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Does Anyone Else Get Sick From Eating Bananas?

Kim69
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Kim69 Apprentice
Kim69
Posted

I see lots of people can eat bananas where they have sensitivities to other foods. And comments that bananas are easy to digest. If I eat a banana I get crippling stomach pain and usually vomit. I can eat banana cake just fine.

I am wondering if anyone has the same experience or has an idea of why. It might help me work out what other foods I need to avoid. I am suspecting tomatoes and potatoes and perhaps gluten-free pasta so far.

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txplowgirl Enthusiast
txplowgirl
Posted

Hi Kim, I have always had a problem with bananas. Had the same symptoms as you. Never could understand why, but it looks like it might have been fructose malabsorption. Check that out. I finally am able to eat bananas without getting sick after being gluten free for 2 years.

Tomatoes and potatoes are from the nightshade family. The nightshade vegetables has toxins in them that make people sick. Potatoes, tomatoes, all bell peppers, eggplant, okra, etc. The nightshades will cause bone, joint pain as well as swelling.

Good luck.

srall Contributor
srall
Posted

I knew bananas were a big problem even before I figured out the gluten/dairy/corn/soy puzzle. I don't know why. I too assume it's the fructose. They make me so nauseous that I really don't care if I get them back or not.

ohsotired Enthusiast
ohsotired
Posted

I have (had?) problems with bananas too. Not crippling stomach pain, but a serious belly ache that makes me nauseous and thinking I'd feel better if I just threw up (TMI sorry).

I can eat them baked in things or fried with no problems.

I kind of wonder if this problem may have been fixed after almost 3 years of being gluten free. I haven't been brave enough to try.

Molly R Newbie
Molly R
Posted

Ditto. I also tolerate bananas much better now, if they are cooked. Just an unscientific theory, but maybe I'm much more careful now and that's why they agree with me lately.

I say that because, since going gluten free I have become ultra careful to be sure that food is not only free of my personal offenders & cross contamination, but also free of bacteria. I have morphed into a mad food washer. A little gross that I honestly never thought to before, but now I scrub the crap outside of bananas before eating, and rinse thoroughly. And I seem to do so much better with them now.

When you slice into a banana that has not been washed properly, and then using the same dirty hands to take it out of the peel, you really contaminate it. And even if the banana is organic, it has to be picked and processed by someone who could certainly have dirty hands, then it sits in sun with flys in a truck somewhere, open to other possibly harmful contaminates I don't even want to ponder. So maybe the cooking is killing the contaminates.

Not sure, like I said, just a theory.

Terri O Rookie
Terri O
Posted

I never thought about this but I never cared for bananas. I ate maybe one a year. Now that I am gluten-free I have probably eaten more of them in a month than in my whole life! Thinking of them doesnt make me feel ill any more...and now I can eat apples too! Weird! Terri O

cassP Contributor
cassP
Posted

I see lots of people can eat bananas where they have sensitivities to other foods. And comments that bananas are easy to digest. If I eat a banana I get crippling stomach pain and usually vomit. I can eat banana cake just fine.

I am wondering if anyone has the same experience or has an idea of why. It might help me work out what other foods I need to avoid. I am suspecting tomatoes and potatoes and perhaps gluten-free pasta so far.

yes- i do- and im not so sure it has to do with the fructose malabsorption thing. just my own theory really.

if i eat a banana BY ITSELF- i will get hot & nauseous- and reflux- and almost IMMEDIATE "RUN TO THE BATHROOM" and vomit feeling- it is awful- i discovered this in my early 20s- way before i knew anything about wheat or gluten,etc.

**this also happens for me with: hot green tea, any white tea, & purple onions. seriously. i THOUGHT that maybe i got like this with green tea- because it dropped my blood pressure too quick.. but i think i just personally have an adverse reaction to these few things- the vomiting can be so immediate & violent.

so- ya- i found out YEARS AGO that i COULD eat a banana- as long as i ate it with something- almond buter, toast, ice cream- anything- and i'll be okay.

in this recent year- with all the pain i was getting from pears- i realized i have a fructose problem- and since then to be on the safe side- i only eat 1/2 a banana at a time- and pretty ripe. the pain i get from fructose is worse than gluten & pretty debhilitating- not nausea at all.

but lately- even the 1/2 of banana WITH something is kind of turning my stomach- ?? i dont know if im getting an ulcer or something??

