Lots of women here have shared in various threads that when they eat certain foods, their bodies respond in specific ways. I can't always make that connection between diet and response, especially if the reaction comes several hours or even days later. So I thought it would be interesting to gather all of those food stories into one thread where we could share how different foods affect us in specific ways; e.g., does a certain food give you headaches, make you anxious, give you energy, make you jittery, diminish your memory, increase your memory...both the good and bad would probably be beneficial; what do you think?

Usually I find that if I forget to eat some veggie / fresh fruit on a day, I don't feel completely well/at least I feel something is missing.

And most definitely eating both regularily plus frequent exercise means washroom visits are regular and I get rid of unnecessary fibre/toxins..usually early in the morning.

I can only drink 1/2 glass of wine or less. My body definitely cannot take more alcohol without me feeling drunk fast enough.

I am careful about the type of ginseng tea that I drink. Once I drank a red ginseng tea that I got from a coffee shop..man, I felt unwell for 15 min.

I cannot drink espresso nor cappicinos --such concentrated caffeine puts my system in overdrive. But admittedly I do drink lot of coffee and tea each day. At least 2-3 cups per day with just milk. If I drink too much coffee or tea, I actually feel more tired/exhausted...it's almost as if too much caffeine tires me out.

If I do bike/exercise for several hrs. in advance, I do try to eat a few things. But no need for me to go into details here. Except I'm not the sort of person that drinks tons of water for exercise. It just induces me to run to the washroom more frequently than I want.

Now I can taste homogenized an 2% milk, which clearly taste "fattier" to me..after daily small amounts of skim milk in oatmeal, coffee, etc.

If I have food cooked with too much butter, I seem to get abit of diaharrea.. we do not buy/keep butter at home. Might do it only once annually, if that. For a special dish, etc.

EH, I know I told you elsewhere that I'm allergic to certain foods. Here are the reactions I know I have.

(people think I'm nuts, but this happens consistently. I've made these observations for 7 years now. ):

black pepper, eggs, cane sugar, kidney beans, pinto beans, almonds, celery, corn product, safflower oil, yeast (I eat sourdough bread made with non-yeast starter): in about 10 minutes I'll feel so tired I can't keep my eyes open, like I've got narcolepsy. Once we were at a museum (there was black pepper on my broccoli in the cafeteria), and I found a bench and took a 15 minute nap. However...then I'm wide awake, and don't sleep that night at ALL. Occasionally I can have organic eggs and egg whites, but never more than a couple days in a row in very small doses.

Red tomatoes prevent me from sleeping at night. Yellow ones are okay.

Meat and dairy that contain hormones and anything made with soy: I get hot flashes. Meat and dairy without hormones: no effect whatsoever.

By the way, if I avoid these things, I am NEVER sleepy after a meal, including Thanksgiving -- I cook organic turkey with wild rice stuffing, gravy, etc etc just like everyone else (almost) and never feel tired afterward.

When my husband eats eggs or dairy, he gets congested and coughs and wheezes. I can always tell when he's stopped somewhere for fried chicken, LOL!

I avoid caffeine and alcohol completely, except for chocolate -- I can eat the Endangered Species brand which is made with beet sugar, or the grain sweetened kind.

I don't have any food allergies that I am aware of. When I was a kid, I would break out in hives if I ate eggs. I just kept eating them because I loved them so much and one day the hives stopped. I guess I built up an immunity to them. If I eat too many nuts it tends to constipate me a bit. If I get diarrhea I just eat nuts.

I have an allergy to any kind of alcohol, and even half a glass cause my eyes to close and I'll sleep for hours. Its as if I had been slipped a Mickey!!! All other foods agree too well with me, thus the larger than necessary body!!! It seems since I passed fifty all food goes right to my ample bottom!

Oh lordy chatty, I LOVE that statement "thus the larger than necessary body"...I've got tears running down my face ... your description is much kinder than the one I use to describe me. Mind ifn' I steal it!

You're a hoot honey, a true hoot. You gonna come back and enjoy the TRUE snowstorms, the ones here in colda** Illinois? Looks like we're gonna get the doozy that has been hitting out your way. Gotta tell ya girl, I know you like to share...you're a sweety that way. AND you could have kept this to yourself!

Grin, giggle, guffaw...

I am definetly lactose intolerant. If I eat too much dairy, I get the worse stomach cramps you could ever imagine. I finally realized this after dining at a friend's house one night. I thought about what I'd eaten after I left early and was lying half dead on our bed. This is my friend who makes the most delicious and fattiest food you could ever dream up. Butter, sour cream, cream cheese, cheese, more butter, heavy cream - get the picture? It was indeed that scrumptious food that made me sick. I decided that night that I'd never eat dairy again.

I talked with my doctor about this and he told me something interesting. He said it all has to do with how much dairy you eat during a certain amount of time. The body can only process so much dairy. I thought I couldn't have any dairy, and stayed away from it for months until he told me this. Since, I have occasional cheese, milk, eggs, etc., but I don't go overboard.

I'm sure you've heard this:

Do you live to eat, or do you eat to live? I know my answer. Dag, I'm already thinking about what I'm going to have when I take my elderly neighbor to lunch today, and what food might be at the neighborhood cookie exchange tonight. Help!

Dotsie, I'm also lactose intolerant. I take an lactose enzyme before eating dairy, but even then, I can only eat so much. It's taken me years to figure out how much my body can handle. I can handle some cheese when it's cold without pills, but not when the cheese is melted. Brie is the worst - I can't handle even one small piece, even with a pill.

Even with an extra-strength pill, I can only eat 2 small scoops of ice cream and no other dairy with that same pill. For example, if supper includes a cream soup, cheese sauce for veggies and ice cream or cheesecake for dessert, I have to take one pill for EACH item, as in a pill for the soup, then another pill for the sauce and another one for the dessert - BUT, if they're too close together timewise, my body won't be able to handle it, even with the pills. Sometimes it becomes a real juggling act. You just have to try and figure out how much of certain items your body can handle at one time. We just try not to plan too many dairy items within the same meal or within a certain timeframe.

Did your doctor tell you about lactose enzymes? We buy mine at Costco, Kirkland brand (I think it's the same as Price Club in the US). I can get you the name if you want. Lactaid brand is very good, but more expensive - but to me, it's a necessity of life and was like a miracle drug when I was finally diagnosed with lactose intolerance (it was a 6-hour experience after eating Brie cheese that finally clicked).

Dairy was always my favorite food group, but I've developed some lactose intolerance in the past 5 or 7 years. If I have too much, it's horrible cramps and chest pains that almost feel like a heart attack. I'm OK unless we get a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, and then I know I tend to OD. Too many calories anyhow, so it's better to buy the pints and then Hubbo will scream at me if I eat it all.

I try to avoid sulfites, msg and all artificial sugars. Any of these can trigger a migraine which lasts for days. Other than than, I can't think of anything.

MSG has become quite a problem for me too. Perhaps it always has been, I just never noticed the connection until a couple of years ago. It doesn't give me migraines, but horrible headaches that make parts of my face feel paralyzed. Strange, though, I can eat anything at our regular Chinese buffet and it doesn't have any effect. But msg in tinned gravies, sauces and flavoured potato chips does.

One of hubby's co-workers had problems with her face feeling paralyzed after eating, but she couldn't isolate the culprit. He mentioned my msg experience, she stopped eating msg and the symptoms went away.

Meredith, can you pinpoint what effect sulfites have on you? Is it migraine alone, or can you detect other changes?