Are all these food allergies real?
Replies
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As far as allergies (to foods, medications, bee stings, what have you) go, developed countries have a much higher incidence than underdeveloped countries. The theory is that people in other countries are exposed to a lot of agents that we are not exposed to. Many parasites, bacteria and other microorganisms are commonly encountered there, but have been mostly eradicated from developed countries like the US. Because we are so sterile and rarely encounter foreign things, our immune systems are overly sensitive and often mount either an allergic or an autoimmune response to innocuous substances. People in underdeveloped countries rarely get allergies or autoimmune disorders, and this is why immunologists believe so.
However, most people who say they have food allergies are actually intolerant, not allergic. I don't really know the physiology behind that as well, but I do know that our bodies can produce antibodies to certain food products, or people can be deficient in certain enzymes needed to metabolize the products, hence the upset stomach, bloating etc. accompanying the food.
Edited to add: Bottom line is immunizations, antibiotics, better hygiene and a generally sterile environment in developed countries could be major contributing factors to the increase in allergies.
One of the things we are missing in thinking about developed countries vs undeveloped countries is how well are records being kept for medical care in countries were people don't see doctors regularly. If a kid has a life threatening allergy in a developing country and has no access to a doctor or hospital -- likelihood says the kid dies when exposed. If someone has celiacs disease in a developing country they just fail to thrive, lose weight, get sick and stay sick. Access to preventive medical care now compared to two generations ago, and in developed countries vs not developed countries is what makes the rate of incidence higher.
I do think some people say allergy, when they mean 'I want attention', but that doesn't mean better detection doesn't lead to more incidents of food allergies being found It also doesn't mean that food allergies shouldn't be taken very seriously.
Also we have the internet and more than regional TV now, so you hear about a might wider variety of stuff like gluten free, that you wouldn't have known about unless someone in your family or neighborhood had it.0 -
It seems insane that in the last few years, everyone is allergic to something. The big thing now is gluten. But, WTF is going on? When I was a kid, no one had any problems (OK, in my whole enitre childhood, there was this one kid that was alergic to peanuts, but that was it). Now, all of the sudden, everyone has some issue with wheat, gluten, dairy, etc....the list goes on. Am I insane? Or, is something happening out there? Aleins perhaps? How have we all survived the past few thousand years? I feel like something is wrong, or people are just being pansies. What's the deal? I'm not looking for smart-*kitten* remarks, I'm looking to be educated. Is there some food epidemic or something? Why is all this stuff suddenly a problem for everyone?
I'm not talking about diets, I'm talking about real food problems.
As an example, someone I know stopped eating gluten and says he fels so much better. But, that's totally not scientific. I keep asking if something was wrong or what? He just said he was having "issues" (of course, it's undefined), and he stopped eating gluten and now he feels good. But, to me, that's not a real issue. Since his problem isn't well defined, and because he doesn't really know if it was the gluten, or if it's something else. So, this is kind of what I mean. People self-diagnose, but is the problem real. Ya know?
When my son was young, the doctor told us he might be lactose intolerant. So, now his mom keeps telling him that, and he believes it, but he's never been tested. It's this kind of BS that I'm talking about. He is growing up thinking he is actually lactose intolerant, but has absolutely not one shred of evidence. I call BS, and serve him ice cream, and he eats it with no problem. This is what I'm talking about.
People are making this stuff up. I know not in all cases, but as I look around, many people are making it up, but it's not real. But, more and more there are more people saying they have some kind of allergy or intolerance, or whatever to something.
Are there studies about what's going on?
