My chocolate allergy

[Buttercup]

Yep, I'm allergic to chocolate. Since about 1996. The mildest reaction is depression; the worst is aggitation and feeling mean. So of course I don't eat much of it to avoid the worst! :silenced:

But it seems the allergy is getting worse with time. :eh: Wednesday I ate maybe 20 double-dipped chocolate covered peanuts; the next day I was depressed and cried a bit.

I can still eat a bit of chocolate if it lightly enrobes something, such as a miniature-sized Snickers bar. But a heavy/concentrated chocolate such as double-dipped peanuts "gets me" rather fast these days. :hand:

That's milk and dark chocolate. White chocolate has no affect on me (yet).

Who else here has a chocolate allergy?

[Swift]

My mom had a chocolate allergy as a child (I don't know what it did to her), which she out grew.

Changes in allergies over time seems quite common. I'm not allergic to any foods, but my pollen allergies have gotten worse over time, not only in how I react to them, but also a growing number of pollen types I'm sensitive to.

White chocolate is a very different substance than the other ones, so I'm not surprised you react differently.

My wife gets slightly cranky/aggitated from chocolate; she has the same reaction from caffeine, and she thinks that her chocolate reaction might be from the small amounts of caffeine in chocolates.

[Buttercup]

My wife gets slightly cranky/aggitated from chocolate; she has the same reaction from caffeine, and she thinks that her chocolate reaction might be from the small amounts of caffeine in chocolates.

I get that reaction too, to a couple of cups of brewed coffee. However, instant coffee doesn't bother me at all. :think:

[MAPNUT]

Chocolate is so versatile. For me it's not an allergy, but it's a trigger for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. You don't want to know any more about that.

[Buttercup]

Aw c'mon -- let's hear about your IBS! Tell us ALL about it in STARK detail!

/joking ;-)

[grant hutchison]

Good news!
You're not allergic to chocolate.
Allergies involve blotchy rashes, wheezing, fast heart rate, low blood pressure, airway swelling, death. Stuff like that.

I say "good news" not in order to belittle the symptoms you report, but to point out that you're not at risk of sudden death from an unsuspected ingredient in something you eat.

Grant Hutchison

[rommel543]

My only reaction to chocolate is that I want more and I grow in the mid section.

Alcohol on the other hand... one drink and I get a headache. Beer and wine are the worst, but I've been finding hard alcohol is affecting me the same as well. So far the only thing that doesn't is tequila (unless I drink a lot more than one drink..then the headache doesn't come until the next morning).

I also have been finding that refined sugars give me severe acid indigestion.

[Buttercup]

Hi Grant. Hmmmm. Well, let's say it's an "adverse reaction"? Definitely a reaction. I fondly recall the days when I could munch/savor a regular-sized Hershey bar with almonds. :) Am craving milk chocolate right now, but daren't...

[Gandalf223]

The mildest reaction is depression; the worst is aggitation and feeling mean. So of course I don't eat much of it to avoid the worst! :silenced:

Those don't sound like symptoms of an allergy. More like an addiction! You get depressed AFTER you've eaten chocolate, not WHILE eating it, so just don't stop! Then your body won't display symptoms of withdrawal...

I know I'd sure get depressed if I couldn't eat chocolate....

[TheOncomingStorm]

I live in chocolate central. Not only do we have Canada's oldest candy company we also have chocolate museum and a chocolate festival every year. I know at leat one year they made entire meal out of chocolate.

[Buttercup]

Gandalf223: Those don't sound like symptoms of an allergy. More like an addiction! You get depressed AFTER you've eaten chocolate, not WHILE eating it, so just don't stop! Then your body won't display symptoms of withdrawal...

:confused: I never thought of it that way before. Maybe you're right. :eh: But actually I'm a bit afraid to try.

[KaiYeves]

I have no physical problems with eating chocolate, only a rather nasty mental association stemming from an incident a few years ago when I was sick and had to take very nasty-tasting pills. My mother gave me chocolate bars with the pills, hoping it would hide the taste.

It didn't.

I still tasted the pills in all their yuckiness overpowering the chocolate. Now I can't eat it, because I remember the taste of the pills as soon as I taste the chocolate.

But as this is rather beneficial to my health, I have no wish to overcome the adverse memory.

[rommel543]

My ex-wife used to eat ice cream when she was depressed. Then she got depressed because she ate so much ice cream. Then because she was depressed she ate more ice cream. It was a nasty cycle. I actually threw out more of it than I care to admit. Running hot water dissolves a gallon pretty quick.

[Buttercup]

Interesting anecdotes, Kai and rommel.

Any particular flavor of ice cream? Or any would do?

[R.A.F.]

I don't know which is worse...that Buttercup can't eat chocolate, (my deepest sympathies) or the idea of ice cream "going down the drain".

...and since I'm on the subject, my favorite ice cream is Thrifty's (now Rite Aid's) Chocolate Malted Crunch. I love that stuff.

