# Food Fadists - STFU **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2012, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037 "2012-06-23T05:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/281 "2012-06-29T22:05:43Z")
I know a person who does the “trendy allergy of the month” thing. She’s my daughter’s former MIL. I wonder if a poster up thread is my daughter’s former BIL, because his description of her sounds EXACTLY like ole’ crazy pants. As far as I know, I’m only allergic to two foods, pecans and walnuts. It’s only a mild allergy, but I love pecans and so I’ll still eat them, even if it does terrible things to my mouth (basically causes the skin to come off, as if my mouth had been exposed to some sort of acid…sorry! I know, gross). I don’t like walnuts so I don’t eat them, but I don’t tell people I’m allergic to them in order to get special menu privileges or something, in fact it’s just the opposite, I usually reassure people who do know, that it’s only a mild allergy, and that the walnuts or pecans they have in their recipe aren’t going to hurt me (much :D). ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/282 "2012-06-30T01:13:46Z")
I confess that I lie and say I’m allergic to chocolate all the time. For some reason people just CAN NOT accept that I don’t enjoy eating it, plus it can be a migraine trigger so it’s better for me to just avoid it. I don’t get any kind of sick when I eat it, it’s just not worth the calories or the small chance of migraine so I decline, and people get just crazy. But it’s _really good_ chocolate! You _have_ to have some! Just a _taste_! Since these people usually can’t take -no thank you- for an answer I just lie and say oh gosh, that looks great but I’m allergic, have some for me! ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/283 "2012-06-30T01:35:13Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > I confess that I lie and say I’m allergic to chocolate all the time. For some reason people just CAN NOT accept that I don’t enjoy eating it, plus it can be a migraine trigger so it’s better for me to just avoid it. > > I don’t get any kind of sick when I eat it, it’s just not worth the calories or the small chance of migraine so I decline, and people get just crazy. But it’s _really good_ chocolate! You _have_ to have some! Just a _taste_! > > Since these people usually can’t take -no thank you- for an answer I just lie and say oh gosh, that looks great but I’m allergic, have some for me! **moejoe** , let me preface this by saying I have no doubt that chocolate gives you migraines, but you should not say you are “allergic” to it. An allergic reaction is a specific thing, and I may be wrong, but you don’t sound like you are “allergic” to chocolate. Again, I have no doubt that chocolate can trigger a migraine, it is a well known trigger for migraines, but don’t describe it as an allergy. That’s a specific thing, and what you have is not an allergy. So just tell the truth. Don’t say “I can’t eat chocolate because I’m allergic” People are going to rightly call bullshit on that. Say “I can’t eat chocolate because it may trigger a migraine”, because that’s the truth. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/284 "2012-06-30T01:38:57Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > **moejoe** , let me preface this by saying I have no doubt that chocolate gives you migraines, but you should not say you are “allergic” to it. An allergic reaction is a specific thing, and I may be wrong, but you don’t sound like you are “allergic” to chocolate. > > Again, I have no doubt that chocolate can trigger a migraine, it is a well known trigger for migraines, but don’t describe it as an allergy. That’s a specific thing, and what you have is not an allergy. So just tell the truth. Don’t say “I can’t eat chocolate because I’m allergic” People are going to rightly call bullshit on that. Say “I can’t eat chocolate because it may trigger a migraine”, because that’s the truth. I have never liked the taste of chocolate. That’s what I tell people when I am offered some. When I was a kid I would tell people that I was allergic so that they would STFU and leave me alone when I told them that I didn’t want any. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/285 "2012-06-30T06:19:57Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > I suppose we will. But just know this, I believe that the idea that we can “prevent” allergies is the reason we have seen an increase in allergies. Oh yeah? Got a cite for that, oh wise one? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/286 "2012-06-30T06:29:24Z")
What the fuck, **Guin**? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/287 "2012-06-30T11:09:55Z")
Well I’ll pony up with a cite that supports that belief. Delaying exposure to potential food allergens, trying to avoid them for the first year or so of life, has been the main means of trying to prevent food allergies. I referenced the studies that show that such might be counterproductive already. [Here’s](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19000582) the best known: > [@](#): > > Despite guidelines recommending avoidance of peanuts during infancy in the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and, until recently, North America, peanut allergy ¶ continues to increase in these countries. … Jewish children in the UK have a prevalence of PA that is 10-fold higher than that of Jewish children in Israel. This difference is not accounted for by differences in atopy, social class, genetic background, or peanut allergenicity. Israeli infants consume peanut in high quantities in the first year of life, whereas UK infants avoid peanuts. These findings raise the question of whether early introduction of peanut during infancy, rather than avoidance, will prevent the development of PA. Again, the more definitive longer term prospective study is in progress. Meanwhile an aside - I get migraines but the only times they have been the real killer ones have been after I ate mussels. It took me a few times to put it together. Since then when my wife and I are out and I’ve needed to ask if a dish contains mussels my wife has sometimes piped up that I am allergic to them. To which I’ve chimed in, “no not allergic, it triggers migraines” - Her response: “A _normal_ person would say they were allergic.” No winning. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/288 "2012-06-30T11:51:59Z")
