Like some twisted joke, Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) flares up from stress, adolescent skin wounds or your Aunt Sally's winter cold. Yet, in the weird lottery of life, some folks also get food as their unwelcome special trigger. Even if it's not a tripped wire, big meals or stressing over that vegan, gluten-free, antigravity upside-down cake might make your HAE symptoms worse. Enter Dr. Inderpal Randhawa, a certified allergist and immunologist with the make and model to match his nameplate at the Food Allergy Institute in Long Beach, California.

In this chaos, there’s no HAE-specific diet-no kale-infused unicorn tears or moon-harvested lentils-that would guard against attacks. But we can tweak our grub habits to sabotage the HAE beast, or sweeten our discomfort while wrestling with one.

HAE attacks were thought to be the result of all-you-can-eat buffets of certain allergenic foods. So, as the logic went, HAE "'round the buffet table" was an allergic reaction: the body released antibodies - the "bouncers" - to show these allergenic gatecrashers the door. But after subsequent blood tests came out negative for these antibodies, we had to rethink our culprit. The true villain, it seems, is food intolerance, the pesky cousin of food allergies.

Food intolerance gives you a backstage pass to the bloating concert, which hugs your intestines like a boa constrictor-an HAE sufferer's nightmare come true after munching on their trigger grub. In case you're wondering why Aunt Sally's holiday signature milkshake gives you the HAE heebie-jeebies, it's because you might be lactose intolerant.

Spiller alert: there's no organized roster of food villains terrorizing HAE heroes. Still, some research makes the lineup with suspects like apples, bread, chili, peanuts, shrimp, and strawberries. Acidic and spicy criminals also have a rap sheet with HAE symptoms. You're the detective here, so keep a food journal (or use an app, you tech-savvy gumshoe) to see who's inflaming your insides.

Some food items might worsen HAE due to histamine, an inflammatory chemical compound released by your immune system. People who are histamine-intolerant may benefit from lower histamine levels in their menu. Om nom foods like almonds, blueberries, olive oil, and salmon come with low histamine tags, although there’s no scientific ribbon wrapping this theory yet.

Dr. Randhawa's prescription? Keep hydrated, steer clear from your known trigger food list, and fuel up on nutritious, simple meals. They may help reduce the risk of an HAE attack, as well as soothe the discomfort. Choosing food during an HAE episode can be as pleasing as wrestling with a bull, thanks to symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. When your belly is playing the HAE blues, stick with soft spoken “good guys” like clear broths, plain rice, and bananas.

Keeping a healthy diet is as crucial as Gandalf in your battle against HAE. Heart-healthy munching is especially important since some gloomy research links an increased risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure, to HAE. The Mediterranean diet, gold star student of heart health, is also chock full of low histamine foods (cue olive oil and salmon).

Talk to your doctor or dietitian if you're confused or need help formulating your battle plan against HAE. They can tailor a meal strategy that suits your palette and HAE condition, cause let's face it, kale is too damn leafy.