[chrissy]

My ex-husband used to get severe migraines from eating chocolate and no I didn't beat his head 'cos he stole my secret stash :hand:

Just wondering Buttercup, have you tried eating the chocolate without the nuts?

[kleindoofy]

Yep, I'm allergic to chocolate. Since about 1996. ...
Are you sure you don't mean the end of October 2009?

That's when this was posted:


...because I'm allergic to chocolate ...

But a few days before that, this was posted, referring to Reese's "PB" cups:


... They are a favorite candy since I can recall. ...

And before that:


A local bakery is making chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. I bought a box (8 cookies per) and they are delicious. I was very skeptical about pairing chocolate chips with a pumpkin cookie, and there's quite a few chips in each. ...


... now I'm mixing General Foods International Coffee ... A bit more "experimenting" by adding Hershey's chocolate syrup finally did the trick. .


Tonight's dinner: ... chocolate cake ...

I'm confused. :confused:

Usually when somebody is allergic to something, they stay as far away from it as possible.

[Buttercup]

Um...I think I've mentioned I can have a bit of chocolate (see earlier in this thread).

Wow, this sort of freaks me out that people are keeping tabs on each other like this? :eh:

There's no contradiction here. I can have a bit of chocolate...just not A LOT as I'd like; as in 10 ounces in a single setting! :lol:

[Buttercup]

Chrissy:
Just wondering Buttercup, have you tried eating the chocolate without the nuts?

Yes, but then I do prefer nuts in chocolate. Mostly it's the condensed/heavy bar type chocolate which produces the reactions. I can eat (sparingly) chocolate-enrobed items (nougat, peanut butter). Chocolate cake (with a non-chocolate frosting) and chocolate pudding (American style) aren't much of a bother.

I remember being able to eat chunks of solid-bar chocolate (usually with peanuts or almonds), washed down with a bit of milk. Those days are gone forever apparently. :(

[Nick Theodorakis]

Sounds like a case of "the dose makes the poison." Chocolate does contain several pharmacologically active compounds, most notably methyl-xanthines such as caffeine and theobromine. It also has phenethylamine, which is neurologically active, although it supposed to be metabolized by a monoamine oxidase. I suppose it someone has a type of MOA that is poorly active, or else is taking a MOA inhibitor, it might have a greater effect.

Nick

[jja]

My father ate some chocolate chip cookies while undergoing chemotherapy. This somehow gave him an extreme revulsion to them, to the point where he's uncomfortable if you even mention them in conversation.

[rommel543]

Interesting anecdotes, Kai and rommel.

Any particular flavor of ice cream? Or any would do?

Pretty much any ice cream. Although when we had the money she would buy stuff like rocky road, brownie chunk, etc.

[rommel543]

I'm confused. :confused:

Usually when somebody is allergic to something, they stay as far away from it as possible.

My mother has an allergy to citric fruits (oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, etc). If she has more than half a grapefruit or more than one orange she breaks out into hives and has had breathing problems (she also has allergies to penicillin which apparently the two allergies go hand in hand). The thing is she LOVES grapefruit and will say screw it once in awhile and have 1/2 of one and she pays for it with a rash for a few days.

A family friend has recently discovered that he is allergic to beef and dairy products, but he loves cheese, steak, etc. His reactions are similar to lactose intolerance but he's been tested for that and it comes up negative. The reactions occur with ANY type of beef products. Again, he will put up with the reaction and have a good bbq'd steak during the summer or have something with cheese on it.

[rommel543]

Chrissy:

Yes, but then I do prefer nuts in chocolate. Mostly it's the condensed/heavy bar type chocolate which produces the reactions. I can eat (sparingly) chocolate-enrobed items (nougat, peanut butter). Chocolate cake (with a non-chocolate frosting) and chocolate pudding (American style) aren't much of a bother.

I remember being able to eat chunks of solid-bar chocolate (usually with peanuts or almonds), washed down with a bit of milk. Those days are gone forever apparently. :(

The thing is a lot of chocolate cake (not the icing), store bought chocolate pudding, etc don't have a lot of real chocolate in them. Just enough to give them the flavor. Even most chocolate bars are slowly getting less real chocolate in them and putting more confectioners wax and other filler.

Have you tried REAL chocolate, like the 70% or 80% dark chocolate?

[rommel543]

Hmm interesting reading:

http://www.xocoatl.org/caffeine.htm

There are several minor psycoactive chemicals in Chocolate as well as Theobromine: Phenylethylamine, Theophylline, Tele-methylhistamine Phenyethylamine, affects mood swings by causing an initial emotional high then a short time later an emotional low. It causes blood pressure and blood-sugar levels to rise, resulting in a feeling of alertness and contentment.

http://mental-health.families.com/blog/chocolate-may-make-your-depression-worse

While there is a temporary relief in depression for the second group of chocoholics, the net result was a worsening of the original depression. While consuming certain foods does have a known mood-stabilizing effect on the brain, foods high in sugar, such as chocolate, appear to have a rebound effect, and may well deepen depression over time in susceptible people.