Does Anyone Else Get Sick From Eating Bananas?

[kareng]

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

 

 

Just an FYI - most of these posters haven't been on the forum in a couple of years.

[eers03]

If you are going to eat a banana, I suggest doing it in the morning with your normal breakfast.  Eggs and bacon, or on top of a waffle, or mixed in your gluten free rice crispies...  If I eat them early in the day, I'm fine...  If I eat them later in the day its like all my other food plus a banana is just too much to handle and I will get heart burn... 

 

But...  Banana's have a great deal of fiber and potassium in them.  They will help regulate blood pressure and regularity in bowel movements.  It's all for not if you just can't tolerate them at all, though.

[BelleVie]

Me too. I would get really sharp stabbing pains in my stomach after eating them, and they always made me sort of feel like gagging. I haven't had one in about a year now.  

[catie]

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.

Yep.  I hate bananas.  Vomiting etc.  

[JayeAmy]

I have an issue with bananas too. It's gotten to the point where I don't even attempt to eat ANYTHING with any traces of banana in it because of the reaction I get. Within 15-20 min of consuming a banana my stomach bloats up double in size, I start coughing, stomach pains come on and off throughout the day, sweating and nervous/anxious feeling, nausea...these symptoms last a good 12 hours.

I noticed I also get this same response whenever I eat avocado. I was wondering if anyone else has discovered this too? I'm told it's not a food allergy because I don't break out in hives. If it's not an allergy would seriously like to know what it is and how to resolve it. I used to eat bananas all the time growing up and found a liking to avocado especially for their health benefits...but after eating then I wish death upon me to relieve me of my pains. It's just not even worth it to me. Would just like to know the cause and why and what other foods are like this.

Oh, and sometimes cucumbers do this to me as well!

[LauraTX]

Welcome to the forum, JayeAmy!  Some of the people may no longer be active who are on this thread, but it is interesting that you have been told what seems to be some poor info on your reactions to certain foods.  Banana and avocado are two things that are common to both be allergic to at the same time, and they are often associated with a latex allergy.  Here are some pages with info on Banana and Avocado allergies, as well as related latex allergy that sometimes comes with it:

 

http://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/what-is-anaphylaxis/knowledgebase/banana-allergy

http://latexallergyresources.org/cross-reactive-food

 

And if you do a google search for "Banana Avocado Cucumber Allergy" a lot of pages on something called "Oral Allergy Syndrome" come up, so that may be something to look into:

http://www.chop.edu/conditions-diseases/oral-allergy-syndrome-oas#.VLDjxCvF_Vs

http://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/library/allergy-library/outdoor-allergies-and-food-allergies-can-be-relate.aspx

 

Is there anything else you have similar symptoms with?  And have you seen an allergy specialist about your issues?  If not, I highly recommend seeing an allergist.  Allergies don't always manifest in hives, what you are getting sounds like a more mild reaction.  However, allergies can always get more severe without notice, so caution is certainly warranted unless you are told otherwise by a specialist- I would definitely avoid bananas, avocados, cucumbers, and anything else you have a similar reaction to.

[ezgoindude]

hhhmmm.... I'm restarting my SCD diet this week and was going to follow more of Dr. Haas's recommendations of bananas being a lower source of carbs,  bananas are tough as they don't seem to make me any better, but one of my top foods id love to keep around.   Anyways, maybe I'll try cooking an extra ripe one!  My GI Appt is this monday, well get a better idea then

[CeliacAndCfsCrusader]

I might be able to help with this.

 

I ate fresh fruits and veggies all of my life until I had a reaction to watermelon and bell pepper. My mouth got itchy and my voice got hoarse (airway closing). This didn't happen until my 20's.

 

Ultimately, I was diagnosed with OAS or Oral Allergy Syndrome, which essentially is an allergy to a PROTEIN in many foods (usually related to uncooked foods and other allergies, such as pollen/trees etc).  Sound familiar?

 

As a Celiac, I understood that my chemistry is different than others, this was just one more thing.

 

Interestingly, when you cook these foods, the protein is usually deactivated or lessened enough to consume the foods without issues (I can eat apple pie, but not a raw apple). I have yet to find a fresh fruit that I don't react to and quite frankly it's not worth finding out, as my body changed even into my 20's.

 

Go see an allergist, they'll test you and get you squared away. Good luck.

[ezgoindude]

sup CFS Crusader! 

 

yeah even in my case my new GI is interested for restesting into celiac/IBD/IBS panels again, but after we get our results he feels more comfortable I still go to an allergist. 

 

If I can ask how long would you know after eating a banana or pepper your voice close?  Depending on how you look at this, fortunately I dont get any respiratory problems but about an hour after eating a banana raw I have something I describe as gut-burn (feels like heart burn, just slightly below that area though)  and if I eat them enough it can affect the daily gas  =/ meh.  I get to try cooked bananas this tuesday! whoo hooo

[CeliacAndCfsCrusader]

My discovering this was about 15 years after I first had symptoms of a food allergy. It started with banana and fresh orange, both made my mouth sensitive and my tongue swollen a bit. It wasn't critical, but noticiable.

