allergy or intolerence to bananas

Yesterday afternoon i wanted something sweet to eat, i grabbed a banana. i have not had a banana in a few years. last time i did i had bad pains in the stomach, i thought it could be medication causing this.

well yesterday  ( i ate one)within a half hour i had abdominal discomfort, bloating pain rumbling and noticed later on facial swelling to where my eyes teared and red in the lower sockets. i took a claritan.
i had diarrhea the following morning  (12 hr later) with cramping to the point i felt weak. i drank as much as i could tolerate because the way i relieved myself i could of easily become dehydrated. is this an allergy or an intolerence?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Banana allergy and intolerance are two different entities but the symptoms in both are same. Food allergy, sometimes called food hypersensitivity, is a reaction mounted by your immune system to an allergen in food, which is almost always a protein. Food intolerance does not involve the immune system.

Banana allergy is caused due to overreacting of the immune system to the protein chitinase.Banana intolerance is caused by vaso-active amines. Vaso-active amines are histamine like substances that occur naturally in foods and can trigger symptoms that can mimic allergy reactions.Serotonin is the vaso active amine found in bananas. The symptom of serotonine ingestion include cramping, flushing of the skin, headache, and heart palpitations.

Firstly it is important to find out if it is allergy or an intolerance.For that pls consult an allergy specialist and get skin tests,blood tests and food challenge tests done.If they are positive,then you are allergic to bananas,otherwise it can be food intolerance.However,in both,avoidance of bananas is the main treatment.

Hope it helps.Take care and pls do keep me posted if you have any additional queries.

[lilyhernandez]

Why is it important to find out if its an allergy or an intolerance if either way you cant have bananas? I was wondering if anyone could help me- I would greatly appreciate anyones ideas on my situation. I am 22 years old and I lately have really gotten into eating fruit. I really like bananas, but It appears suddenly I have a problem eating them. This really dissapoints me since I have really been into eating fruit recently and bananas are one of my faveorites. I wanted to incorporate them into my daily eating habits, but then I realized they make me feel sick. I dont have and mouth or skin reactions- just stomach. I can often eat just a few slices of bananas, but if I eat a whole banana thats asking for it. I feel bloated and uncomfortable and kindof queezy.  I really wanna eat bananas. I try to be satisfied with artificially flavored banana food- poptarts...yogurt... but its not the same!!!! :(   I tried plantains as an alternative, but within 10 minutes of eating about a third of a plantain I felt VERY nautious. :( This lasted about 10 minutes and then I felt entiely better. I have been experimenting a little bit.... 2 days ago I at one slice of banana. Yesterday I ate 2. Today I intended to eat 3 but I felt a little sick after one, but that might be because I had some phlegm because I have a bad cold right now and it was kinda gagging me. Im gonna postpone my banana regimen experiment til after I get well I think. But anyhow, I dont THINK i am allergic to latex, but recently our house flooded and I had to spend a lot of time wearing latex gloves and to my surprise my skin started to peel on my hands. :(  There must be something I can do--- some way I can eat bananas.  Everyone says just dont eat em. I know it sounds stupid, but I just love them so much I cant give them up! I am determined to find a way so please give me any information anyone if you know anything. Dont let me watch my grandma eat another banana cream pie in front of me!!! LOL. And thanks in advance for any advice.

[lilyhernandez]

P.S. I can eat cherries and papaya and kiwi and all that just fine. Wouldnt I react to those also if it was the latex protein or whatever?

[Little_Fox]

Here's what it is. Don't eat bananas. I don't. There are literally hundreds of thoudands of other fruit alternatives. Oh, how I miss bananas on my cheerios in the morning, or a nice warm bit of banana bread dripping with butter. Frozan, chocolate dipped bananas are on my no-list. Also check the ingredients list of your favorite pre-made smoothie drinks, nearly all of them have bananas in them. I'm sorry, but that's how it is.

[redhen19]

Thank you for a complete in depth explanation.It took me an hour to find a reliable answer to why I have acute abdominal pain when I eat raw bananas

R. White

[higginsba]

I also have noticed a sensitivity/allergy to bananas recently. I have had no GI symptoms, but rather a skin eruption. I too love bananas, and last summer was planning on a team event & bought ~5bunches. I had eaten bananas all my life (33y/o F) with no problem. That weekend our event was canceled & I was left with all the bananas. I must have eaten ~10 of them over a 3 day period. I then noticed red, itchy skin eruptions on my torso - they almost looked like poison ivy or chicken box. I did not think it was the bananas initially, until I ruled out every other possibility (clothing, detergent, fabric softener, soap, shampoo, animal contact, foliage contact, etc.). The banana consumption was the only new thing. I have not eaten them for since last Aug (and I too love them!!) and then ~3wks ago had a soccer match after work & had not eaten all day. A teammate had an extra banana so I gave it a go - within a few hrs I noticed similar skin irritation on my forearm. That confirmed my theory unfortunately. I have never had any problem with kiwis or avocados, and I wear latex gloves multiple times daily at work without event. It seems it is only bananas for me. I thought about seeing an allergist but then decided that I had confirmed the reaction myself, so there was no need. At this point I don't feel the need to differentiate between as sensitivity or true allergy as long as I avoid ingesting them. I am not aware of banana as being an ingredient in any medication, and this would really be the only reason I would feel the need to investigate further.