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gf-soph Apprentice
gf-soph
Posted

There's 2 possibilities that I can think of, other than a simple banana intolerance.

Bananas contain a type of amine that people can be sensitive to. Amines are found in most meats (especially cured), cheese (especially matured or ripened), chocolate, and bananas. I can't remember all the amine sources all at the moment, look in to the RPA elimination diet or failsafe diet for more info. It's possible to be sensitive to only one type of amine, so you may have a particular sensitivity to the type in bananas. Amines in bananas increase as the fruit ripen, so if you are more sensitive to ripe or overripe bananas it may be of interest.

Fructose is a potential problem too. The fructose content decreases in bananas as they ripen, so if you had a problem with fructose you may notice your reactions are worse with under ripe or just ripe bananas. Many people with fructose problems can reduce their symptoms by adding some glucose to the banana. It has to be glucose as it assists with the absorption of excess fructose. Regular sugar doesn't help, as it is half glucose and half fructose already. I eat my bananas perfectly yellow - definitely no green, but no significant browning or bruising. I often freeze them in half banana portions to get the ripeness just right.

At the moment I am a bit sensitive to bananas, so I limit them to half a day and always eat them with about a tea spoon of powdered glucose. I tolerate them pretty ok this way. If I don't have glucose with them I get some itching, but I never itch with the glucose.

Hope that makes some sense!

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

That makes sense about the amine increasing in ripe bananas. I hate ripe bananas. I love them slightly greenish or all yellow, but any brown spots and I wanna throw them away. They make me feel overly full and unwell. I think they are supposed to be good for you for the potassium, but they make me sick. Starch? Sugar? I don't know. But I don't eat them anymore.

Kim69 Apprentice
Kim69
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for all your replies! I am not game to eat one. It's kind've nice to know I am not alone.

jstwnttbhealthy Newbie
jstwnttbhealthy
Posted

i do get a delayed reaction of abdominal pain/cramping when i eat them - and i love bananas! i've read that they can cross react with ragweed which i'm allergic to. i'm hoping that someday i will be able to eat them again.

frieze Community Regular
frieze
Posted

?enzymes

also, there may be cross reactivity with

kiwi.

Racer-J Newbie
Racer-J
Posted

Hi Kim, I have always had a problem with bananas. Had the same symptoms as you. Never could understand why, but it looks like it might have been fructose malabsorption. Check that out. I finally am able to eat bananas without getting sick after being gluten free for 2 years.

Most of the FODMAP lists I have looked at have bananas listed as safe as long as they are ripe (covered in brown spots with no green at the tips). This was something I recently looked into as I thought I might be having a fructose issue being the avocados have started giving my an itchy throat that almost feels like it wants to swell. I have also been having issues with other items high in fructose. However, I don't have an issue with apples or honey which are incredibly high in fructose and are at the top of a don't eat list when it comes to FODMAP so I'm pretty sure there is another issue at play.

That makes sense about the amine increasing in ripe bananas. I hate ripe bananas. I love them slightly greenish or all yellow, but any brown spots and I wanna throw them away. They make me feel overly full and unwell. I think they are supposed to be good for you for the potassium, but they make me sick. Starch? Sugar? I don't know. But I don't eat them anymore.

The way I understand it, unripe bananas (any banana that isn't covered in brown spots and has no green at the tips) will be high in starch which is why they are not allowed on SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) and other similar diets. Once they fully ripen (covered in brown spots with no green at the tips) all the starch has converted to sugar and so they are allowed on the SCD and similar diets.

Personally, I like mine a little unripe but that is because I cut out any and all added sugar 2-3 years ago so they are just to sweet for me. That's really the result of bananas being selectively bred for decades though to be sweeter and sweeter due to all the increased sugar in the typical processed food filled diet. However, slightly unripe bananas have started leaving me pretty gassy and by gassy I mean is there a toxic gas leak gassy. I now eat them only fully ripened and I just deal with the sweetness and potential food cravings the sugar may or may not trigger.

