Food Sensitivities Don't Exist

I did not consider myself a very picky eater growing up, although my family was never very adventurous when it came to food. There were two foods that I absolutely hated: hot dogs and cheese-filled sandwich crackers. Both these foods are common, kid-friendly, delicacies, at least in the U.S., so it seems odd for a kid to hate them. I had a very good reason for scorning them though. Every time I consumed them, they made my stomach hurt. While I never got sick and I don't recall having any other symptoms, something in those bologna sausages and powdered cheese centers didn't agree with my body.

Fast forward to 2016. This was the first year that I, as an adult, noticed some foods didn't set well with my system and this time, they weren't in the highly processed category. At this point in time I knew I was allergic to grapes and I occasionally had an allergic reaction to an unknown ingredient in something new I tried, but that happened only a handful of times.

While I generally ate what was put in front of me, there were foods that I was never particularly fond of. One of those was bell peppers. For some reason I just didn't enjoy their flavor. They were not something I intentionally reached for, but I did enjoy dishes they were added to. Over the course of 2016, I started to notice that I did not feel good after consuming bell peppers. Usually several hours after a meal, I would become very gassy, crampy, and bloated and I would experience some abdominal pain.

At first, I didn't really believe it. For several months, I continued to eat bell peppers, trying to convince myself it was all in my head. After one particularly bad episode involving pizza, I had to accept it: bell peppers were not my friend.

Over the next few years, I started to notice that first cayenne, and then jalapenos, joined the list. For both these peppers, the reaction was more intense: pain, diarrhea, and nausea (I managed to avoid puking, but only just barely). I was officially done with anything that smacked of peppers.

Fast forward a few more years to 2021. I had moved to a new city and needed to find a new allergist. And what's the first thing you typically (at least in my experience) have to do with a new doctor?  Allergy testing! Having gone through patch testing and spirometry the previous year when I was first diagnosed with allergies and asthma, I knew the drill: no antihistamines for a while, set aside two hours for a doctor's appointment, prepare to pay a pretty penny, and plan on taking it easy for the rest of the day.

During that appointment, when I mentioned my inability to properly digest peppers, I was greeted by an unexpected response:

food sensitivities don't exist.

I was a bit taken aback by this statement. As a patient who had spent years carefully observing my symptoms, it felt like an insult. I wasn't being heard and my experience living in my own body was being dismissed.

The more I've learned over the last six months about autoimmune disease and immune-related issues, the more I've come to realize that medicine is broken. Broken because the human body is complex and medical research has barely even scratched the surface of understanding the intricate workings of the human body. What works for one person does not work another, and that includes foods. So since my first appointment with that allergist, I've learned food sensitivities are real. The ways in which they manifest in individuals are varied and sometimes surprising. I'm still trying to learn and understand my food sensitivities and discover the best ways to nourish and take care of my body. It's journey taken in half steps and it's one I'm excited to share with you, dear reader.

- Kristen

Have you noticed any foods that affect
your body differently, whether positively or negatively?