could they be LIARS or kidding themselves on purpose!!??

how many people do you think say they are allergic/dislike/intolerant to certain foods that they really aren't simply because they don't want to eat it? do you think many of these people truly convince themselves that this is true or deliberately lie? haha...thought about it after listening to a podcast. 

do you do this? have you done it in the past? do you know people who do it?

a girl i work with and i have a running joke about her being "allergic to poptarts"...lol. she really says she's "allergic" it's a semi-joke but she really does refuse to eat them.

It can be a useful white lie.  I have some cattle ranching clients whom I've told I can't tolerate meat so that I don't have to go into the details of explaining why I'm a vegetarian.  People tend to not be real thrilled when it sounds like you're passing moral judgment on their livelihood ... which isn't the point at all; I just don't want to eat it, and people rarely let it go there.  They insist on asking why.  "I'm allergic" is the easy way out.

Also handy for ordering at restaurants - I don't like raw onions. If I say "hold the onions" they might listen. If I say that I'm allergic, they'll probably be more careful.

I actually never do this, but I know people who do.

Original Post by amethystgirl:

Also handy for ordering at restaurants - I don't like raw onions. If I say "hold the onions" they might listen. If I say that I'm allergic, they'll probably be more careful.

I actually never do this, but I know people who do.

I've never claimed the allergy when ordering -- however, if they can't get the order correct, then I might suggest that I am allergic to onions, maybe

Only tangentally related, but I can't eat fish. Smell of it turns my stomach in a hurry.

I'm not allergic, but when I was a kid I got a hold of some bad shellfish. Stomach pump and the works. That was how I learned that aroma is the strongest memory trigger.

So... yeah, I could say I'm allergic to fish, but "nearly died due to bad seafood" is a more interesting story.

Never said I was allergic to something I'm not. I'm allergic to raw fruit and vegetables, if cooked or skinned I can eat them fine (they make my gums tingle, feels like my teeth are falling out and my throat closes). I'm also allergic to cats (runny nose, itchy, dry yet somehow watery eyes, generally feel ill). I have environmental allergies, same stuff happens as with cats, spring and fall drive me nuts!

I guess people say they're allergic just to get the person to back off, it works, I suppose!

I use being allergic to psych myself out of things that are not healthy to eat. Most recently I became allergic to fried foods. It was just telling the fib to myself though, so I don't know if that counts as being a liar. I haven't had nor craved anything fried since I became allergic - it upsets my stomach.

Never thought of using it at a restaurant though...

Original Post by chrissy1988:

how many people do you think say they are allergic/dislike/intolerant to certain foods that they really aren't simply because they don't want to eat it? do you think many of these people truly convince themselves that this is true or deliberately lie? haha...thought about it after listening to a podcast. 

do you do this? have you done it in the past? do you know people who do it?

a girl i work with and i have a running joke about her being "allergic to poptarts"...lol. she really says she's "allergic" it's a semi-joke but she really does refuse to eat them.

I'm allergic to liver. ;)

I don't know, but I could imagine that somebody is alergic to the colouring or something in poptarts.

If somebody says they are allergic I then I think you have to take them seriously. I get headaches when others peel mandarins, just because you don't experience that and don't know anybody else who does, doesn't lessen the headache I get when people peel citrius (esp mandarins) near me. I consider that an allergy.

I also get itchy feet when I eat strawberries and grapes. If it isn't an allergy I don't know what it is. It doesn't need to result in anaphyaltic shock to be an allergy.

I also think people use the word allergic because it is much less graphic than explaining other symptoms such as gastrointestinal discomfort that some foods create.

If you don't have any limitations on your diet at all due to allergies or intolerances, consider yourself very lucky.

I think as a population more and more people do seem to have real allergies to many things what is causing this increase i don't know but it is there.

i think you do need to take it serious though as you won't know to what extent that allergy goes.

I'm not allergic to any foods; however, there are certain vegetables I just cannot tolerate.  Cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, cooked cabbage, brussels sprouts are just a few.  They make me physically gag, and it's very embarrassing.  Even the smell nauseates me.  Basically, the only cooked vegetables I can eat are corn and potatoes, onions and celery.  I love iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, jicama, mushrooms, raw carrots (salad vegetables).  Cottage cheese makes me gag, as well.  A co-worker invited me to her home for lunch.  She served cottage cheese-stuffed tomato.  The two times I put it in my mouth I had to immediately "hide" my face in the napkin so she wouldn't see me gag.  Finally, I had to just say I was full.  I was terribly embarrassed. 

I said I was allergic to pecans once, and I'm not.  The person I told that too would have tried to hide pecans in the food.  I would have still be able to taste them and did NOT WANT TO EAT THE STINKING THINGS.  The very smell of them makes my stomach turn.

