Pineapple and Other Food Allergy

Anecdotally, some people with pineapple allergy report burning sensation and spicy taste similar to habanero peppers. Pineapple is supposed to taste tart, not spicy.

Pineapple is acidic and contains an enzyme that essentially digests the surface tissues of your mouth, so some degree of burning sensation is extremely common and it's super hard to effectively communicate what a "normal" pineapple burning sensation feels like and what allergic reaction feels like.

My father didn't like fish, so we didn't eat much fish at home when I was child. My mom would get catfish with sides from a restaurant one day a week in summer when I was child so she didn't have to cook.

Catfish is a riverine species. I've probably always been mildly allergic or sensitive to seafood my whole life and likely inherited that from my father but didn't know until my thirties because it wasn't served much at home.

Similarly, I never liked wool clothes because it itched and I assumed it was the texture and was in my thirties before I realized "I have one wool coat I bought at 90 percent off and I take extra antihistamines whenever I wear it. I'm allergic. Duh!"

The first quote below is an Internet summary that links to the citation below and the second is me quoting the article. If you have a latex allergy, other food allergy etc. these are clues you may be allergic to pineapple.

Cross-Reactivity

People allergic to pineapple may also react to other foods due to cross-reactivity. Commonly associated foods include kiwi, mango, papaya, and other tropical fruits, as well as certain pollens like birch pollen. This is because the immune system recognizes similar protein structures across different plant foods

The Latex Connection

If you have a known latex allergy, pineapple deserves extra caution. Latex-fruit syndrome is a well-documented phenomenon in which people allergic to natural rubber latex also react to certain fruits because the proteins share structural features. Research using RAST-inhibition tests has confirmed cross-reacting IgE antibodies between latex and a range of fruits including pineapple, banana, avocado, kiwi, papaya, and several others.3 This does not mean every person with a latex allergy will react to pineapple, but it raises the risk enough to warrant awareness.

How to Tell If You’re Allergic to Pineapple

I'm focusing on pineapple because it's an enzyme-rich food that can potentially be used to help create progesterone. If you are trying to do that and never ate pineapple before and don't like it, please consider the possibility you may be allergic and see if you can't find a different enzyme-rich food.

The link above encourages you to get a proper diagnosis and advises you that self diagnosis is unreliable. 

If you are self diagnosing to request a prescription for an epi pen, please get a proper diagnosis. 

If you are tweaking your diet as a means to try to promote hormone production, I don't think you need to fret about it. Just don't eat foods that BOTHER you for any reason and look for an alternative. Problem solved.

But I'm some chick who read some anecdote about studying French to go traveling and trying to memorize phrases like "I need a doctor. I think my leg is broken." and the guy was like "In a situation like that, screaming and pointing works just fine."

Use common sense. I have officially been told by a doctor I'm allergic to ragweed and the rest of the stuff causing me hives -- like tomatoes if I eat them in excess -- must be psychosomatic -- and never mind that allergy to red fruits like tomato and including tomato runs in the family.

I don't need permission from a physician to not like tomatoes and to include tomato products, like pizza sauce, in my diet sparingly. You don't need a doctor's permission to look up other enzyme-rich foods if pineapple seems to be bothering you.

FYI: Allergies may suggest parasitic infection. I was told by someone I jokingly call "my witch doctor" that as my parasitic infection improved, I should stop being allergic to everything under the sun and that prediction has proven accurate.