The naturopaths have known about this problem for some time. As a people, we have VERY poor gut health. We do not eat food right from the garden or the orchard with just a rinse (like our ancestors did). Because of that, we don't get the soil bacteria necessary to establish a matrix for the acidophilus bacteria (the good bacteria) to colonize the intestines---and it just goes downhill from there. We eat way too many highly processed foods---especially starches and sugars. It causes the already bacteria-impoverished gut to be overrun with yeasts and other undesirable organisms. Yeast in particular are ugly in their habits as, at a mature colony stage, they start putting out little stringy things called "filaria" (in a healthy gut, acidophilus bacteria keep the yeasts in check). These filaria can perforate the gut wall and spill some molecules of food into the blood stream--and, since your blood stream was NOT meant to carry ANY molecules of food unprocessed by the digestive system, the immune system goes to town trying to destroy the "alien invaders" and says to itself, I will always react to these "aliens" by inflaming the intestine, and then passing inflammatory cytokines (an immune system defense) into the bloodstream. And a food allergy (or intolerance if it is a milder reaction) is thus born. That is why squalene in vaccines is such a serious issue. Squalene is a fraction of vegetable oil. In a healthy gut, it doesn't do any harm, but introduce it into your blood stream with a vaccine and you've got trouble.
There is also a problem with modern wheats (there isn't just one kind) in that they have been specifically bred to have a high gluten content. The human gut is not particularly good at digesting gluten. We can handle it in small amounts but we eat a large amount of wheat in the typical American diet. In addition, because of the "fast rise" method of modern commercial bakeries, much of the gluten that could be converted into more digestible substances, passes right through to the finished bread. In the old days, mama (when the women of the house made the bread) would use a slow rise method that has been used for centuries to raise the bread---and they would often use a bacterial process (sourdough) rather than yeast. They used the older forms of wheat with its lower gluten content, and the slower rising meant that much more of the gluten that was there was converted by the bacteria or yeast into more digestible substances. All of these facts add up to a lot of digestive problems. Undigested gluten enters the large intestine and bacteria there digest it but food is not supposed to be digested in the large bowel---it is supposed to be digested before it gets there. So gas, bloating (from bacterial processes in the colon) etc. is the result.
When you add to all these problems, the heavy load of chemicals that we get (pesticides, herbicides, additives of one sort or another) it is a wonder that even more people are not ill with these kinds of problems.:sick:0 -
Oh, yes indeedy, food allergies do appear to be on the rise; but as someone stated earlier I think it's due to us all being more aware.
I do have very bad reactions to certain foods - especially dairy (one of the reasons for my veganism;-) ) but in a restaurant if asked I will always say 'vegan' first, rather than allergic/intolerant.
Eggs (after roughly 5 to 10 mins) in anything would result in a hospital visit, cheese would equal an immediate and prolonged migraine, cow's milk would result in throat closure within three to five minutes after ingestion and for some weird reason, as a child anchovies gave me a rash that looked as though measles had visited - and lucozade (remember that one?) would result in instant vomiting . . . and those last two are from the 'seventies ;-). Then again, my sister has asthma and is allergic to several types of grass/plant so the allergies/intolerances are definitely there - it's simply that most people are more aware AND that the reactions of others are not what they would have been twenty or thirty years ago . . .0 -
If eating something caused your whole body to break out in large, intolerably itchy welts you would not be questioning this and you would see how illogical and ignorant it is when people that do not have allergies complain about other people's allergies (it has no bearing on your life). It's not being a pansy to not want to be covered in itchy welts (they itch and they are not good looking and it's difficult to sleep when you wake up itching non-stop).
Yes, there has been an increase in allergies and it is not scientifically understood why yet. There has also been an increase in autism and that is not scientifically understood why either (are the autistic kids faking it, no). There are lots of things like that. People will try to give you answers, but it's just a stab in the dark at this point (like when people incorrectly correlated autism to vaccines).0 -
I think the explosion in IVF and that ilk is helping keep genetic codes surviving when they should be dying out. You have a couple who can't get pregnant via intercourse, so they spend $$$ to get his sperm and her eggs mixed in a dish and implanted in a uterus to have the kid(s) they've wanted. I'm not bashing on IVF, just pointing out that maybe people who can't get pregnant "naturally" shouldn't muck around.