For whatever reason at the end of the day, some people don't do well with bananas even if they aren't eating a lot of them. I seem to recall reading something that said avocado and banana allergies are actually somewhat "common". However, they aren't top eight allergen common. I think quite a few people that try a "fruititarian" diet wind up realizing they don't do well with bananas but, I think the banana consumption on that type of the diet would be considered absurdly high. To be fair most people will think the 46.82 lbs of bananas I eat a month might seem absurdly high as well but, I eat other stuff and that is the only fruit in my diet. It's probably that level of banana ingestion that has me unable to handle "unripe" bananas lol . . .

mushroom Proficient
mushroom
Posted

OMG, the very thought of a pound and half of RIPE bananas a day makes me want to barf :P I am definitely in the no-brown-spots camp when it comes to bananas. The only exception I make is for banana bread, where it doesn't really count anyway. Even the texture of a ripe banana, let alone the sweetness, gets to me. Of course I am a big avocado eater and again, on the slightly firmer side. I must be a starch junky, not a sugar one, although I do like my chocolate, but I think it's the cocoa butter, not the sugar :o

Racer-J Newbie
Racer-J
Posted

OMG, the very thought of a pound and half of RIPE bananas a day makes me want to barf :P I am definitely in the no-brown-spots camp when it comes to bananas. The only exception I make is for banana bread, where it doesn't really count anyway. Even the texture of a ripe banana, let alone the sweetness, gets to me. Of course I am a big avocado eater and again, on the slightly firmer side. I must be a starch junky, not a sugar one, although I do like my chocolate, but I think it's the cocoa butter, not the sugar :o

My father feels the same way you do about bananas. I told him how many of them I have been eating and I could hear him cringing over the phone as he said he could only eat two bananas a day if that lol. It's definitely "different" eating so many bananas in one day and it certainly isn't for everyone. I'm not always looking forward to one but, it's not anything I have to force myself to eat either. I think most people tend to be starch junkies rather than sugar ones. I know a lot of people have a sweet tooth (which believe or not I don't) but, starches fill you up longer than sugar does and I feel that leads to a subconscious urge to consume starch over sugar in some people. Thankfully, I don't really miss starch but I do mis the taste and texture of steel cut oats and brown rice. I don't do well with any grains, pseudo-grains, or groats though so that's life.

I have tried "firmer" avocados in the past albeit unintentionally. I didn't really care for them that way but when I say "firmer" I mean pretty firm. It just had an off taste but the texture was rather interesting. When I could eat them though, I preferred them to be ripe enough to where the "meat" would fall out after you cut the avocado in half and scored the "meat". That will probably make it sound like I ate them overripe but, there was no discoloration in the "meat" and it wasn't mushy. It did easily mash up with a fork though. It is almost impossible to get them to that level of ripeness. Then again, I didn't have a lot of practice with them before they started to make my throat itch and feel like it was going to swell leading to me bidding them a fond farewell.

  • 2 weeks later...
tguy Newbie
tguy
Posted

I see lots of people can eat bananas where they have sensitivities to other foods. And comments that bananas are easy to digest. If I eat a banana I get crippling stomach pain and usually vomit. I can eat banana cake just fine.

I am wondering if anyone has the same experience or has an idea of why. It might help me work out what other foods I need to avoid. I am suspecting tomatoes and potatoes and perhaps gluten-free pasta so far.

I was jst wondering about this too, im not sure if they make me sick to my stomach bcause i havent even been gluten free for a month and well i felt like that all the time im slowly starting to feel better its been about 4-5 days gluten-free. however i was just peeling a banana and was thinking....i dont like these lol they've been hard for me to swallow ever since i was a little kid. i will ask my gastro as im seeing him in an hr or so. but the reason im wondering is they make me gag ever since toddler days, I eat them for the protein potassium and fiber nothing more.....bannana cakes and baked goods dont have that effect on my i love them, this is a weird topic im definately going to figure this out.....JUST SO I AM CLEAR THOUGH, BANANAS ARE GLUTEN-FREE RIGHT?

eatmeat4good Enthusiast
eatmeat4good
Posted

Yes, Bananas are completely gluten free.