Blah.  Getting a wooshy feeling just writing about them.

My husband absolutly HATES peppers, green, yellow and red. So whenever we go to dinner if he orders something he will ask if it has peppers in it and then if it does tell them he is allergic. Sometimes they still mess up and his choking and gagging sounds(they are authentic, he really can't stand the things) usually will get us a free meal! ;-)

i hope everyone realizes that this post is intended to be funny/light hearted and not at all condescending to those who do claim "allergies" when they really aren't allergic. the girl i work with is not allergic to poptarts she just says that to herself so that she doesn't eat them...not like she believe it or anything it's just kinda funny :)

When I was younger the doctor told me I was allergic to milk.  When I got older I decided the doctor was an idiot and I simply went through a period where I had a mild milk intolerance.

I claim no intolerances now, nor food allergies.  If I don't like something, I simply say I don't like it.  When people attempt to lecture me on why I should eat it anyway I tell them if they like it that much, they can eat it.

I claim to be "allergic" to coconut flavored or scented products, though it's only with certain coconut things and not others, and I'm not officially diagnosed or anything.
My 2 reasons:
-whenever I use coconut scented shampoo, conditioner, or bodywash I get really dizzy & nauseus
-whenever I eat coconut or pina colada flavored Italian ice at work my tongue and throat burns & it gets harder to breathe

not necessarily an allergy, but it's easier to say that than to stop & explain the whole thing.

I have the opposite situation.  There is something in non-skim milk that makes me quite ill.  (For a few years, I thought it was milk in general.  Not sure what prompted me to try skim and find it okay.)  Nobody ever believes me though.  They always think it's just a diet thing.  Which is dumb because it started more than a decade before I started watching my weight.

Original Post by orangejumper:

I don't know, but I could imagine that somebody is alergic to the colouring or something in poptarts.

If somebody says they are allergic I then I think you have to take them seriously. I get headaches when others peel mandarins, just because you don't experience that and don't know anybody else who does, doesn't lessen the headache I get when people peel citrius (esp mandarins) near me. I consider that an allergy.

I also get itchy feet when I eat strawberries and grapes. If it isn't an allergy I don't know what it is. It doesn't need to result in anaphyaltic shock to be an allergy.

I also think people use the word allergic because it is much less graphic than explaining other symptoms such as gastrointestinal discomfort that some foods create.

If you don't have any limitations on your diet at all due to allergies or intolerances, consider yourself very lucky.

 

I am allergic to artificial food colouring, like anything that is coloured unnaturally. I have not been able to eat these foods/ dirnks sinc ei was around 12 years old as it results in burning skin, hives and swelling of my face, lips, my throat closes up and i struggle to breathe. Expalining it to people though can be difficult. Over the years i have discovered some foods that are artifically coloured that i am able to eat. Some things that have very light colouring for example, but when i say to people im allergic to food coloring and then they see me eating one of the few foods with food colouring i can tolerate, they tend to think im lying or whatever.

Being allergic to food colouring is kinda handy in that alot of junk foods are artifically coloured, as are drinks etc. It can become a little dangerous when eating out, as i have to be sure that what i am eating is all natural. It helps that i am vegetarian and my diet leargley consits of fruit and veges. Hardley anything comes out of a packet.

I'm not allergic to anything, but when I was waitressing we always used to have a good laugh in the kitchen with the chefs about the ridiculous diet-induced allergies people came up with: butter and oil, salt, chicken skin, cheese and bacon... A customer who was allergic to croutons, but still ate the bread basket...

I do feel bad for people with real allergies, but in the restaurant world we saw so many skinny women with 'allergies' that it just became a joke.

I'm more sympathetic to people with genuine allergies than the ones who claim vague 'intolerances'.  Especially if they've concluded that their 'intolerance' to some food or other is why they're overweight.  NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the fact that they eat enough doughnuts and chocolate cake to sink a battleship, of course.... oh no, it's that nasty intolerance to white flour that's been doing all the damage.

I know someone who does this with mushrooms.  She says she is "deathly allergic" to them, but I know she isn't.  I only know she is liar because I saw her eat something with mushrooms in it without knowing.  I said, "Oh my God, didn't you know there were mushrooms in that?!?!?!"  All of a sudden she started coughing and rushed to her bedroom....and took a benadryl.  Anyone with a REAL deadly allergy would have an epi-pen.  I think she just doesn't like mushrooms...

I only the other hand do have a really bad intolerance of shellfish.  If I eat them, I get really sick to my stomach and spend the rest of the day throwing up.  The first time I thought I just ate some bad mussels....but when it happened 2 more times, I just stopped eating them.  Plus, my husband's uncle is a doctor....he said that I could have even worse allergies to other kinds of shellfish, so I steer clear from them all together.