While on a trip abroad, a woman discovered that eating a local street food dish led to the onset of a chronic disease with no cure.
On TikTok, user @ellaaa_rhian posted a video, showing herself laughing while lounging on a beach. The caption read: “She doesn’t know it yet but on this holiday she’s going to eat street food and get food poisoning, which will trigger an autoimmune disease with no cure which will make her chronically ill for the rest of her life.”
After posting the video, Ella received an overwhelming response from followers curious about the nature of her illness and the specific food that caused her condition.
Ella explained, “I have ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory bowel disease, it’s in the same family as Crohns.”
She clarified the distinction, “It’s not to be confused with IBS, IBS is just your stomach, IBD is an autoimmune disease so it comes with a lot of other problems in your body.
“Chronic fatigue, joint pain, I get really dry eyes, I get super ill, I got almost sepsis from a mosquito bite.
“It has no cure, there are so many autoimmune diseases.”
This chronic condition involves inflammation and ulcers forming in the colon.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, those with ulcerative colitis typically experience flare-ups that alternate with periods of remission.
The symptoms can worsen over time and initially manifest as diarrhea, increased bowel movements, urgent bowel movements, tenesmus, and abdominal pain.
While the exact cause of ulcerative colitis is multifaceted, researchers agree it stems from an overactive immune system mistakenly targeting the body itself.
Ella shared that many were eager to know which country she was visiting and the specific food that led to her health issues.
She stated, “It doesn’t matter where I was or what I ate, I’m genetically predisposed to getting autoimmune diseases, it was laying dormant obviously and I had no idea,” she said.
“It’s not a dirty country… if someone from that country ate what I ate they would be perfectly fine I’m sure.
“I was in Vietnam for my cousin’s wedding. There’s two things I think it could have been, I ate a banh mi off the side of the road from a food cart – they’re everywhere, it’s not unusual to do that.”
Ella mentioned the food wasn’t hot at the time of consumption, but she initially felt fine afterward.
Two days after, Ella attended her cousin’s wedding and ate lobster, which was served hot.
“The next night was when I started feeling unwell,” she recounted.
“The lobster was piping hot and it was cooked through, but those are the two things… one was uncooked, and one was something that I don’t usually eat.”