Nicole ate spicy pickle pizza, pickle egg rolls, and a pickle cannoli, and drank pickle lemonade (3/25)

“Reading the comments from viewers made me realize everyone on TikTok thinks they’re a doctor,” she expressed.

Virtually any food can cause true allergies, including pickled fruits or vegetables, Dr. Maria Garcia-Lloret, who works in the Division of Pediatric Allergy and at UCLA School of Medicine, told Bored Panda via email.

“Cucumber is a recognized food allergen. Not a very common occurrence but still real,” Dr. Garcia-Lloret explained.

However, swelling after consuming a certain food isn’t necessarily an indicator of a food allergy. “Adverse food reactions are not always ‘allergic’, in other words, an individual can experience symptoms that include swelling or itchiness of the mouth  or abdominal pain for reasons that have more to do with the characteristics of the food  (alcohol, capsaicin, anisakis, etc) than with an allergic reaction.

“Treatment starts by identifying whether this was a true allergic reaction (IgE mediated). In that case, antihistamines are the first line of treatment for mild reactions . In more severe cases, epinephrine may be needed to halt the progression to anaphylaxis [a life-threatening allergic reaction that blocks your breathing].”