6 ms·

Would be interested to hear anything from people who have experienced a food allergy or intolerance towards tomatoes, something the NHS seems very skeptical on.

jjcon 5y ago
I can’t eat tomatoes at all - not sure why - I love their flavor but shortly after eating them my entire digestive system hits the panic button. It doesn’t happen with other foods (at least those I eat). I tend to just avoid them now. Edit: Thought I would add, my doc suspects it is an acid-reflux response but wasn't sure why it would be isolated to tomatoes.
- eliasmacpherson 5y ago
  Have you any allergies? Are there other foods that cause you problems?
  - jjcon 5y ago
    No other foods really, no food allergies to my knowledge. I do have minor seasonal allergies to ragweed pollen though.
- kingkawn 5y ago
  Do you get similar reactions to other nightshades?
  - jjcon 5y ago
    Not really, I eat a lots of potatoes and enjoy eggplant now and again without issue
- treeman79 5y ago
  Nightshades can be a trigger for autoimmune issues. I had to give up tomatoes and potatoes
  - eliasmacpherson 5y ago
    Very interesting. Without going into too much personal detail if you'd rather not, what form did the issues take? Was your physical or mental wellbeing negatively affected until you cut them out? On whose advice did you do this? Or, was it instead a case where you cut them out, in case a hypothetical issue developed? Also curious to know if you have allergies or other foods that disagree... (sorry for being so nosy)
  - jjcon 5y ago
    Interestingly I don’t have issues with other nightshades just tomatoes - no autoimmune issues (unless minor seasonal allergies count)
  - inter_netuser 5y ago
    I’ve heard that about tomatoes, due to histamine/mast cell connections. What’s the mechanism with potatoes? They seem like a mostly safe food.
    - eliasmacpherson 5y ago
      https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_FoodList_EN_alphabetic_withCateg.pdf https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_F... Potatoes are not on the 'Auto Immune Protocol', which I haven't looked in to the rationale behind unfortunately and I am completely out of my field of expertise. They are categorized as nightshades, like tomatoes. As you can see above, some lists claim potatoes are high in histamine. I think that new or green potatoes contain (glyco)alkaloids and that the 'eyes' are also not to be eaten. Sweet potato is said to be fine.
      - inter_netuser 5y ago
        Are you sure? It has a 0 next to it in that pdf, which is supposed to be low?
        eliasmacpherson 5y ago
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
CapitalistCartr 5y ago
In the past few years the acidity in tomatoes has started disagreeing with me. I used to love them, but I'm getting old.
- surge 5y ago
  there are a few low acid tomato varieties that are still flavorful. Keep your eye out for them, they tend to be less red (or yellow/orangish).
mpol 5y ago
I seem to be allergic in the context of histamine. Not as much as oranges, which can make me sneeze for the rest of the day. Using hay fever pills makes this reaction go away. I do enjoy tomatoes very much and eat them often though.
- mpol 5y ago
  Some more info is in an article of mine. I do need to update it, because I am using a low dose of antispychotics again. https://timelord.nl/gezondheid/biologische-hefbomen.html?lang=en https://timelord.nl/gezondheid/biologische-hefbomen.html?lan... Histamine apparently caused a lot of itching, which I always took for normal. Using antihistamine tablets make me stop pulling my eyebrows. I did not write that in the blogpost, there a small bit of shame involved.
  - eliasmacpherson 5y ago
    Now we're talking, you've correctly surmised what I was digging for. Thanks for sharing your article, I'll have a read through it. Here's some pseudoscience, you may also find the parent comment that it is in reply to interesting. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27993001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27993001
    - mpol 5y ago
      Thank you, seems interesting. Down into a rabbit hole again :)
      - inter_netuser 5y ago
        Look up MCAS and the more severe form of mast cell disease, mastocytosis, and their neuropsychological consequences.
tristor 5y ago
I can't eat tomatoes, but not due to allergy or intolerance, but rather because they're the primary trigger for my somewhat severe acid reflux. Eating something that contains tomatoes guarantees a reflux episode, even under medication, and without medication will likely lead to a trip to urgent care. It's unfortunate because I really like tomatoes. I grew up on a farm, and as a child really enjoyed a fresh ripe tomato sliced thin with the slices topped with salt and pepper, or eating thin slices of tomatoes with ham on fresh baked bread. Truly heavenly. Unfortunately also something I can never have again as long as I live.
- rockzom 5y ago
  Crazy suggestion, but have you ever tried eating for the taste without swallowing?
  - jrootabega 5y ago
