A super-fit runner claims chomping on an apple as a pre-run energy boost nearly killed her – as it triggered a rare exercise allergy.
Dea Gagoshidze was track running with friends in August 2025 when she suddenly felt her eye and lips swelling rapidly, but put it down to hay fever. The 29-year-old went to reception to see if they had any antihistamines, but suddenly started struggling to breathe and noticed her hands swelling up.
When Dea fell to the ground and started drifting in and out of consciousness, her worried pals called for an ambulance. Paramedics arrived and gave her an adrenaline shot and she soon started to recover.
Dea, who runs four times a week, admitted it sounded ‘ridiculous’ when they suggested exercise could have triggered the reaction. But tests revealed she has a rare allergy called Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA), an allergy to exercise triggered by eating certain foods.
She can no longer eat the food group of lipid transfer proteins (LTPs), commonly found in fruit, vegetables, nuts, cereals and grains, before exercising otherwise she will go into anaphylaxis. Despite her allergy, she successfully ran the Paris marathon in April 2026, but now has to be ultra-careful as even a sip of a smoothie before pounding the pavements could be dangerous.
She has to run in the mornings on an empty stomach to minimise risk of eating something that could send her into anaphylactic shock. Dea, of Taunton, Somerset, said: “It was very confusing because I wasn’t quite sure what was happening to me.
“I had been running at a track with my friends and I started to feel like my eyes and lips were swelling and that I was a bit itchy. I didn’t really think too much of it because it was in the middle of summer and hay fever is so rife at that point so I just chalked it down to that.
“I walked off the track to go and ask the front desk if they had any antihistamines and grab some water, but then things took a turn very quickly and I ended up going into anaphylaxis. Initially I could just feel everything swelling and I was thinking ‘I can’t breathe’. I was just going in and out of consciousness waiting for the paramedics to come.
“The paramedics arrived and it was quite clear to them that it was anaphylaxis shock. They propped me up, sat me upright against the wall and administered adrenaline and gave me oxygen, I don’t think I realised at the time just how serious it was.”
Initially Dea, who runs and does yoga five times a week, was baffled by the suggestion that her reaction could have been caused by exercise. She said: “I hadn’t eaten six hours before I was running and I said I have no known allergies. The paramedics kept saying ‘it might be the exercise’.
“I just remember feeling so annoyed because I thought ‘it’s not going to be the exercise, what a ridiculous suggestion’. I exercise constantly. I’d never even heard of anyone being allergic to exercise, I thought it was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.
“There’s two types of exercise-induced anaphylaxis and I have the second type where it’s food dependent so there will be a group of foods that you’re allergic to that act as triggers when I eat them and then exercise.
“In my case lipid transfer proteins and it’s the combination of that and exercise that will send you into anaphylaxis, it’s found in almost all fruit, veg, nuts and oats.
“At lunch that day I’d eaten a wrap with paneer and lots of veggies and apples. Given my trigger is lipid transfer proteins it would’ve been the veg and the apple. Apple is particularly high in LPTs so I assume it especially would’ve contributed.”
Planning when she exercises has become much trickier and she and admits it feels ‘isolating’ having to organise so far ahead. The keen runner said: “I can eat LPTs and be absolutely fine, I can exercise and be absolutely fine – I just can’t do the two things in the same time period.
“The other day I was meant to go on a run with a friend. In the morning I tried someone’s smoothie and I was like ‘I can’t even risk exercising because that might be enough to send me into anaphylaxis’. It’s just really annoying and sometimes it feels a bit isolating.”
Sharing her experience to TikTok this month, Dea is keen to spread awareness as allergies can develop at ‘any time.’ She said: “I try and exercise first thing in the morning and not eat but if I am going to do a longer run, I’ll just have a plain bagel with some butter.
“It made marathon training really difficult because the best thing I can do for myself is exercise fasting just to minimise all risk. If I, for example, forget or I’m not super conscious then that’s written off a whole evening of exercise for me. Just be aware that you can develop an allergy at any time. Awareness does save lives.”
WHAT IS FOOD DEPENDANT EXERCISE-INDUCED ANAPHYLAXIS? (Info from Anaphylaxis UK)
Exercise induced anaphylaxis is a type of serious allergic reaction that happens during or after physical activity. It can be brought on by exercise alone but for most people it involves other factors such as eating certain foods or taking certain medication. The most common food groups involved in FDEIA are wheat, shellfish, nuts, eggs and milk.
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