A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
Paleo Exception #26: Kissing
Say you're going to kiss someone. But that someone has just eaten a bag of strongly flavored grains or grain-products. Namely, Ranch Doritos. What do you do?
- The Context: You've never kissed this girl before tonight. She's cute, likes dogs, and eats meat -- what's not to like? However, you did kiss her earlier in the evening, right before leaving the venue -- just to remove the tension, avoid the awkwardness around needlessly splitting a cab (Here, let me get in this taxi with you that is going in the exact opposite direction I am going), being forced to make a move on the busy sidewalk, or having to sit it out until next time. So kissing right now isn't an imperative. It's all gravy. Cool Ranch flavored gravy.
- Timing: You're not catching her mid-bite, so it's not as if she still has any substantial amount of grains or grain-products in her mouth. That said, you can bet you're gonna taste that zesty Doritos boldness, so there's technically still some there, right? (Note: The Mid-Bite Kiss would be a highly unconventional, but nonetheless interesting move -- so clearly doomed to fail at getting a kiss that it would almost certainly succeed at getting a laugh. Requires high levels of confidence and a good sense of humor. Not ideal for first kiss.)
- Health Concerns: Due to the negligible amount of Doritos that you will likely ingest, it should not provoke a strong glycemic response from your body. You don't count calories, but they would be minimal, and may even be net negative when you factor in your increased heart rate and interval training (roving hands repeatedly getting slapped away). You aren't celiac, so trace amounts of gluten aren't an issue. On the plus side, kissing is good for your health, right? There must be a study that says that somewhere.
Note: If you are allergic to the food item eaten by the person you are going to kiss, you should abstain, or politely ask them to brush their teeth. You could even carry a spare toothbrush, depending on how desperate you are to kiss someone. (My cousin is allergic to peanuts, and couldn't kiss her boyfriend if he had eaten peanuts recently. She's now married to a guy who is also allergic to peanuts. Never has that dude been so happy to have a food allergy.)
- Long-Term Implications: Should you really be kissing girls that don't share you core, fundamental values? Isn't the foundation of a healthy relationship a set of common beliefs on things like snack foods and what to have for dinner? Shouldn't we strive to be like those vegansexuals who only have sex with other vegans? Would it not be a grand statement and inducement to eat paleo if I were only to kiss girls who also ate paleo?
No, no, no, and definitely not. But don't expect to see me neckin' with some vegan. Even you, Natalie Portman.

Comments
I personally could never date
I personally could never date anyone who didnt share the paleo diet. It would be too hard. They would want me to cook rice, pasta, and I would foresee many fights about how much meat/fat I consume. I just could never do it. Im glad Im with someone who embraces the lifestyle as much as I do. It makes life so much easier.
LOL - funny post. My two
LOL - funny post. My two cents? Enjoy the kiss and, if a relationships blossoms, help wean her off the junk food!
I'm with Mark! Relationships
I'm with Mark! Relationships are tough enough to figure out without the added stress of possible contamination from ingredients like red 40, blue 1 & yellow 5. (I remember those "What did you just eat?" kisses from both my days as a vegetarian and my days dating a super spicy curry fan.) Good luck with the girl, and better luck with coming up with common ground on what to eat...perhaps you can have periodic Paleo cheat dates, where you drink beer and she eats Doritos...like once in a rare while?
Haha, last time this girl
Haha, last time this girl feeding you cookies, now this! Or is it the same girl?I met a nice girl some time ago, vegetarian, of course!... Before we really hooked up we had a chat about paleo- and vegetarian diets. I said I'm not a food extremist, I do drink cola once in a while, drink some beer, have some bread now and then. Want to keep an eye on my health and weight, and for now 80% paleo is fine for me. And a good vegetarian diet basically is paleo, but just missing some meat and fish ;-)I do respect non-extremist vegetarians, as they actually do think about what they eat, like people in the paleo movement also do, instead of just stuffing your face with whatever tasty stuff you can get your hands on. Don't think she's going to eat fish or meat anytime soon, as she feels sorry for the animals (doesn't even kill bugs in her house, but brings 'em outside). Grok VVIX of Castle Grok seems to do quite ok on his high-exercise, high in fruits, vegetarian experiment. Maybe it's possible to go vegetarian and keep really healthy when eating enough things like avocados for your omega-3 and coconut for some saturated fats? If you want to make a change in the future you need to pass on some info. Could be a meme reproducing and evolving via our brains, no sex and reproduction needed, or via your DNA, which involves some attraction, repulsion, love, fight, hassle and some pleasant physical workout!