Food for Thought

Do you know what this is? This happens to be the most delicious fruit on the face of the earth. It is a mango.

Did you know that mango contains urushiol - an organic oil toxin found in plants such as poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac, as well?

Did you know that contact with the skin of a mango can cause Urushiol-induced contact dermatitis?

For years I've known that I could not eat the most delicious fruit on the planet. Every once in a while I'd cheat. And I'd pay for it with an itchy swollen type rash across my face, so infuriating I'd just want to claw my face off. Pretty picture. So, I've been more careful about staying away from the most delicious fruit on earth.

Last week Jonathan saw some beautiful mangoes at the grocery store and begged for one. I caved. A few days later, after it had ripened, I cut it up for the kids. Since Christmas was coming up and I had a lot to do, I decided to pass on ingesting the most delicious fruit on the planet in order to be functional - and not have to deal with the pain, itchiness, and ugliness it causes.

I DID NOT KNOW that just cutting one up would wreak the havoc it has. I did not know that the urushiol was contained in the oils of the skin of the most delicious fruit on the planet and that I should have scrubbed my hands raw after I handled the most delicious fruit. And, I did not know that it was the same chemical found in poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.

At this point I wish I had eaten some of the most delicious fruit on the planet to make this rash worth it. But no, I never got any joy out of it because I thought that you had to actually ingest it for it to cause problems.

I've researched online some "cures" for this. But alas, there really seem to be none. It's a waiting game with some reporting having the rash for up to 3 weeks. Oh joy. In the past, I've suffered up to 2 weeks. And nothing really works at relieving it except time.

Sigh.