    That IS a crazy and fascinating idea. It also sounds like an eternal punishment in Hades. I will try it later. I don't think it will work, though, because a lot of the taste of food happens during the swallow - whatever happens on the back of the tongue + aromatics getting pushed up into your nose.
  - tristor 5y ago
    No. Why would I want to do that? There are many many many wonderful foods that exist in the world that don't contain tomatoes, and many recipes which contain tomatoes can be easily modified. I'm a foodie, so I don't eat just for sustenance but also for enjoyment and appreciation, so losing something as core to cuisine as tomatoes is hard, but not impossible to overcome.
    - tedunangst 5y ago
      Well, if you eat for enjoyment and appreciation, then there's no need to swallow for sustenance. There's always a spit bucket in the wine tasting room.
  - 5y ago
Panoramix 5y ago
I'm allergic to some specific varieties. As in full panic, my throat is closing. Independently (or maybe not?) from that I get an insane acid reflux after eating any kind of tomato. I don't get that with other acidic foods. The pain gets so crazy I've considered calling the hospital because I thought I was going to die. Obviously I don't eat them anymore.
freeflight 5y ago
I'm in this weird grey zone were I mostly don't mind tomato taste and I'm not allergic to them, but it's the texture of the fruit, particularly raw, that will illicit a gag response. That's why for example I don't mind the tomato sauce on pizza, but put whole slices of it on a burger and I will remove them before I eat it.
- bombela 5y ago
  I am willing to bet that you never had a good tomato. A good ripe tomato is impossible to transport. So what we get in the store is full of water with this weirdly mushy texture. Feels like the tomato is stealing all other flavors in your mouth. But a tomato from a home garden. That's a totally different experience.
squarefoot 5y ago
I have some problems digesting tomatoes (moderate acid reflux), although this happens when eating a lot of them and uncooked (no probs at all with cooked juice, pizzas etc.). But being an Italian that's not an uncommon problem. However eating them among other things helps a lot, as does taking enough time to digest them before taking a nap or sleeping. For that matter I tend to avoid them at dinner unless I'm sure I won't go to bed for some hours. Moderate cooking significantly reduces the effects too: I never experienced any side effects by making my pizza with finely sliced green tomato, tuna, onion and mozzarella.
inter_netuser 5y ago
It’s very common, acid reflux after Italian food that’s loaded with tomatoes is basically almost expected culturally? Tomatoes contain a lot of histamine, and can trigger mast cell degranulation, which I think should offer at least some explanation why acid reflux with tomatoes is so common. Typically reflux isn’t seen as a sign of intolerance or allergies, but seems that’s actually a sign of mild intolerance and mast stabilizers actually work better than antacids in many people. There are people who say that all nightshades are “bad”, but I never heard anyone complain about potatoes in the same way. I’m not sure these are true allergies, although those are probably possible. Some allergies that are very common in Europe (peach allergy/LTP syndrome) seem very rare in the US, and vice versa with peanuts. In case of an LTP allergy, or fruit-vegetable allergy syndrome, you could trivially have people cross-react to tomatoes because LTP proteins are ubiquitous across species. From my research into inflammation the only solid take away I had is that not a single person in the world truly understand what allergy is, and what to do with, except for rather crude tools like epinephrine and antihistamines. Even food allergy desensitization with Xolair barely works and mostly fails, and that’s the best we can come up with after 70 years of research.
- rubatuga 5y ago
  You forgot steroids and mabs such as Omalizumab.
  - inter_netuser 5y ago
    Xolair is omalizumab. it is however a very specific mab, an anti-IgE, not many others are helpful. If we gonna go down this route, some drs rx gleevec/imatinib, and some people self-medicate with veterinary drug masitinib, which failed human trials due to liver issues but otherwise was very helpful.
    - csunbird 5y ago
      Is imatinib/gleevec used as an anti-reflux medicine as well? Isn’t that a cancer drug?
kgeist 5y ago
>Would be interested to hear anything from people who have experienced a food allergy or intolerance towards tomatoes, something the NHS seems very skeptical on. For me, it's itchy around the lips, but no more than that.
- inter_netuser 5y ago
  That could be oral allergy syndrome. Are you allergy to pollen/dust or other foods?
- catlikesshrimp 5y ago
  Aren't you afraid of a full blown anaphilactic reaction? I was taught to pay attention to those mild reactions as red flags
colechristensen 5y ago
I don’t have any reactions beyond taste, but raw tomatoes, especially high quality ones, taste… poisonous to me. Not in an “i don’t like this” way, but a nearly uncontrollable gag reflex way. If you offered me $1000 to eat a ripe tomato off the vine, I’m not sure i could do it.