*awaits flaming*
bahahahaha ok I was JUST having this conversation with someone (it stemmed from me saying I don't want kids even though I'm fairly certain given my sister & my inlaws that I probably would have no trouble getting pregnant, and then discussing why some people don't adopt rather than pay all that money to try and get pregnant) I mean I guess if you have the money and you want a kid that bad I guess go for it but you have to wonder if maybe there's a reason. And not saying that that person is a terrible person or anything but maybe there was something that shouldn't have been carried on. For example one of my favorite customers at work was a carrier for sickle cell anemia and so is his wife, they tried for YEARS to have a baby (I don't believe they went the IVF route, but there were fertility treatments and several miscarriages) and their son (because both parents were carriers and didn't know it) has sickle cell anemia. Now that boy is sweet and loving and very intelligent but he spends probably a combined 2 months a year in the hospital and another 2-3 in bed sick because of his disease. Had the parent's been tested prior to putting all that effort into having him I wonder if they would have had him.
as for my 2 cents: I believe that while there are legitimate food allergies and mental disorders like ADD and some people just have them (ADD runs in my family back several generations to before it was actually a thing) there are also a LOT of misdiagnosed people. For example I a have a friend who decided the reason she gained weight in her stomach (a mother of two aged 45) and had trouble losing it was because she was gluten intolerant. She is NOT allergic, and does NOT have celiac, she got herself tested by several doctors before finding a chiropractor who told her she was gluten intolerant and oh by the way really needed to take the supplements he was selling and buy the "lifestyle change" book and have his chiropractic procedures done to her. Phase 1 of his book was a "detox" during which you "rid your body of all of the toxins and gluten that have built up over time" during this phase you must eat only organic fish & chicken and only eat from his list of cleansing vegetables (I did the math, it amounted to about 900-1100 calories per day of fish, chicken & veggies, no fruit,no dairy, no wheat, no sugar, no caffeine, and only 2 tbs of approved oils and one serving of nuts). And oh by the way if you'd like to buy this wonderful cookbook it has all of the Phase 1 recipes! And to help here is a fabulous detoxing tea you can buy! and this green smoothie! and these Vitamins!
During the two weeks of Phase 1 she lost an incredible 7 lbs! She looked great! OBVIOUSLY this whole time she has been poisoning herself which the toxic gluten! Her beliefs were confirmed and she was on the road living a full complete life with a new shot at youth now that the evil gluten was gone from her diet. (she has now moved on to promoting Zija and recently announced on Facebook that the reason that crazy guy in Colorado shot up that movie theater and that Sandusky molested those kids at Penn State was because of a build of of toxins in their guts from eating gluten & the dyes, pesticides and hormones in their foods).
I think the problem is multi-faceted. I think on one hand people are becoming more aware of what they eat and its effect on their bodies, I think ABSOLUTELY the obsessive need to sanitize everything is creating generations of kids who's immune systems are not going to be able to handle it when something like the swine flu really does reach epidemic proportions. I think people really really want a reason to blame for their lack of control of their bodies and if that reason comes with a silver bullet, whatever the price, they're willing to pay for it. I think its become almost trendy to have an "intolerance" to something. I know the foods we eat are not the foods our grandaddies ate and I'm scared that all the messing around big corporations are doing to their foods is going to go wrong and we're going to wind up in a bad place. I unfortunately do not think anything is going to change any time soon though, too many corrupt people are in positions of power where they can cover things up rather than miss out on a quick profit.0 -
First, there is a difference between an 'allergy' and an 'intolerance'. People can be intolerant to something, but not allergic. Basically they're body doesn't handle a particular food well, so they feel sick when they eat it. That doesn't make it a true allergy.
On to true allergies. Yes, it's real. Yes, the incidence has increased. No, we don't know why. Lots of theories exist. It could be that many people delay solid food these days due to recommendations to breast feed exclusively for 6 months minimum. It could be that our food is more processed than it used to be and that is causing issues. Or how we process it. Or that people eat a greater variety of food now and are more likely to encounter an allergy than they used to be.
If you can come up with the answer, you'd be rich.
