By Carmen Rioja

 

“Flee moon, moon, moon.

If the gypsies came,

they would do with your heart

white necklaces and rings. “

Federico Garcia Lorca

 

It seems to me that if the moon were made of cheese, Elon Musk would have already eaten it in pieces or sold it to us in Bitcoins. Unless you were lactose intolerant like me. Although perhaps the cheese of the moon has another type of lactic protein to which I will not be intolerant.

 

Health has some areas of resilience and others of tremendous fragility, depending on each individual. In my case, it would be enough if they left me a supply of cheese every week for me to die. I could not stop eating them.

 

Sometimes resilience consists of staying alive despite ourselves and the stubbornness of continuing to do what hurts us.

 

My grandmother who was unhappy but too religious to commit suicide, she tried to die “naturally” by consuming sugar even though she knew she was diabetic. When she got angry with her adult children, she went to the little store to buy a Coca-Cola that she drank almost in one gulp. Naturally they found her languid or flat out fainted and had to be taken to the hospital. However, it took almost eighty years for her body to say enough with sugar. In the end, already senile demented, she accomplished her task by ingesting a whole bag of fluffy white and pink mushmelows that she stole from the youngest of her great-granddaughters.

 

I believe that it is better to respect the intolerances of the body that are presented as timely warnings. The ration is also an element to observe. It is not the same to eat a bite of cheese every now and then than a half moon of cheese in one sitting because you miss it too much.

 

Almost all foods become toxic to the body when we eat too much.

 

Food intolerances and allergies, which are more serious, can be varied and appear at different times in life. I ate cheese a lot until I was thirty. Now I have to settle for tastes.

 

For this reason, there are those who can only eat vegan “cheese” made with pea paste, white lentils, or the most popular made from potatoes.

 

For all palates and food sensitivities in San Miguel de Allende we have a delicatessen and cafeteria that neither Obama has: Luna De Queso Deli. The first time I entered it was to buy a gift for the sculptor Laura Begoña, I felt angelic choirs singing as soon as I crossed the doorway. Then I went back with my dad who became a fan of the green juice and the chilaquiles in a bowl with a spectacular golden crust of gratin cheese.

 

Another option for lactose intolerant are the cheeses from La Factoría A2A2 Lácteos Artesanales in Querétaro. The theory is that A2A2 protein cow’s milk does not cause the intolerances that other types of protein do.

 

Common symptoms of intolerances can range from hives and itching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hypotension, chills, generalized inflammation, among others.

 

Once a food sensitivity has been identified, available treatments range from completely eradicating said food, looking for healthy substitutes, or there are also micro-dose immunization treatments that establish a minimal but sufficient regular exposure to create resistance little by little. Both the diagnosis and the treatment must be prescribed and supervised by a specialist doctor. The methodology to identify the individual case and its possible remission is complex and requires constant observation. In such a way that we do not unnecessarily dispense with foods rich in essential nutrients or present deficiencies as a result of a misinterpretation of the symptoms. For example, sometimes an intolerance can be the reaction to a preservative present in a food and not to the food itself or to the combination of different components, it can even vary if the food is raw, cooked or processed in a certain way.

 

If the moon were made of cheese, it is better that gluttony does not win us, and that we are intolerant or not every day more aware of observing and limiting ourselves. Be less stubborn before throwing ourselves into wild consumerism.

 

Wanting less and looking more, so as not to be the gypsies who will make white necklaces and rings from the moon.

 

Carmen Rioja, Mexican artist who specialized in art restoration, and creative workshops. She likes to write stories and poems and throw them in imaginary bottles into the sea. Carmen has published the books La Muerte Niña and Rojo 43.