Bye Bye Bananas. You used To Be My Friend.

Well, the title says it all.

I have loved bananas for as long as I can remember. They have been one of my favourite foods to enjoy daily. About 2 years ago I started to experience abdominal pain, and Brent said that it could be the peanut butter or the banana that I was eating daily on toast or rice cakes every morning. When I did my friend Natasha's Detox Program (which is amazing) back in August 2009, I experienced that same abdominal pain again. A horrible feeling of cramping, bloating and discomfort. I usually keep personal information to myself, but I need somewhere to write my thoughts about what I am going through. It started Wednesday night when I broke out in hives and Thursday developed into an extremely bad rash ALL over my face, but concentrated around my mouth and chin area. It's not only a horrible site, but very painful :( Accompanying this skin eruption, I have been having that exact same abdominal pain which I have experienced in the past, but worse! In addition I have been I have had this shooting, burning discomfort up the center of my back. To top it off, I am constipated (TMO?) :( Thank goodness for enemas! I was feeling fine this morning and then I had a green smoothie with mango, banana and spinach. Afterwards I started to feel ill again and by noon I was toppled over. I was in tears with frustration and poor sweet Brent was feeling helpless. Brent has mentioned the bananas as the possible cause on numerous occasions, but now I have to agree. The only thing that I changed in my diet last week was the increased consumption of bananas! I decided to hop on the web in hopes of finding some confirmation of this theory.

I discovered that there is a protein found in bananas called chitinase that can cause an allergic reaction in certain people. Chitinase can cause the immune system to overreact and treats this protein as harmful for the body. I also came across the following here;

"Latex allergy and food
Around half of all people with latex allergy have allergic reactions when eating particular foods including avocado, banana, chestnut, kiwifruit, passion fruit, plum, strawberry and tomato. This is because some of the proteins in latex that cause latex allergy are also present in these fruits. Common symptoms include tingling in the mouth, stuffy nose, itchy eyes and wheezing."
This made sense to me because I am allergic or sensitive to latex. Latex makes me itchy and can give me a rash.

So whether it is a true allergy or just an intolerance, I will be steering clear of my dear old friend, the banana *sniff* :(

Lunch Time

Brent has been so sweet, and I wanted to make him a yummy lunch. The fridge was full of greens, but low on other colourful fruits and veggies. I decided on a romaine wrap, filled with broccoli, carrots and celery. I then would need a tasty spread or pate for the filling. I had some macadamia nuts and sunflower seeds in the fridge and whipped up this super yummy cheese sauce. Brent just loved it!

Yummy Cheese Sauce
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (soaked)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (soaked)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 clove of garlic
2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of tumeric (or more for colour)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Note: I did not soak the nuts or seeds because I had not prepared to use them, but it would make the consistency even smoother.

Blend all of the ingredients, except for oil. Once the cheese is smooth add oil and blend until creamy.

If you have a Vitamix (I do not), you may want to start with less water for a thicker cheese.

I think this would be lovely as a cheese sauce for broccoli and "rice". Mmmmm...oh the possibilities.

Do with it what you want ;)