Food allergies are serious business and can sometimes even threaten a person's life. It's estimated that 11% of American adults have at least one food allergy, and that's 27 million people. However, some people might not realize just how serious having a food allergy can be.
This woman, for example, claimed to have a mushroom allergy when she saw her sister-in-law sautéing mushrooms for the Thanksgiving turkey stuffing. But her statement seemed peculiar, since she had never had the allergy before and had eaten the same mushroom stuffing every year. After the sister-in-law laughed in her face, family drama ensued. So, the cook started wondering if her reaction was too harsh.
A woman prepared her usual turkey stuffing for a Thanksgiving meal, but her SIL claimed she was allergic to one ingredient
Image credits: Freepik (not the actual photo)
This fact puzzled the host, since every year before, the SIL had eaten the stuffing with no issues
Image credits: karlyukav/Freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: recalcitrant_scribe
Food allergies are life-threatening, while intolerances or preferences only cause discomfort
Image credits: shattha pilabut/Pexels (not the actual photo)
People don't eat certain products or ingredients for a variety of reasons. Some might dislike the texture or the taste; others, like vegetarians or vegans, don't eat some products because of ethical reasons. But having allergies is much more serious than just a simple preference or intolerance.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a food allergy causes the body's immune system to react, and the symptoms can be life-threatening. A food intolerance, for example, would only cause digestive issues like gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
However, some people treat their food intolerances or dislikes as seriously as allergies. They might go so far as to believe they have a food allergy when they, in fact, do not have one. In 2019, researchers found that half of Americans who think they have or claim to have a food allergy actually don't have one.
In their study, the researchers estimated that 10.8% of the respondents were allergic to at least one food. However, a whopping 19% believed they had a food allergy. The lead researcher of the study, Ruchi Gupta, who is also a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University, urges people to actually get tested.
"There are so many adults out there who have a negative reaction to a food. It is really important to get a proper diagnosis so that they can really know if this is something treatable, like lactose intolerance, or if this is a life-threatening food allergy that they need to be very careful with."
Cibophobia is the fear of a certain food and can develop after we learn something negative about the said food
Image credits: Engin Akyurt/Pexels (not the actual photo)
In the update, the Thanksgiving host revealed that her sister-in-law might have a phobia of mushrooms. This could explain why she freaked out after seeing mushrooms in her food despite having eaten them previously without knowing they were there.
There are several food phobia disorders. Cibophobia is when a person has an irrational fear of a certain food. In some cases, people with cibophobia only eat a few foods, which can cause malnutrition. In other cases, they can't eat meals that have been prepared by someone else, have unfamiliar ingredients, or are perishable. Cibophobia is not an eating disorder, yet it can go hand in hand with some EDs.
How do some people develop cibophobia in the first place? For some, it might be similar to the sister-in-law in this story. They might read about the negative impacts of a certain food in the news, see it on social media, or hear it in a conversation with friends.
Other times, they might have had a traumatic experience in the past. I, for example, started to dislike coffee after it made me violently ill one time while pulling an all-nighter in college. For other adults, cibophobia forms as they observe the eating behaviors of others in childhood. Let's say your mother or father had a fear of a certain food; it's likely that you're going to develop it as well.
However, there might be some biological factors behind cibophobia, too. Genetics and other biological factors may be behind our developing certain phobias. Still, too much is unknown for us to be able to say for certain that cibophobia can be genetic, but changes in brain chemistry might lead to us developing food phobias.
The fact that the SIL had developed the allergy so suddenly puzzled the cook: "She's never claimed any reaction to the stuffing"
Later, the brother gave an interesting explanation for his wife's "allergies."
Image credits: Pixabay/Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: recalcitrant_scribe
Exhausted by family or in-law drama like this one? Visit our Family Dynamics Hub for expert-backed guides on toxic relatives, parenting styles, and personal boundaries.