty chocolate that doesn’t have it.
