::Update at end::
Who doesn't love asparagus? Who would dare say it's evil?
Um... that would be me.
I had some weird symptoms after eating asparagus. The palms of my hands and the soles of my feet started itching and burning. I didn't get hives. I didn't get a rash. It was the second time in my life I had these 'itches' happen. The first time and this time, I had just eaten asparagus.
I've always loved asparagus, so I didn't like the connect - at all. I decided to look it up, see if anything could be done. What I found was not helpful.
Seems, it's very, very rare to have an allergic reaction to cooked asparagus. That really cut into my search results. I decided to look up just 'asparagus'. Turns out, off-season and most of in-season asparagus is now coming from Peru. This is new. Like my allergic reaction.
I'm hoping, I'm only allergic to asparagus from Peru. I tried a search for 'Peruvian asparagus' and allergy, but the results were only relevant to contact dermatitis. Again, I hit that brick wall of rare reaction to cooked asparagus.
Maybe, it's something in the soil in Peru? Maybe, arsenic or copper? Those seem to have the same allergic itch reaction. Our local grocery stores do NOT say the source of their asparagus. I thought all foods had to have the origin on them, but nope - nadda.
Since I couldn't find anything about this online, I wanted to post about this stupid, tiny inconvenience. If anyone else is having a problem with Peruvian asparagus, maybe they will at least find this.
I'm going to see if I can find some locally grown asparagus. Do my own experiment. If that doesn't give me a reaction, I can grow my own. I hear it's simple and grows like grass. Yummy, yummy grass.
::Update::
It's copper. I believe there are elevated levels of copper in asparagus from Peru. Not only is copper one of Peru's biggest exports, it is commonly used in agriculture.
Every symptom those who are finding they are suddenly allergic to asparagus have are all symptoms of too much copper.
B6 can help chelate some of that copper away, but until the U.S. government starts looking into this and forcing Peru to meet dietary standards for copper, some Americans will not be able to eat asparagus without making SURE it is NOT from Peru.
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2 comments:
Gabrielle! I found your post after hours of searching online in an attempt to figure out why I have suddenly developed an allergy to asparagus after a lifetime of eating it. Your mention of Peruvian imports was my missing link! I am so eager to discuss with you (whenever you happen to login to your old blog again). I've set this to notify me when you reply so we can get in touch and compare notes. So glad you posted this, I have been so perplexed. Cheers.
Meg,
How horrible is this new allergy thing? Even the canned asparagus is from Peru! Is your reaction to cooked asparagus? It's very hard to find any information on 'cooked' vegetable allergies. I've never had any allergies, ever, so this is all new to me.
I don't know if it's something in the soil, a fertilizer, or the variation of the plant grown there.
I have been able to eat small amounts of California asparagus with no reaction, but it isn't always available.
Are you still researching this? Found anything interesting?
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