Yes, apparently there really is such a thing as sexually transmitted food allergies. I honestly had no idea, and neither did Lucy Banks, who found out about it the hard way.

OnlyFans model/content creator Lucy Banks is opening up about the rare – but very real – risk of sexually-transmitted food allergies, after a recent physical response to sex with a partner after consuming peanuts.

“A few months ago, I had a TikTok go viral with 4.9 million views where I spoke about how I am anaphylactic to peanuts,” explains Banks. “I was seeing a guy, and we had sex. He finished inside of me and I had an INTERNAL allergic reaction! He had eaten peanuts earlier that day, and it transferred to me through his semen. I didn’t realize at the time that this was possible, but now I want to warn others with serious allergies about this phenomenon.”

Banks notes that food intake and semen quality are more closely linked than previously thought. “We’ve all heard about foods that boost fertility and change the taste of semen, but I had never heard of food allergens transmitting and negatively affecting partners through ejaculation before.”

Indeed, while the first case of an allergic reaction to nuts through sexual intercourse was made public only a decade ago, when a woman in the UK suffered swelling of the skin and shortness of breath within hours of her partner ingesting Brazil nuts, Banks believes that there are many other cases that have occurred where people broke out in post-coital rashes, flushing or hives but didn’t connect the dots to sexually-transmitted antigens.

“Those with minor or moderate allergies most likely won’t notice anything, but if you have a severe anaphylactic reaction to certain foods, then I would take special precautions with your partner to make sure they haven’t eaten anything that could trigger a negative, and possibly serious, response.”

You can follow Lucy Banks on Twitter at @itslucybanks.