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A woman in the United States can, reportedly, only eat nine foods — because she suffers from an immunological condition that results in hundreds of food allergies. According to an Independent report, Jenna Gestetner has been having reactions to foods that cause her to experience intense cramping pains, bloating, nausea, and frequent malaise ever since she was a child. As such, she has been strictly following an elimination diet or removing those foods from her diet that don’t suit her.
Jenna is now only able to eat turkey, mahi mahi, cucumber, green beans, zucchini, olive oil, salt, lime, and glucose supplements. “I can only eat nine foods, so this is what it is like for me to go grocery shopping with so many allergies,” Jenna captioned a post on Instagram.
In another post, the TikToker also recalled that while she started working out consistently three years ago, constant flareups have made it exhausting for her now.
“This past summer, I was weightlifting every single day. I felt amazing, and looked forward to the part of the day where I went to the gym. In the past few months, I have had several flare ups of my chronic illnesses which have made it increasingly difficult to exercise. I no longer feel good after weightlifting, most of the time it exhausts me. I had to let go of the idea that if I stopped working out everyday, I was loosing that routine I worked so hard to have. Instead of giving it all up completely, I made a new routine. Now I workout 3-4 times a week and try different workout to see what I like,” she shared.
According to the report, Jenna was officially diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) in March 2021 after travelling across the country to meet with a specialist. A series of blood and urine tests confirmed it as MCAS.
What is this rare condition all about?
MCAS is a chronic condition in which the mast cells that play a role in allergic reactions, release too many chemical mediators, leading to symptoms such as flushing, hives, itching, stomach pain, and difficulty breathing, said Dr J Anish Anand, consultant, internal medicine, Apollo Hospitals, Jubilee Hills.
“MCAS can occur as a standalone condition or in conjunction with other conditions like anaphylaxis, mastocytosis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Diagnosis of MCAS involves a thorough medical evaluation, a patient history, and laboratory tests to measure mast cell mediator levels,” Dr Anish told indianexpress.com.
Adding that it is an “extremely rare condition”, Dr Meghana Potluri, consultant – allergy and immunology, Manipal Hospital, Varthur, Bangalore said that it affects less than one per cent of the population. “For diagnosis, it is important to know the proper history and serum tryptase levels. Besides that, the Kit d816v test is also required to be tested. In some cases, bone marrow biopsy is also essential. As there is no cure for it, the only available treatment for this illness is symptomatic treatment,” Dr Potluri told indianexpress.com.
A few symptomatic forms of treatment are anti-histamines, steroids, drugs like Montelukast, and Omalizumab. “Avoidance of the triggering food items does help,” Dr Potluri.
Stressing that “there is no cure for the condition”, Dr Shrey Srivastav, MD (Internal Medicine), Sharda Hospital shared a few measures that can help:
*Adopting a low histamine diet.
*Avoiding triggers of MCAS (non-food items)
*Working on your gut health
*Stabilising mast cell mediator release
*Using H1 and H2 blockers every 12 hours.
*Blocking and reducing night time histamine release.
*Treating existing infections.
*Taking helpful nutrients
*Reducing stress
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