Allergies!

Also here's an interesting tidbit I bet you didn't know: transplant recipients inherit not just the blood type (e.g. O+) of the donor, but also any allergies. That's right, I've read stories where the transplant patient had a successful transplant and then contacted the donor to say, "Thanks for the stem cells, the transplant went great. By the way, are you allergic to peanut butter? Because I can't eat it anymore." And they find out the donor had an allergy to peanut butter!

I've never had any allergies, so I'm not even sure what to expect here. I also know it's totally trivial to be worrying about something like this in the grand scheme of things. But it's still kind of interesting. What if the donor didn't tell anyone they were allergic to peanuts and the patient died because they had some nuts after the transplant? Or what if I inherited other things from the donor, like a love of classical music and literature? The mind can only wonder...

By the way I went cold-turkey on sodas and soft drinks and fast food a few weeks ago, and it feels great. For as long as I can remember I've had a Coke or soft drink at least once a day. Now they just taste syrupy and acidic.