The reason why it is a good idea to exclusively breast feed an infant for up to one year is that many a food allergy or intolerance takes root in the first year because the infant's incomplete digestive system is not ready to digest anything but breast milk until it matures (anywhere from 9 months to a year). They used to start giving infant's cereal at 3 months and didn't understand that wheat, in particular, (but other grains as well) was a digestive problem for a three-month old infant. Pediatricians used to say that whatever you feed an infant in the first year is that which he or she is likely to become intolerant or allergic. Now, they urge women to breastfeed exclusively for the first year and avoid cow's milk (as that is one of the most common allergies). Other typical foods that trigger problems are wheat, eggs, citrus, and tomatoes. I remember being told that I could feed my 8 month old nephew lasagne at a wedding once. Startled, I questioned my sister-in-law about it and she said, "I have been feeding him pasta since he was three months old---it is really not a problem!" He is now allergic to tomatoes, cow's milk and wheat. A connection? Many naturopaths would say yes.0 -
Totally personal opinion, but I think we've trashed our immune systems until they react to everything under the sun because they're not exposed to anything to build them in early childhood.
When I was a kid (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we played outside, dropped our cookies in the dirt and ate 'em, crawled around floors that were not disinfected to within an inch of their lives. I teethed on my Dad's tobacco pouch. Our immune systems got exposure and became robust. I have friends now who make us use hand-sanitizer before we can hold their baby.
and this^^^
we need to get sick, our immune system needs to build up
absolutely! my husband and I both had parents with similar "you're not that sick, go to school" mindsets. we played outside, ate outside ect... and while I do remember getting colds & having tonsillitis a lot as a kid now that I'm grown I pretty much never miss work from being sick, I get the flu maybe once every 4-5 years and I never get the shot. over sanitizing everything is not healthy at all!0 -
It seems insane that in the last few years, everyone is allergic to something. The big thing now is gluten. But, WTF is going on? When I was a kid, no one had any problems (OK, in my whole enitre childhood, there was this one kid that was alergic to peanuts, but that was it). Now, all of the sudden, everyone has some issue with wheat, gluten, dairy, etc....the list goes on. Am I insane? Or, is something happening out there? Aleins perhaps? How have we all survived the past few thousand years? I feel like something is wrong, or people are just being pansies. What's the deal? I'm not looking for smart-*kitten* remarks, I'm looking to be educated. Is there some food epidemic or something? Why is all this stuff suddenly a problem for everyone?
I'm not talking about diets, I'm talking about real food problems.
As an example, someone I know stopped eating gluten and says he fels so much better. But, that's totally not scientific. I keep asking if something was wrong or what? He just said he was having "issues" (of course, it's undefined), and he stopped eating gluten and now he feels good. But, to me, that's not a real issue. Since his problem isn't well defined, and because he doesn't really know if it was the gluten, or if it's something else. So, this is kind of what I mean. People self-diagnose, but is the problem real. Ya know?
When my son was young, the doctor told us he might be lactose intolerant. So, now his mom keeps telling him that, and he believes it, but he's never been tested. It's this kind of BS that I'm talking about. He is growing up thinking he is actually lactose intolerant, but has absolutely not one shred of evidence. I call BS, and serve him ice cream, and he eats it with no problem. This is what I'm talking about.
People are making this stuff up. I know not in all cases, but as I look around, many people are making it up, but it's not real. But, more and more there are more people saying they have some kind of allergy or intolerance, or whatever to something.
Are there studies about what's going on?
The naturopaths have known about this problem for some time. As a people, we have VERY poor gut health. We do not eat food right from the garden or the orchard with just a rinse (like our ancestors did). Because of that, we don't get the soil bacteria necessary to establish a matrix for the acidophilus bacteria (the good bacteria) to colonize the intestines---and it just goes downhill from there. We eat way too many highly processed foods---especially starches and sugars. It causes the already bacteria-impoverished gut to be overrun with yeasts and other undesirable organisms. Yeast in particular are ugly in their habits as, at a mature colony stage, they start putting out little stringy things called "filaria" (in a healthy gut, acidophilus bacteria keep the yeasts in check). These filaria can perforate the gut wall and spill some molecules of food into the blood stream--and, since your blood stream was NOT meant to carry ANY molecules of food unprocessed by the digestive system, the immune system goes to town trying to destroy the "alien invaders" and says to itself, I will always react to these "aliens" by inflaming the intestine, and then passing inflammatory cytokines (an immune system defense) into the bloodstream. And a food allergy (or intolerance if it is a milder reaction) is thus born. That is why squalene in vaccines is such a serious issue. Squalene is a fraction of vegetable oil. In a healthy gut, it doesn't do any harm, but introduce it into your blood stream with a vaccine and you've got trouble.
