Looks so innocent, doesn't it?
WRONG! BEWARE THIS VILE FRUIT OF FACE PUFFINESS!!!!
Perhaps an explanation...
This week I've had the pleasure of discovering that I am apparently allergic to this (previously delicious and enjoyable) exotic fruit. How do I know this? Several days of swollen, weepy, blistered lips after a morning of mango eating. People pay big money for lips like mine, either through botox or those lip plumping cosmetics. You too can achieve this look with a $.98 mango and a cross reactivity allergen! Here's why:
In the recent past, the import and consumption of exotic foods have increased substantially. Parallel to this rise, there has been an increase in the number of persons experiencing adverse reactions to these products. These foods are referred to as "emerging allergens". One of the foods is mango.
Mango's Latin botanical name is Mangifera indica, and it belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, which includes cashew nuts, pistachio nuts, "sweet pepper", hog plum, Jamaican plum, sumac, poison ivy and poison oak.
During harvesting, stem sap may contaminate the peel, forming bleached, varnished or blackened patches. This occurs because of the self-melanizing urushiol (going black on contact with air), a substance present in members of the Anacardiaceae family.
Thats right, I have poison ivy on my lips, oral steroids in my veins, and benadryl in my belly. For those of you who also have a sensitivity to poison ivy, be warned...it can happen to YOU too.
4 comments:
hehe.. as you know, I get that reaction from tomatoes, but I have also had poison ivy on my lips before. The reactions are very different. The tomato(and several other citrus fruits)allergy goes away much faster and is typically anticipated.
As a rule I have begun to avoid all fresh foods, as it is likely they will be my demise. ;)
A lifetime of packaged goods can't be horrible! Especially if they are chocolate packaged goods ;)
Yikes! Sorry about your puffy swollen lips! I hope it's all better by now or sooner.
Indeed, things are going better. Had to go back to the doctor for more steroids in the toosh and another round of oral steroids on top of that, but thankfully it has done the trick :) Also, some lovely stuff called Z-xtra is great for itches of all types, highly recommended!
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