There was a proponent of the banana diet for Celiac kids before they knew the real cause of the illness was gluten.

Celiac kids in those days were fed only bananas.

cassP Contributor
cassP
Posted

I was jst wondering about this too, im not sure if they make me sick to my stomach bcause i havent even been gluten free for a month and well i felt like that all the time im slowly starting to feel better its been about 4-5 days gluten-free. however i was just peeling a banana and was thinking....i dont like these lol they've been hard for me to swallow ever since i was a little kid. i will ask my gastro as im seeing him in an hr or so. but the reason im wondering is they make me gag ever since toddler days, I eat them for the protein potassium and fiber nothing more.....bannana cakes and baked goods dont have that effect on my i love them, this is a weird topic im definately going to figure this out.....JUST SO I AM CLEAR THOUGH, BANANAS ARE GLUTEN-FREE RIGHT?

omg YES bananas are gluten free!!!!!

and i totally relate- bananas in baked goods dont make me sick at all!!!

most of the times-as long as i eat the banana WITH SOMETHING... yogurt, almond butter, toast, im fine- but by itself- i could be throwing up

nerdolicious Rookie
nerdolicious
Posted

Bananas make me super sick too! I just get really nauseated for a few hours, definitely not as bad as getting glutened. It makes me sad since I love love love bananas and peanut butter together.

Karl Otto Explorer
Karl Otto
Posted

I see lots of people can eat bananas where they have sensitivities to other foods. And comments that bananas are easy to digest. If I eat a banana I get crippling stomach pain and usually vomit. I can eat banana cake just fine.

I am wondering if anyone has the same experience or has an idea of why. It might help me work out what other foods I need to avoid. I am suspecting tomatoes and potatoes and perhaps gluten-free pasta so far.

I have a problem with bananas and, I have had Celiac Disease for a very long time and, I have give up eating them all together. I have had Celiac Disease for decades after decades before it was discovered in me. I am 57 year old male. My youngest son, has been having problems eith them as well. It makes him sick if he eats more than one third of the bananas. Some mornings he cannot tolerate them at all. My small intestine have been really ruined by this disease. It will take me many, many years to heal if I ever do. I also have had Hypoinsulinism condition since birth which was not addressed until recently and, I am now dieing of all these condition. My choice of foods is very limited now days.

Kim69 Apprentice
Kim69
Posted
  • Author

Thanks for all the comments. Sad that so many of us can't eat bananas on top of everything else!

cassP Contributor
cassP
Posted

Bananas make me super sick too! I just get really nauseated for a few hours, definitely not as bad as getting glutened. It makes me sad since I love love love bananas and peanut butter together.

they even make u sick with the peanut butter???? cause if i eat some almond butter with mine or toast or whatever, im usually fine... it's if it's by itself am in trouble

  • 4 weeks later...
Boss'Wife Rookie
Boss'Wife
Posted

I just read all your posts, helpful information. Thank you , Just wish I would have read it before I ate the banana.. ugh......

I was just diagnosed with Celiacs this week so I am a newbie. My first shopping trip was a bust I am from a pretty small town our stores have very very limited Gluten free items.... I truly thought a banana would be good for me because it was fruit.. :huh:

Newtoitall Enthusiast
Newtoitall
Posted

Them thur nanners give me the angry stomach turned volcano >_>

So, Clearly Nanners are Evil.

  • 2 years later...
J.Podi Newbie
J.Podi
Posted

Ditto. I also tolerate bananas much better now, if they are cooked. Just an unscientific theory, but maybe I'm much more careful now and that's why they agree with me lately.

I say that because, since going gluten free I have become ultra careful to be sure that food is not only free of my personal offenders & cross contamination, but also free of bacteria. I have morphed into a mad food washer. A little gross that I honestly never thought to before, but now I scrub the crap outside of bananas before eating, and rinse thoroughly. And I seem to do so much better with them now.

When you slice into a banana that has not been washed properly, and then using the same dirty hands to take it out of the peel, you really contaminate it. And even if the banana is organic, it has to be picked and processed by someone who could certainly have dirty hands, then it sits in sun with flys in a truck somewhere, open to other possibly harmful contaminates I don't even want to ponder. So maybe the cooking is killing the contaminates.

