to cause reactions ranging from mild to potentially life-threatening. Some of the pro-
teins found naturally in latex also occur naturally in foods from plants such as avocados,
bananas, chestnuts, kiwi fruit, tomatoes, and food and diet sodas sweetened with aspar-
tame. Persons sensitive to these foods are likely to be sensitive to latex as well. NOTE: The
National Institute of Health Sciences, in Japan, also lists the following foods as suspect:
Almonds, apples, apricots, bamboo shoots, bell peppers, buckwheat, cantaloupe, carrots,
celery, cherries, chestnuts, coconut, figs, grapefruit, lettuce, loquat, mangoes, mushrooms,
mustard, nectarines, oranges, passion fruit, papaya, peaches, peanuts, peppermint, pine-
apples, potatoes, soybeans, strawberries, walnuts, and watermelon.
Food/Drug Interactions
MAO inhibitors. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors are drugs used as antidepressants
or antihypertensives. They inhibit the action of enzymes that break down the amino acid
tyramine so it can be eliminated from the body. Tyramine is a pressor amine, a chemical
that constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. If you eat a food such as avocado that
contains tyramine while you are taking an MAO inhibitor you cannot eliminate the pressor
amine, and the result may be abnormally high blood pressure or a hypertensive crisis (sus-
tained elevated blood pressure).
False-positive test for tumors. Carcinoid tumors (which may arise from tissues in the endo-
crine system, the intestines, or the lungs) secrete serotonin, a natural chemical that makes
blood vessels expand or contract. Because serotonin is excreted in urine, these tumors are
diagnosed by measuring the levels of serotonin by-products in the urine. Avocados contain
large amounts of serotonin; eating them in the three days before a test for an endocrine
tumor might produce a false-positive result, suggesting that you have the tumor when in
fact you don’t. (Other foods high in serotonin are bananas, eggplant, pineapples, plums,
tomatoes, and walnuts.)
Avocados