Here is my story of how pizza came to be: Pete’s Ah!
A very very long time ago, a bread maker was partying really late on Friday and woke up the next morning with a huge hangover. Feeling so miserable and hungry he realized that he had only some left-over bread dough and some hard cheese. He was so desperate that he just smashed the dough flat and placed the cheese on top to bake in his oven.
Amazingly enough it came out delicious! He sliced it up and gave some to his friends to eat and they were also impressed! All of them shouted Ah! The baker’s name was Pete, so they named his creation Pete’s Ah! Which later turned to Pizza!
Fun stories aside, let’s talk about something equally surprising—but far less fun.
Could Wheat and Exercise Be Triggering Your Allergies?
Imagine this: you enjoy a slice of bread, a bowl of noodles, or a serving of roti canai without any issues. Later, you head to the gym or go for a jog, and suddenly, you break out in hives, feel short of breath, or worse. What’s going on?
This strange and rare condition is known as Food-Dependent Exercise-Induced Anaphylaxis (FDEIA). Although any food can trigger the phenomenon, I recently have been seeing a lot of these cases in relation to wheat.
What is FDEIA?
FDEIA is a type of allergy where a person only experiences an allergic reaction when two specific factors come together:
- Eating a specific food, like wheat or another trigger.
- Exercising after eating that food.
If you eat the food but don’t exercise, you’re fine. If you exercise without eating the food, you’re also fine. But when these two conditions overlap, your immune system may go into overdrive, potentially leading to a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis.
There is another new phenomenon where your skin care can cause you to have wheat allergy triggering FDEIA. Click here to read [Could your Skin Care cause Wheat Allergy?]
What Should You Do if You Suspect FDEIA?
If you’ve experienced allergic symptoms like hives, difficulty breathing, or swelling after eating and exercising, it’s crucial to seek help from an Allergist/Immunologist. Proper evaluation can confirm whether you have FDEIA and help you create a plan to stay safe.
If you suspect that you have FDEIA, you should seek proper evaluation with an Allergist/Immunologist.