Chocolate

I just spent over $100 on a couture chocolate collection. For some reason, this led into a long conversation about restricted diets and limited food consumption, food elimination

 A lot of my friends have developed dietary restrictions. Once upon a time, you were old in your 40s, but it doesn’t seem that way to me now. I have a few friends who are glucose-free, lactose intolerant. I have a friend who caught a rare disease after traveling and is on the FODMAP diet FOR LIFE and another who is stuck on a strict Mofitt diet. And then I have an older friend whose kidney function is poor and is on a strict diet for that.

Austin: A lot of people have food allergies. Imagine if you were allergic to chocolate.

Me: I had a friend who was allergic to chocolate in school.

Austin: Some people have horrible allergies like that. X’s kid was allergic to eggs when he was little. They couldn’t have eggs for a long time. You’re the only person I know allergic to coffee.

Me: I know a couple of people, besides me. But they drink it anyway.

Austin: Really? I know more people allergic to chocolate. But seriously, imagine it. If you had to give up chocolate. You life depended on it. You would die if you ate chocolate.

And I did think about it. Because continued from above, I also have a lot of friends with diabetes. My entire life I’ve known people with diabetes. My grandmother was diabetic and baked cakes for a living and… um, the doctor would have to give her long heart-to-hearts. And a couple of years ago a friend died of heart disease because he couldn’t get his diet in line. 

And on and on and on.

Me: I would die.