Not sure, like I said, just a theory.

try looking at oral allergy syndrome, its about the pollen in some fruits and vegetables and how if you cook them this neutralises it somehow and makes them tolerable, i have the same issue with banannas and pineapple, and eggplant makes my tounge and esophogous itch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome

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First noticed in the gym. • Abdominal bulge on the right side, not painful but seems to be getting slightly bigger. Doctor didn’t find a hernia on ultrasound, but it was done lying down (I’ve read those can miss hernias). Noticed it like 6 months ago, couldve been there longer. • extremely dry and mildly swollen hands (this started before I started excessive hand-washing), and bloated face. • Signs of inattentive ADHD (noticed over the past 3 years), now combined with severe OCD focused on contamination and cross-contact. • Growth/puberty seemed to started after going gluten-free. Before that I was not developing. Dont know if any of these are because of celiac as my dad doesnt have those and he is a lot less strict gluten-free then me. I also had pancreatic elastase tested four times: values were 46 (very low), 236, 158, and 306 (normal). Gastroenterologist said one normal value is enough and I don’t have EPI. Family doctor prescribed Kreon anyway (after I pushed for it), and I just started taking 1 capsule (10,000 units) with meals 2 days ago, but couldn‘t see effects yet because I’ve been constipated the last few days. Maybe because of thyroid. I don’t have Hashimoto’s. No thyroid antibodies. But I took levothyroxine for slightly low FT4 levels. My thyroid levels fluctuated between borderline low and low-normal. And recently lowered my dose so that may have caused the constipating. I probably didn’t need it in the first place, and am thinking about stopping it soon.   Current Diet Right now, I only eat a very limited set of “safe” foods I prepare myself: • Gluten-free bread with tuna or cheese • Milk and cornflakes • gluten-free cookies/snacks • Bananas (the only fruit I trust right now) I rarely eat other fruits or vegetables, because I’m scared of contamination. My dad, who also has celiac but doesn’t care about CC, buys fruits, and he might’ve picked them up right after handling gluten bread. That makes me feel unsafe eating them. Even fruit at stores or markets feels risky because so many people with gluten on their hands touch them.   My Home Situation (Shared Kitchen) We’re a family of 5. Only my dad and I have celiac. He eats glutenfree but doesn’t care about CC and sometimes (but rarely) cheats. My mom and siblings eat gluten bread at every meal. My mom is honest (so if i ask her to be cautious, she most likely would try to), but doesn’t seem to understand how serious celiac is. She: • Stopped using gluten flour • only cooks gluten-free meals (but they still heat up gluten bread and also cook gluten noodles) • Keeps separate butter/jam/jars for me • Bought me a stainless steel pan Bu we didn’t replace old wooden utensils, cutting boards, or other pans. The new they bought me pan was even carried home in a shopping bag with gluten bread in it, which triggered my OCD. It also has a rubber handle and I’m scared it might still hold onto gluten. Even if it’s washed well, it’s stored next to other pans that were used for gluten food/bread. Our kitchen table is used for eating gluten bread daily. My mom wipes it but not with soap. I’m scared tiny particles remain. If she made gluten-free bread dough on a board at the table, I’d still worry about cross contmaination contamination even with something under the dough and on the table as at one point the dough would probably touch the table. So I stopped eating anything she makes.   I know OCD is making it worse, but I can’t tell how much of my fear is real and how much is anxiety. Examples: • I wash my hands 20–30 times a day — before eating, after touching anything at home or outside, after using my phone/laptop. • I don’t let others touch my phone, and I’m scared to use my laptop because friends at school or my brother (who eat gluten) have touched it. And it annoys me a lot when others touch my stuff and feels like it got contaminated and is unsafe instantly. • I stopped eating while using my phone or laptop, afraid of invisible gluten being on them. • I wash my hands after opening food packaging (since it was on store cashier belts where gluten food is placed). • I avoid sitting anywhere except my bed or one clean chair. • I won’t shake hands with anyone or walk past people eating gluten. • At school, when switching classes, I wash my hands before getting out my laptop, again before opening it, etc. • I open door knobs with my elbows instead my hands   Job Concerns (Powder Coating, Sandblasting, Etc.) I’m working a temporary job right now that involves: • Powder coating • Sandblasting • Wet spray painting • Anodizing There’s also a laboratory. I don’t need this job, and my OCD makes me believe that dust or air particles there might contain gluten somehow. Should I quit?   