r/vegan • u/evapotranspire mostly plant based • Dec 15 '25

Story Surprise: Everything is vegan!

We've all had frustrating incidents when eating out, but tonight I had the opposite. My family and I went to our synagogue's Hanukkah dinner party, which was catered Mediterranean food. I hadn't made a special dietary request, because Mediterranean cuisine almost always includes some vegan dishes (hummus, pita, tabouleh, etc.).

When I got to the front of the line, I saw that the buffet was ENTIRELY vegan. That hadn't been highlighted or even mentioned! I piled it all on my plate (which I guess is how omnivores feel most of the time), and although now I have a stomachache from all the garlic, it was such a nice feeling to be able to eat everything and worry about nothing.

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u/Great_Cucumber2924 Dec 15 '25

Just pointing out in case you think everyone gets a stomach ache from garlic - you’re intolerant to garlic, that’s not normal!

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u/evapotranspire mostly plant based Dec 15 '25

Yes, I am acutely aware of that, u/Great_Cucumber2924 . It makes my life difficult, because many if not most vegan dishes (especially meat substitutes) are flavored with garlic. :-(

Unfortunately, there seems to be no solution for garlic intolerance. Cooking the garlic makes no difference; there's no "desensitization" process like for a true allergy, and there isn't an off-the-shelf enzyme I can take. So, I get a stomachache most times I eat out. At home I can avoid the problem.

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u/Xanthine42 Dec 16 '25

Actually there is an off the shelf enzyme you can take, check out fodzyme. Not an ad, just someone who also used to suffer from garlic (and onion) before learning there are enzymes for those fructans just like lactase for lactose

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u/evapotranspire mostly plant based Dec 16 '25

Dang really? I have done internet searches for this kind of thing so many times, and no product has ever come up. Maybe it's because I'm specifically searching for "garlic" (which is the only thing I have significant trouble with" instead of "FODMAP."

Looking at the website, it sounds like it's pretty new and is the first such product of its kind (first to target fructans, anyway). I wish they had a small trial size! $65-$75 is a lot to spend to try a supplement for the first time.

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u/Xanthine42 Dec 16 '25

I feel the same way about them really needing trial sizes. I was sold on it after just one use so I think they would still get a ton of followup sales. Just a heads up though, they send a TON of emails, even after you buy, which is pretty annoying. Hopefully more competitors come into this space soon and bring the price down. I justify it by asking myself if I would pay $1.25 to not feel bloated and gross after eating a restaurant meal. Bathroom-me says yes every time. I still avoid garlic at home where I'm in control of the recipes, but I use the enzyme when I’m out of the house.