I did think we mostly agreed, **DSeid** , and you also make me question myself regarding my advice to **moejoe**. Most people aren’t going to care, or even know, the difference between a food allergy and a migraine trigger. After the initial question of “why don’t you want to eat that?” it _is_ probably easier to just say “I’m allergic” and be done with it rather than risk having to teach an impromptu Nursing class on migraine headaches. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/289 "2012-06-30T12:01:49Z")
Can we compromise with, “Oh, no thanks, I’m allergic. Well…it gives me migraines.”? That way I don’t have to live in fear that the delicious scent of my chocolate bar wafting in your general direction is going to make you stop breathing, and the ignorant can stay ignorant. I tell people, “She’s not \*allergic \*to gluten, but I’d rather not be up at 1:30 with a sick kid. If she accidentally eats something with wheat, don’t panic, just let me know so I can set my alarm.” ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/290 "2012-06-30T12:58:56Z")
I’ve stopped saying “I’m allergic” in most contexts because of how the word has been corrupted, misused, and hijacked by assholes and idiots. Now I say “It doesn’t agree with me.” If there is persistence I say “I don’t want to break the mood/cause inconvenience/etc. by becoming ill during your event/in your restaurant/whatever)” I don’t know why, but that seems to work better for some reason. I expect I’ll have to change strategies again in 5 years. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/291 "2012-06-30T14:56:34Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Can we compromise with, “Oh, no thanks, I’m allergic. Well…it gives me migraines.”? > > That way I don’t have to live in fear that the delicious scent of my chocolate bar wafting in your general direction is going to make you stop breathing, and the ignorant can stay ignorant. > > I tell people, “She’s not \*allergic \*to gluten, but I’d rather not be up at 1:30 with a sick kid. If she accidentally eats something with wheat, don’t panic, just let me know so I can set my alarm.” Talking about migraines is often even more annoying than getting pressured to try just a little bit because it’s chocolate! How can you not like chocolate! I’ve had people actually argue with me that “pure” chocolate wont cause migraines or gosh wouldn’t it be worth it to enjoy something this delicious? Not to mention the stories about oh gosh I had a migraine this morning too, it was so bad I had to take two aspirin instead of my usual one! I’m willing to chance the bad karma of telling a small lie to avoid all of that. Lately it seems that “I’m allergic” has become the new “no means no”. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/292 "2012-06-30T16:08:59Z")
Are there honestly bundles of people out there who don’t accept a kindly, “No, thank you, I don’t want any.” ? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/293 "2012-06-30T16:29:01Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > What the fuck, **Guin**? I asked for a cite – pretty standard around here when making a specific claim. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/294 "2012-06-30T16:30:43Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Are there honestly bundles of people out there who don’t accept a kindly, “No, thank you, I don’t want any.” ? Female office workers mostly, but yeah, they’re out there. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/295 "2012-06-30T17:14:19Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I asked for a cite – pretty standard around here when making a specific claim. Just fucking bite me. **Guin**. I used to like you, but you attacked me in two different threads simultaneously without adding to either discussion. If you have a problem with me personally, pit me _personally_. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/296 "2012-06-30T17:19:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I asked for a cite – pretty standard around here when making a specific claim. You asked him to cite something he believes. I guess that makes his post his cite… ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/297 "2012-06-30T17:27:19Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > You asked him to cite something he believes. I guess that makes his post his cite… That’s another thing. How the hell am I supposed to back up an _opinion_ with a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/298 "2012-06-30T17:33:30Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > Are there honestly bundles of people out there who don’t accept a kindly, “No, thank you, I don’t want any.” ? Sure. They’re well-intentioned most of the time; they just think you’re turning it down to be polite and you really do in fact want some. I hate that little bit of protocol for that exact reason. If someone says no, how do you decide whether they mean no or they’re just being polite? It’s easier just to take them at their word. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/299 "2012-06-30T17:58:21Z")
Apropos of not much, I’m reminded of a time a was a bit of clueless asshole: **Friend** : I can’t eat that. **monkey** : C’mon man, I smoked these things for six hours. Just look at those ribs, the meat is falling off the bone! **Friend** : I just can’t eat it, man. **monkey** : You’re not turning all vegetarian in me, are you? When did you lose your balls so much that you can’t eat some pork ribs? **Friend** : I’m Jewish. **monkey** : :smack: I knew he was Jewish beforehand, I just fucking forgot. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037/300 "2012-06-30T18:08:18Z")
This thread reminds me of the comment I made, rather indelicately, when my wife mentioned that someone we know is a picky eater. Before thinking, I said, “Judging from her size, she’s not too damned picky.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-fadists-stfu/626037.md?page=16)