Doctors Haven’t Helped My family doctor told me: “Asymptomatic celiac isn’t serious, if you have no symptoms, your intestines won’t get damaged, so you don’t need a gluten-free diet.” I knew that was wrong, but he wasn’t open to listening. I just nodded and didn‘t argue. My gastroenterologist (who’s also a dietitian) said: „If your antibodies are negative, there’s no damage. It might even be okay to try small amounts of gluten later if antibodies stay negative.“ Also said, pepper that says “may contain gluten” is fine if it only contains pepper. She was more informed than my family doctor but didn’t seem to fully understand celiac either.   Questions I Need Help With 1. Is it realistically safe to eat food my mom cooks, if we get separate pans/ and boards even if gluten is still used in the same kitchen? There will always be low risk of cc chances like that she will still touch stuff that was touched by her and my siblings after they ate gluten. And as there are gluten eaters in the house and she also prepares and eats gluten. So would opening the fridge then getting the food and touching the food be okay? So basically what i am doing, washing my hands multiple times while preparing food, she would only wash it once before, then touch anything else (for example water tap or handles) that were touched with gluteny hands, then also touch the food. I dont know if I ever could feel safe, I could try telling her how important cc really is. And I trust her so she wouldnt lie to me then be careless about cc, but idk how safe it really can be if she and everyone else keeps eating gluten and touching stuff in the house after eating. 2. Do I need to worry about touching doorknobs, fridge handles, light switches, etc. that family members touched after eating gluten? What about public places like bus handles or school desks? Or like if i went to the gym, I would be touching stuff all the time, so there will be small amounts of gluten and those would get transferred on my phone if I touch my phone while in the gym. But I want to knos if it would be enough to do damage. 3. Is an endoscopy (without biopsy) enough to tell if my intestines are healed? I’d pay privately if it could help and if i dont get a refferal. Or do i need a biopsy? 4. Could my job (powder coating, sandblasting, etc.) expose me to gluten or damage my intestines through air/dust? 5. Do I need certified gluten-free toothpaste, hand soap, shampoo, or moisturizer? (For example: Vaseline and Colgate don’t contain gluten ingredients but say they can’t guarantee it’s gluten-free.) 6. Is spices like pepper with “may contain traces of gluten” safe if no gluten ingredients are listed? Or does everything need to be labeled gluten-free?  7. Is continuing to only eat my own food the better choice, or could I eventually go back to eating what my mom cooks if she’s careful? 8. is cutlery from dishwasher safe if there are stains? Stuff like knives is used for cutting gluten bread or fork for noodles etc. I often see stains which i dont know if its gluten or something else but our dish washer doesnt seem to make it completely clean. 9. I wash my hands multiple times while preparing food. Do i need to do the same when touching my phone. Like if i touch the fridge handle, I wash my hands then touch the phone. I dont eat while using my phone but i leave it on my bed and pillow and my face could come in contact with where it was.  10. Do i need to clean my phone or laptop if theyve been used by people who eat gluten? Even if no crumbs fall onto my keybaord, i mean because of invisible gluten on their fingers. 11. Does medication/supplements have to be strictly glutenfree? One company said they couldn‘t guarantee if their probiotics don’t contain traces of gluten.  12. I had bought supplements in the past, some of them say glutenfree and some of them dont(like the brand „NOW“ from iherb). I bought them and used them when i wasnt washing my hands so often, are they still safe? As I touched and opened them after touching door knobs, water taps etc. It was like a year ago when i bought those and even though i was eating gluten-free, I never worried about what i touch etc. I know this post is long. I’m just extremely overwhelmed. I’m trying to protect myself from long-term health damage, but the OCD is destroying my quality of life, and I honestly don’t know what’s a reasonable level of caution anymore. Thanks for reading.
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