The Angry Stomach Mystery

So... about two months ago, I started getting really sick after eating sometimes. (This was part of the reason I decided to cut out meat and eggs... it happened for the first time right after I ate a frittata.) The only things I can eat when this happens are really bland things, like crackers or bread. I've joked that it was my body rebelling against healthy foods because it was easier to digest the packing material from McDonald's that I was eating before, but I think I may have figured out the culprit(s.)

Apparently, there's such a thing as an "intolerance" to food, which is slightly different from an allergy. Onions and garlic are in the same family (Allium,) and a person can be intolerant to both, or one more than the other. It can be worse if you eat them raw. Well, I've been eating a LOT of onions and garlic, and I think the garlic is the main offender. I ate sauteed onions, a clove of pre-minced garlic, and a whole clove of raw garlic in my portion of the edamame pesto last night, and I ended up curled up in the fetal position from around 6:30 until 10 when I decided to go up to the bed. Then I slept until it was time to get up for work, and I felt mostly better when I woke up. I'm guessing it's because I was done digesting. I've noticed that when I get the digestion pains, they're coupled with shortness of breath and what feels like a racing heart. I found this site, and now it seems to all make sense: http://tribes.tribe.net/onion-free/thread/1a0fb816-d54c-48dd-8e38-b94f9c4a424e.

Anyhow, here is the offending dish, which is from Isa Chandra Moskowtiz's low-fat vegan cookbook, Appetite for Reduction. It was EXCELLENT, despite what my digestive system thought of it. :)