There is also a problem with modern wheats (there isn't just one kind) in that they have been specifically bred to have a high gluten content. The human gut is not particularly good at digesting gluten. We can handle it in small amounts but we eat a large amount of wheat in the typical American diet. In addition, because of the "fast rise" method of modern commercial bakeries, much of the gluten that could be converted into more digestible substances, passes right through to the finished bread. In the old days, mama (when the women of the house made the bread) would use a slow rise method that has been used for centuries to raise the bread---and they would often use a bacterial process (sourdough) rather than yeast. They used the older forms of wheat with its lower gluten content, and the slower rising meant that much more of the gluten that was there was converted by the bacteria or yeast into more digestible substances. All of these facts add up to a lot of digestive problems. Undigested gluten enters the large intestine and bacteria there digest it but food is not supposed to be digested in the large bowel---it is supposed to be digested before it gets there. So gas, bloating (from bacterial processes in the colon) etc. is the result.
When you add to all these problems, the heavy load of chemicals that we get (pesticides, herbicides, additives of one sort or another) it is a wonder that even more people are not ill with these kinds of problems.:sick:
Love this post!!
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My son was lactose intolerant as an infant. We tried milk at 1 year old and he had a violent reaction to it so it was back on the lactose free stuff for another year. As a child he could eventually have dairy but in limited quantities or he would have a reaction, mostly gastrointestinal. At 19 now he's fine.
My oldest daughter is 23 and a couple years ago tried telling me she was allergic to mushrooms! She has NEVER been allergic to mushrooms. I don't LIKE mushrooms but it's a texture thing not a flavor thing so if they're chopped up small and I don't have to chew them I'm fine. We've always had mushrooms in things and she has never had any kind of reaction.0 -
Totally personal opinion, but I think we've trashed our immune systems until they react to everything under the sun because they're not exposed to anything to build them in early childhood.
When I was a kid (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we played outside, dropped our cookies in the dirt and ate 'em, crawled around floors that were not disinfected to within an inch of their lives. I teethed on my Dad's tobacco pouch. Our immune systems got exposure and became robust. I have friends now who make us use hand-sanitizer before we can hold their baby.
and this^^^
we need to get sick, our immune system needs to build up
absolutely! my husband and I both had parents with similar "you're not that sick, go to school" mindsets. we played outside, ate outside ect... and while I do remember getting colds & having tonsillitis a lot as a kid now that I'm grown I pretty much never miss work from being sick, I get the flu maybe once every 4-5 years and I never get the shot. over sanitizing everything is not healthy at all!
It actually used to be that whenever kids got sick they gave antibiotics, and now we have antibiotic resistant bacteria. But, now we never take antibiotics and we all recover and survive without them (except for when we get strep throat or something). People tend to romanticize the past a lot. But, my kids play outside in the dirt with sticks and we don't have video games and what-not.0 -
People really are allergic to certain foods...i've seen a couple of almost life threatning incidents because of food allergies, however i have also seen a lot of BS.....At work i had a guest say that the countertops needs to be extra clean because if she (not eats it) but touches it and it has peanuts on it she could die....i'm like really? Now thats a load of **** and not what an actual food allergy is...smh....the food has changed a lot though from being a kid, so it could be going either way....it took me until i was 14-15 just to "develop", and now i'm seeing more and more 12 year olds have bigger girls than me!!! (and thats a D right there!!!)....so basically it could go either way, but people are pansy *kitten*!!! lol
nope gotta call you on the peanut thing, my friend's son gets severely sick if he encounters ANY peanut residue. To the point that he got rushed to the hospital from school after sitting next to a boy in class who had just come from eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch. The kid had washed his hands after and hadn't even touched my friend's kid but just the little bit that was still in his mouth that went out into the air when he was talking and laughing was enough to cause a severe reaction.maybe "i could die" is an overreaction because while untreated she may, someone with her condition surely travels prepared with an epi-pen and could use it to save her life, but it would certainly be an unpleasant day for her!0 -
Totally personal opinion, but I think we've trashed our immune systems until they react to everything under the sun because they're not exposed to anything to build them in early childhood.
