It all started when I was in high school. Well, it probably started before then, but this was when I began to notice. One of my good friends had been claiming that he knew how to make the best ever guacamole - so one day after school, he came over and whipped up a batch to prove it. And oh, was it good. We sat and devoured the bowl with tortilla chips (my favorite salty snack to this day), and then I had to run off to babysit. All was fine and dandy until an hour later, when I was laying on the couch with severe stomach pains and nausea. Luckily the two-year-old boy was easily entertained by the TV, and did not realize his caretaker at that moment was incapable of doing mostly everything. I figured I was just having a bad (really bad) stomachache, which was not out of the normal for me. A few hours later I was feeling a bit better, so I never made the connection between eating the avocado and how I felt afterward.
Fast forward to a year later: I was in Aruba with my family (our home away from home), and decided to order fish tacos for lunch. These tacos came with a dollop of guacamole on top, which sounded scrumptious as I hadn't yet pinpointed that avocado was a source of pain. I happily devoured these tacos, unaware of what was to come. An hour later - like clockwork - my stomach had that same awful feeling I had while babysitting. This was the moment when I made the connection - all of the sudden, it was as if everything clicked. I recounted the times I had guac at Mexican restaurants and had this same kind of stomachache. This stomach pain was very specific and strong; it felt as if I was being stabbed with knives in my upper/middle stomach, very nauseated, and oftentimes my face would become flushed. These sensations were unbearable for about an hour then would slowly start to pass. I was bummed to have missed out on that day in Aruba, but glad to have figured out what was causing me pain. I swore off eating avocado that very day and have not touched it since.
The story doesn't start and end with avocado - I also thought I had an intolerance to banana. As you can imagine, for a smoothie-loving, healthy dessert obsessed girl, this one was a little hard to work around. I remember spending many nights googling how to make smoothies sweet and thick without banana (this was before low-sugar cauliflower smoothies became popular), and always felt like I was missing out not being able to whip up some nana ice cream. The moment I "realized" I was allergic to banana was during a spring break trip in Mexico my senior year of college. We were staying at an all-inclusive resort, and one morning for breakfast I filled my plate with plantains. An hour later (seeing a trend in my digestion patterns here?), that same pain I had after eating avocado came back at full-force. And this time, it lasted days. I was so upset that I had to spend the majority of my spring break in a hotel room with minimal air flow/air conditioning, alone and miserable. Looking back, this could have been food poisoning, but for some reason I blamed the plantains. I tried to think of other times bananas hurt my stomach and recounted a few times that smoothies with bananas did not agree with me. So just like that - bananas were no longer part of my life, and I mourned the loss of never having a piece of my mom's warm chocolate banana bread again.
I've always had a pretty sensitive stomach, so throughout the years there were many foods that triggered that same specific feeling I had from eating avocado. I never thought to ask a doctor for a food allergy test, but I probably should have. I've been to countless gastroenterologists and have had far too many endoscopies and colonoscopies for a healthy girl my age. None of these doctors or tests gave me answers - the only "solutions" I received were prescription medications that made me feel 100x worse. I'm sure many people can relate to feeling frustrated with western medicine and the lack of any sort of holistic approach to healing.
This past January, I decided to take matters into my own hands and finally figure out the foods causing me distress. My digestive system had been feeling particularly bad, and foods that normally wouldn't give me a reaction (i.e. almond butter) suddenly sent my stomach into spirals. This could have been partly due to the overindulgence in foods I usually don't eat during the entire month of December (Christmas cookies, cheese platters + birthday cake... need I say more?), but regardless, I wanted to know what foods to avoid to feel good. It was around this time that the Pinnertest was popping up all over Instagram, and I was intrigued. I am in no way an expert on food intolerance tests, but I did some research and decided to go for it.
My Pinnertest kit came in the mail within a week and I was so eager (but also nervous!) to take the test and receive my results. In order to collect the blood drops necessary for the test, you have to prick your finger with this tiny needle that is provided in the kit. The hardest part was this step - I think I held the pin to my finger for about 10 minutes before I was able to push it. Self-inflicted harm felt so wrong, even for just a couple drops of blood for medical purposes. Once I finally pushed and collected the blood, I placed everything back into the provided envelope and dropped the test in the mail that day. I liked that Pinnertest made the whole process so easy - everything was clearly labeled, all items were provided, and the envelope to send the test back was already addressed and paid for.
A week later, I received my results via email. Here's what the test told me I was intolerant to, and the degree of intolerance (+1 low, +2 medium, +3 high):
- Avocado +3
- Pinto Bean +3
- Tomato +2
- Cucumber +2
- Cherry +2
I knew this test was legit when I saw avocado in the red (avoid) column at the top of the list. I told myself before I sent in the test that if avocado didn't show up as an intolerance, I would have to second guess the results and the test as a whole. So it was reassuring to know that avocado showed up as a high intolerance! Moving onto pinto beans - this was a weird one to find out. I usually eat black or red beans, so I knew this wouldn't change my life too much. But as I learned the hard way this year in Aruba, hummus can be made with pinto beans. I was experiencing stomach pains after eating the hummus at the hotel for a couple of days, and as soon as I made the connection that they may have made this hummus with pinto beans, I stopped, and the pains went away. Tomatoes - I sort of saw this one coming. I had been avoiding tomatoes (specifically tomato sauce) for a while now, as my stomach did seem to feel upset and acidy after eating anything tomato-based. I never considered it could be an intolerance, but knowing this information has definitely stopped me from pushing aside my acid concern and digging in to the salsa at Mexican restaurants. The last two - cucumber and cherry - were a bit of a shocker to me. I never would have thought that cucumber could be causing me issues (I didn't eat it often, but it came in many of the salads I bought for lunch). And prior to the test results, one of my favorite nighttime snacks was frozen cherries. It could be that I fed my body too many cherries and it became intolerant from that, but needless to say, you won't find me on my couch devouring bags of these anymore.
I can't say that my life has changed since the Pinnertest. It has been helpful to know what specific food items do not agree with my body, but I haven't had an experience where all of my pain and bloat and discomfort miraculously disappeared as soon as I removed these foods from my life. I am happy I took the test and would absolutely recommend this to anyone, but I do take everything with a grain of salt and know that our bodies are constantly evolving. The best food intolerance test is to just truly listen to your body. Take note on how you feel after eating certain foods, and start to recognize patterns. My body was smart enough to tell me to avoid avocado and tomato, and if I actually listened and recorded more closely, I may not have missed out on bananas for so long. Listen to those cues - if something makes you feel awful, avoid it! You can also try an elimination diet such as the Clean Program, and slowly introduce common allergen foods back into your diet and recognize how those foods make you feel. I personally have never done an elimination diet, but is something I would consider doing in the future.
All in all - food intolerances can be a pain, and it is sad that the yummiest avocado toast from my trendy neighborhood cafe is something I will never experience. But I like to take this as a strong positive reminder that we are all different, and all of our bodies have different needs. I'm lucky that my body can digest most foods and nutrients, and that it is intelligent enough to tell me what to avoid to function at its best. If you are reading this, you are lucky too that your body is functioning and your mind is working. Use these tools that you were born with to figure out how to feel and be the best version of yourself. Your body and mind will thank you, and I'm here for support the entire way :)
xx