 

Then it went to colored bell peppers, except for green. Even cooked. Ultimately, the final straw was watermelon closing my airway enough to make me sound hoarse (which is what I thought it was, I was at an all day bbq and I was yelling a lot). I found out later that hoarse = bad news.

 

Interestingly, I never noticed GI symptoms with this. I just stopped eating uncooked fruits, which sucks, but it's better than needing an EPI Pen.

 

If you Wiki OAS, you'll get more info. Everyone's symptoms are different, but I'm also allergic to certain trees/pollen/ragweed etc and there are tables out there that will help match up the fruit/veg and the plants, they share proteins (so in my non-physician explanation, eating a raw strawberry that you're allergic to is like breathing in an entire tree you're allergic too).

 

Find a good allergist and do the skin testing, you'll then be on your way. Best. J

[rubyblu89]

So, I noticed something weird about bananas. I've always had issues with them, and generally tended to stay away from them. But a few months back, my friend gave me some leftover organic bananas and since I hadn't eaten them in a while, decided to see what happened and put 1/2 banana at a time in my smoothies. No issues. Then I tried eating one whole. No issues. Then, I bought conventional bananas and the stomach cramps and horrible gas came back. I stopped eating them for a few weeks and then decided to try buying organic bananas a month later. No issues. I've been experimenting with this- an organic banana here, a conventional banana there. I have literally no idea why, but I have absolutely no problem with organic bananas and have stomach pain with conventional. 

[KiloHoku]

So, I noticed something weird about bananas. I've always had issues with them, and generally tended to stay away from them. But a few months back, my friend gave me some leftover organic bananas and since I hadn't eaten them in a while, decided to see what happened and put 1/2 banana at a time in my smoothies. No issues. Then I tried eating one whole. No issues. Then, I bought conventional bananas and the stomach cramps and horrible gas came back. I stopped eating them for a few weeks and then decided to try buying organic bananas a month later. No issues. I've been experimenting with this- an organic banana here, a conventional banana there. I have literally no idea why, but I have absolutely no problem with organic bananas and have stomach pain with conventional. 

Interesting. My 8-year old daughter recently told me she doesn't like eating bananas because they make her tummy funny. I will experiment with your "organic" theory and see if it solves her problem, as well. She also can't eat dairy or much soy.

[kenlove]

So, I noticed something weird about bananas. I've always had issues with them, and generally tended to stay away from them. But a few months back, my friend gave me some leftover organic bananas and since I hadn't eaten them in a while, decided to see what happened and put 1/2 banana at a time in my smoothies. No issues. Then I tried eating one whole. No issues. Then, I bought conventional bananas and the stomach cramps and horrible gas came back. I stopped eating them for a few weeks and then decided to try buying organic bananas a month later. No issues. I've been experimenting with this- an organic banana here, a conventional banana there. I have literally no idea why, but I have absolutely no problem with organic bananas and have stomach pain with conventional. 

There are a few  hundred types of bananas although we only get a few in  most western stores. When you talk organic bananas there could be different types. All bananas are  divided into groups of A (acuminata sugars) and B (balbisiana - starch) they are classed but chromosomes so your average williams bananas is aab or 2 parts sugar to 1 part starch -- Organic bananas at least here in hawaii and some west coast places are abb - -2 parts starch to 1 part sugar.  If your store has plantains,  try one of those when it gets very ripe. They are  really good

 

[JoeHoskins]

I'm unable to eat bananas at all! I get bloated, feel nauseous and suffer for days. Creates the same symptoms as Gluten for me..

[Meohmy]

seem each time I eat bananas I feel funny, like shakes and just don't feel right in my head like about to pass out after eating them.. almost same feeling if I don't eat any sugar for a long time.  Is this normal?  what's wrong with me

[kareng]

1 hour ago, Meohmy said:

seem each time I eat bananas I feel funny, like shakes and just don't feel right in my head like about to pass out after eating them.. almost same feeling if I don't eat any sugar for a long time.  Is this normal?  what's wrong with me

Bananas have a lot of sugar.  1 serving is actually half a banana.  

[Suzi112]

I was recently diagnosed with a severe wheat allergy. That was a shocker for me. As a result, I've been researching wheat allergy and have found a link to that and Oral Allergy Syndrome.

For anyone who has this ailment, do yourself a favor and watch What's With Wheat?  I watched it on Amazon and learned a lot. 

[GFinDC]

11 hours ago, Meohmy said:

seem each time I eat bananas I feel funny, like shakes and just don't feel right in my head like about to pass out after eating them.. almost same feeling if I don't eat any sugar for a long time.  Is this normal?  what's wrong with me

You could just have a food intolerance to bananas.  Or you could have a latex allergy.   Or it could be a sugar reaction as per KarenG.

[Skolouthi]

I 'used to' be able to eat bananas any time.  Ever since my first pregnancy, everything changed. My stomach hurts terribly for hours and hours after eating anything banana OR raw (not cooked) broccoli!?!!  I mean, doubled over, rocking back and forth, pain!  I avoid both of these at ALL COST!  Go figure, since I really like them!

[trents]

In addition to the issue of potential latex allergies or just being allergic to the protein in bananas (like any other food), bananas also are high in histamines so they may give problems to those with histamine intolerance.