jjcon 5y ago

I can’t eat tomatoes at all - not sure why - I love their flavor but shortly after eating them my entire digestive system hits the panic button. It doesn’t happen with other foods (at least those I eat). I tend to just avoid them now. Edit: Thought I would add, my doc suspects it is an acid-reflux response but wasn't sure why it would be isolated to tomatoes.

eliasmacpherson 5y ago
Have you any allergies? Are there other foods that cause you problems?
- jjcon 5y ago
  No other foods really, no food allergies to my knowledge. I do have minor seasonal allergies to ragweed pollen though.
kingkawn 5y ago
Do you get similar reactions to other nightshades?
- jjcon 5y ago
  Not really, I eat a lots of potatoes and enjoy eggplant now and again without issue
treeman79 5y ago
Nightshades can be a trigger for autoimmune issues. I had to give up tomatoes and potatoes
- eliasmacpherson 5y ago
  Very interesting. Without going into too much personal detail if you'd rather not, what form did the issues take? Was your physical or mental wellbeing negatively affected until you cut them out? On whose advice did you do this? Or, was it instead a case where you cut them out, in case a hypothetical issue developed? Also curious to know if you have allergies or other foods that disagree... (sorry for being so nosy)
- jjcon 5y ago
  Interestingly I don’t have issues with other nightshades just tomatoes - no autoimmune issues (unless minor seasonal allergies count)
- inter_netuser 5y ago
  I’ve heard that about tomatoes, due to histamine/mast cell connections. What’s the mechanism with potatoes? They seem like a mostly safe food.
  - eliasmacpherson 5y ago
    https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_FoodList_EN_alphabetic_withCateg.pdf https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_F... Potatoes are not on the 'Auto Immune Protocol', which I haven't looked in to the rationale behind unfortunately and I am completely out of my field of expertise. They are categorized as nightshades, like tomatoes. As you can see above, some lists claim potatoes are high in histamine. I think that new or green potatoes contain (glyco)alkaloids and that the 'eyes' are also not to be eaten. Sweet potato is said to be fine.
    - inter_netuser 5y ago
      Are you sure? It has a 0 next to it in that pdf, which is supposed to be low?
      - eliasmacpherson 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

CapitalistCartr 5y ago

In the past few years the acidity in tomatoes has started disagreeing with me. I used to love them, but I'm getting old.

surge 5y ago
there are a few low acid tomato varieties that are still flavorful. Keep your eye out for them, they tend to be less red (or yellow/orangish).

mpol 5y ago

I seem to be allergic in the context of histamine. Not as much as oranges, which can make me sneeze for the rest of the day. Using hay fever pills makes this reaction go away. I do enjoy tomatoes very much and eat them often though.

mpol 5y ago
Some more info is in an article of mine. I do need to update it, because I am using a low dose of antispychotics again. https://timelord.nl/gezondheid/biologische-hefbomen.html?lang=en https://timelord.nl/gezondheid/biologische-hefbomen.html?lan... Histamine apparently caused a lot of itching, which I always took for normal. Using antihistamine tablets make me stop pulling my eyebrows. I did not write that in the blogpost, there a small bit of shame involved.
- eliasmacpherson 5y ago
  Now we're talking, you've correctly surmised what I was digging for. Thanks for sharing your article, I'll have a read through it. Here's some pseudoscience, you may also find the parent comment that it is in reply to interesting. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27993001 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27993001
  - mpol 5y ago
    Thank you, seems interesting. Down into a rabbit hole again :)
    - inter_netuser 5y ago
      Look up MCAS and the more severe form of mast cell disease, mastocytosis, and their neuropsychological consequences.

tristor 5y ago

I can't eat tomatoes, but not due to allergy or intolerance, but rather because they're the primary trigger for my somewhat severe acid reflux. Eating something that contains tomatoes guarantees a reflux episode, even under medication, and without medication will likely lead to a trip to urgent care. It's unfortunate because I really like tomatoes. I grew up on a farm, and as a child really enjoyed a fresh ripe tomato sliced thin with the slices topped with salt and pepper, or eating thin slices of tomatoes with ham on fresh baked bread. Truly heavenly. Unfortunately also something I can never have again as long as I live.

