Dietary Restrictions++

[rax]

After some experimentation, I'm 99% sure I have a sensitivity to nightshades and should mostly not be eating them. I'm still working on figuring out if I can have small amounts of them, and whether I have a broad sensitivity or a more narrow one. (Tomatoes and bell peppers are almost definitely no; eggplant and potato are less clear.) For now I'm avoiding all of them, although in another week or two I'm going to add back hot pepper and see if I can still eat spicy things. (God, I hope so.) People have offered their condolences but all I can do is laugh; every time I think about it I am so relieved about two things:

• It wasn't gluten.
• It wasn't soy.

Gluten-free and soy-free vegan are doable, but very very hard. Nightshade-free vegan is just annoying, especially as it's a sensitivity (nasty digestive effects) and not an allergy (anaphylactic shock) and so if I screw up it's not DEATH, just bleaugh. Unfortunately I think I may have crossed that dark threshhold into "Seriously, don't bother trying to bring me to a restaurant." Luckily I don't much care, as I still haven't eaten a meal at a restaurant in town since moving to Bloomington, and mostly because I've enjoyed making my own food. (If, say, Mary's were here, I would have gone a couple of times...)

So, uh, please don't slip tomatoes into my food, and this shouldn't be a problem. :) If I develop something else on top of this, then we could be in danger territory. But for now, hooray! Still tons of things I can eat.

Comments

[movingfinger]

Gosh, that's a much more manageable food allergy than gluten. I hope potatoes turn out to be (if peeled perhaps?) still OK for you. They are so useful.

(I wonder whether different strains of potatoes, in particular, will affect you differently. Hm.)

[hebinekohime]

Hmm, I should learn how to make pesto pizza one of these days. ^^

The only food-substance that I don't tolerate well is caffeine; half of a chocolate bar or half a cup of green tea will give me a wicked head rush. Interestingly, tofu chocolate pudding seems to be OK.

[weirdquark]

Gluten-free and soy-free vegan are doable, but very very hard.

Oh man. Yeah, that cuts down on your options.

[krinndnz.livejournal.com]

It'll be interesting to see what your conducts were after the game.

[blondestwolf.livejournal.com]

Sriracha NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Ugh, that sucks, I hope that at least potatoes and eggplant work out. But you are right, gluten or soy would suck even more :(

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

This sounds similar to my allergy in that It Does Not Kill me but It Makes Me Stronger weaker. (mostly it makes me nauseated, gassy (with farts that have a very specific nasty smell) and very very sleepy)

Fortunately I ONLY seem to have a problem with tomatoes, not peppers or eggplant or potatoes or even tomatillos (which I guess are not as closely related to tomatoes as the name implies).

[q10.livejournal.com]

is there a reason you're not mentioning members of the genus Capsicum besides bell peppers? are hot peppers noticeably better?

but, yeah, at least it's not gluten.

[fjm.livejournal.com]

Good to hear. And yes, while I very happily do vegan when visiting vegan friends, vegan restaurants are hopeless for me, and I can't manage more than a week at Homs without getting very hungry.

[faerieboots.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I did some research on nightshade allergies a while back, and IIRC tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant all contain a chemical that potatoes do not. So, you may be able to process potato but not the others. (And I think eggplant has it in small quantities than pepper or tomato)

Also, as an aside, if you have a blarg reaction to nightshades you may wish to keep in mind that tobacco is a nightshade and avoid second-hand smoke accordingly. :)

[anacoluthon.livejournal.com]

Oof. I am glad it's not a gluten issue, but nightshades are so tasty as well! I hope sriracha is ok, though; I'd be so sad if I couldn't eat that (or spicy things in general) any more.

[oonh.livejournal.com]

Make sure you talk to ratatosk about this. (last time I talked to him he mentioned discovering that Goji berries are apparently nightshades)

[bookofjude.livejournal.com]

Nightshades are delicious but I can only current have potatoes. I love tomatoes in all their forms but I am not allowed them! It makes me so depressed. Good luck with the food issues, and let me know if you need recipes--I have hundreds and have grown quite adept at modifying existing recipes for food intolerances.

[rathdei.livejournal.com]

That's awful! How does one even DEVELOP a nightshade sensitivity? Man, if I ever get that, first I'm blaming you, and then I am buying lots of toilet paper.

[eirl.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, restaurants should be doable with some effort. I am quite sensitive to all things in the red pepper family (including bell pepper) and am able to eat out while avoiding them if I choose my restaurants carefully. I could even, until recently, still eat some Mexican and some Italian-- recently it looks like I've developed a problem with some kind of starch, though, potentially gluten. Anyhow, I haven't tried restricting tomatoes as well, but that should not be a great additional burden beyond the restrictions I already have. Eating out should still be possible. We can talk about it sometime if you want and I can give you tips.

I find it an interesting coincidence that we're both having this problem. I've never been clear whether I have a problem with the whole nightshade family or with just the red pepper family. Anyhow, makes you wonder if environmental triggers can cause issues like this.