I discovered my stone fruit allergy actually years ago, but never put two and two together. I remember two very distinct instances of driving the 5 hour trek to Boston in the snow to catch flights to CA. My boyfriend was driving and mid-way through our road trip I would pull out my bag of snacks, which almost always included an apple, because they are great traveling fruits. I would consciously buy the organic, non-sprayed, Maine varieties. But on both trips I would immediately have a reaction. My lips would swell up getting itchy and visibly puffy, my throat would tighten and the entire inside of my mouth and throat would itch for over an hour. I had never in my life had reactions to fruit like this, so I chalked it up to being my boyfriend's truck. He was a boat builder at the time and he would lug his tools around and the cloth seats would collect so much dust and dirt from the yard, I just assumed it was the debris and dust of his work (which in turn made me entirely empathic to his toxic working environment. I figured if had such a quick reaction in his vehicle, I could only imagine what his body would go through, day in and day out).
Years passed, I identified my gluten intolerance, the truck had been sold and again I still had reactions to any stone fruit and apples and pears. I realized that it indeed was an allergic reaction and decided to avoid all my favorite fruits indefinitely. :(
I have found over time that cut, frozen stone fruits don't bother me, in small amounts. So I still buy the fresh fruit, cut it off the pit and freeze it. i then use small amounts in my breakfast smoothies. (Although I do wonder if the upper part of my digestive tract has a reaction, then the likelihood of my lower part reacting during the remainder of digestion is very high that I should probably remove stone fruits entirely from my diet, wah!) Giving up these fruits has been very hard. I love fruit.
The other day, I decided to test my allergy, it had been over a year since I had eaten a fresh stone fruit. My Mom had bought these luscious, juicy, heavenly-smelling nectarines. So I cut it off the pit, let it sit for 20 minutes then ate a wedge. Within minutes my lips, mouth and throat began to itch, my throat tightened, all from one small wedge. So the allergy still exists, yay for testing inevitably what I already knew (you can tell I am not willing to let this one go so easily).
Getting
ready to tough out the next hour of discomfort, my step-dad made a
suggestion to halt the allergic reaction, by taking a chunk of fresh
organic ginger and chewing on it. Instinctively that made complete
sense, ginger is an anti-inflammatory, so I gave it a whirl. I popped
about a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger in my mouth and started chewing. It
was rugged! Let me tell ya! I love ginger, but never have I put a fresh
chunk in my mouth and chomped down. So i chewed it until there was
basically pulp, swallowing the juices as I chewed. I spit out the
remaining pulp and waited. While I was chewing the ginger I noticed that
the itching, swelling and tightness immediately lessened (but that
could also have been my focus shifting towards the
burning-kick-intensity of the fresh ginger). So while I still will be avoiding all stone fruits indefinitely, it is nice to know I don't have to suffer if I accidentally eat some (I think I shall travel with fresh ginger in tow at all times now, ha!). I must warn you though, I can take intense flavors and I eat ginger on an almost daily basis, and for me, it was gnarly to pop a whole piece of ginger in my mouth and chew, it is not for the faint of heart, but if you are looking to halt an allergic reaction, I would highly recommend it.