rockzom 5y ago
Crazy suggestion, but have you ever tried eating for the taste without swallowing?
- jrootabega 5y ago
  That IS a crazy and fascinating idea. It also sounds like an eternal punishment in Hades. I will try it later. I don't think it will work, though, because a lot of the taste of food happens during the swallow - whatever happens on the back of the tongue + aromatics getting pushed up into your nose.
- tristor 5y ago
  No. Why would I want to do that? There are many many many wonderful foods that exist in the world that don't contain tomatoes, and many recipes which contain tomatoes can be easily modified. I'm a foodie, so I don't eat just for sustenance but also for enjoyment and appreciation, so losing something as core to cuisine as tomatoes is hard, but not impossible to overcome.
  - tedunangst 5y ago
    Well, if you eat for enjoyment and appreciation, then there's no need to swallow for sustenance. There's always a spit bucket in the wine tasting room.
- 5y ago

Panoramix 5y ago

I'm allergic to some specific varieties. As in full panic, my throat is closing. Independently (or maybe not?) from that I get an insane acid reflux after eating any kind of tomato. I don't get that with other acidic foods. The pain gets so crazy I've considered calling the hospital because I thought I was going to die. Obviously I don't eat them anymore.

freeflight 5y ago

I'm in this weird grey zone were I mostly don't mind tomato taste and I'm not allergic to them, but it's the texture of the fruit, particularly raw, that will illicit a gag response. That's why for example I don't mind the tomato sauce on pizza, but put whole slices of it on a burger and I will remove them before I eat it.

bombela 5y ago
I am willing to bet that you never had a good tomato. A good ripe tomato is impossible to transport. So what we get in the store is full of water with this weirdly mushy texture. Feels like the tomato is stealing all other flavors in your mouth. But a tomato from a home garden. That's a totally different experience.

squarefoot 5y ago

I have some problems digesting tomatoes (moderate acid reflux), although this happens when eating a lot of them and uncooked (no probs at all with cooked juice, pizzas etc.). But being an Italian that's not an uncommon problem. However eating them among other things helps a lot, as does taking enough time to digest them before taking a nap or sleeping. For that matter I tend to avoid them at dinner unless I'm sure I won't go to bed for some hours. Moderate cooking significantly reduces the effects too: I never experienced any side effects by making my pizza with finely sliced green tomato, tuna, onion and mozzarella.

inter_netuser 5y ago

It’s very common, acid reflux after Italian food that’s loaded with tomatoes is basically almost expected culturally? Tomatoes contain a lot of histamine, and can trigger mast cell degranulation, which I think should offer at least some explanation why acid reflux with tomatoes is so common. Typically reflux isn’t seen as a sign of intolerance or allergies, but seems that’s actually a sign of mild intolerance and mast stabilizers actually work better than antacids in many people. There are people who say that all nightshades are “bad”, but I never heard anyone complain about potatoes in the same way. I’m not sure these are true allergies, although those are probably possible. Some allergies that are very common in Europe (peach allergy/LTP syndrome) seem very rare in the US, and vice versa with peanuts. In case of an LTP allergy, or fruit-vegetable allergy syndrome, you could trivially have people cross-react to tomatoes because LTP proteins are ubiquitous across species. From my research into inflammation the only solid take away I had is that not a single person in the world truly understand what allergy is, and what to do with, except for rather crude tools like epinephrine and antihistamines. Even food allergy desensitization with Xolair barely works and mostly fails, and that’s the best we can come up with after 70 years of research.

rubatuga 5y ago
You forgot steroids and mabs such as Omalizumab.
- inter_netuser 5y ago
  Xolair is omalizumab. it is however a very specific mab, an anti-IgE, not many others are helpful. If we gonna go down this route, some drs rx gleevec/imatinib, and some people self-medicate with veterinary drug masitinib, which failed human trials due to liver issues but otherwise was very helpful.
  - csunbird 5y ago
    Is imatinib/gleevec used as an anti-reflux medicine as well? Isn’t that a cancer drug?

kgeist 5y ago

>Would be interested to hear anything from people who have experienced a food allergy or intolerance towards tomatoes, something the NHS seems very skeptical on. For me, it's itchy around the lips, but no more than that.

inter_netuser 5y ago
That could be oral allergy syndrome. Are you allergy to pollen/dust or other foods?
catlikesshrimp 5y ago
Aren't you afraid of a full blown anaphilactic reaction? I was taught to pay attention to those mild reactions as red flags

colechristensen 5y ago

I don’t have any reactions beyond taste, but raw tomatoes, especially high quality ones, taste… poisonous to me. Not in an “i don’t like this” way, but a nearly uncontrollable gag reflex way. If you offered me $1000 to eat a ripe tomato off the vine, I’m not sure i could do it.