They used to be one of my favourite foods, which is why it was a bit of shock when I realised I had developed a banana intolerance.
I mean – I’d heard of people being lactose intolerant, or needing to eat gluten free every day – but bananas?!
I can still vividly remember the first time I was affected – although at the time I was clueless.
With two small children, it was pretty rare that the hubster and I managed to go out for dinner, so we were both looking forward to his work Christmas party. I had a new outfit and everything!
Making the most of this rare opportunity, I ordered a cocktail before dinner. I can’t remember which one exactly, but I do remember it had banana in it. Perhaps it was a banana colada, a dirty banana, or a drunken monkey?!
By the time our meals arrived, I had terrible stomach cramps. I really didn’t want to go home so I tried to ignore the pain – visiting the toilet, and even going for a walk around the block to see if it would ease the pain. In the end we gave up and went home. I had no idea why I’d been so overcome, and actually thought perhaps the food had been bad – except nobody else was affected.
Not long afterwards I made banana sundaes for a treat – and I think that was when the penny dropped. Once again, only an hour or so afterwards I was in agony and ended up spending most of the evening in the bathroom.
Every time I consumed banana after that, I knew what I was in for: bloating, stomach pain and cramps, excessive gas, and diarrhoea. Naturally, I began to avoid banana in any form: no more banana sandwiches, banana fritters, banana cake or banana bread.
However it wasn’t as easy as that. Seemed banana was in a LOT of products, that I’d never even thought of!
There was the time hubster served tinned fruit salad and ice cream for dessert when we were travelling Australia in our caravan in 2001 – I ended up wayyyy too familiar with the amenities block in our Esperance caravan park! Once I’d recovered, I checked the ingredients listed on the tin, and sure enough: BANANA.
Another time, I chose a hummingbird cake (one of my favourites) for my birthday cake. Except – did you know hummingbird cake contains banana? I didn’t until then!
Now that I know about it, it’s not really a problem. I do still have to be a bit careful with things like fruit juices and smoothies though.
I *can* however eat anything made from banana flavouring, which if I remember rightly from my high school chemistry lessons, has no banana whatsoever in it!
I don’t think I’m allergic to bananas, which is a whole different level completely – as I have to consume bananas for them to affect me. I can still handle them and often buy them for the hubster. I’ve also read that if you are allergic to bananas, you tend to also have problems with avocado, mango and kiwifruit, which I don’t (and let’s hope it statys that way!).
I’m not sure why I developed a banana intolerance around the time I turned 30, after a lifetime love affair. Some say that if you have eaten one that is not quite ripe, it can trigger an immune response like this.
I don’t really remember, so I guess it will just have to remain one of my life’s little mysteries!
Have you developed any food intolerances or allergies – and how did you work it out?