When I was a kid (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we played outside, dropped our cookies in the dirt and ate 'em, crawled around floors that were not disinfected to within an inch of their lives. I teethed on my Dad's tobacco pouch. Our immune systems got exposure and became robust. I have friends now who make us use hand-sanitizer before we can hold their baby.
and this^^^
we need to get sick, our immune system needs to build up
absolutely! my husband and I both had parents with similar "you're not that sick, go to school" mindsets. we played outside, ate outside ect... and while I do remember getting colds & having tonsillitis a lot as a kid now that I'm grown I pretty much never miss work from being sick, I get the flu maybe once every 4-5 years and I never get the shot. over sanitizing everything is not healthy at all!
It actually used to be that whenever kids got sick they gave antibiotics, and now we have antibiotic resistant bacteria. But, now we never take antibiotics and we all recover and survive without them (except for when we get strep throat or something). People tend to romanticize the past a lot. But, my kids play outside in the dirt with sticks and we don't have video games and what-not.
not in my family or my husband's. our parents couldn't miss work to take us to the doctors to get meds unless we were truly very ill so we didn't get antibiotics for little things like I know a lot of people get now.
Glad your kids get to have fun outside like the good old days, I'm working on getting my nephews to believe that they can have fun without their faces stuck to their DS games. Its a losing battle!0 -
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My 3 year old had a severe reaction to eggs when he was little and ended up in the hospital because of hives and couldn't breathe, this is when we discovered he had an egg allergy. From there he had to see an allergist and we found he was also allergic to : Peanuts, Shellfish, Cats, Dogs, Milk, Soy, Dust, Pineapple , Cockroaches. I never realized how bad allergies can be until I had him. His peanut , egg and shellfish allergy are so bad we have to carry an epi pen. He has a true allergy. Like what the others have said , some people are really allergic, others just don't tolerate things well.
I usually stay away from this topic because I don't want to be " that mom" but I saw some raise the topic of ADHD. I have raised 4 children and my 13 year old is severely ADHD and in the past, I would just shake my head when people said that it could be controlled with diet. I always thought that medication was the only answer however I have found that diet does have a lot to do with it. I do not think diet can cure him but its sure does seem to help alot.0 -
i havent read the entire thread but as someone who has "developed" wheat allergy over the past few years i have to say that these things are real.
i think one of the main reasons i have issues with it now and not when i was younger is because now i know what it's from. i used to have horrible allergies as a kid and would develop rashes and itchy welts over my body and pretty much always had breathing issues (from throat constriction) .
back then my parents assumed the skin issues were from pollen allergy in the summer and soap allergy in the winter and the breathing issues were from asthma :laugh: i would have to use an inhaler and take antihistamine. it wasnt until i got older and had a blood test done that i found out it was from wheat gluten. since it is an allergy, i do keep antihistamine with me in case of accidental gluten, but it's much easier to avoid the gluten and not deal with the side effects of the antihistamine
also i think what a lot of people aren't quite understanding is that for various reasons, different germs have evolved since the time some of us were children.for instance the cold virus IS a lot stronger now than it used to be which is why people used to be told go see a doctor is you have symptoms lasting more than 3 days has now become see a doctor if your symptoms last longer than a month0 -
I really do have an allergy to gluten and dairy. Both give me diarrhea and cramping. Gluten makes my joints hurt two days later. Dairy makes me itchy the same night. I stopped eating them and it was easier to lose weight. Since I was eating thing my body couldn't handle, it never got a chance to deal with the and my body would store it away as fat. It was causing me so much inflammation that it was pushing me towards lupus, an autoimmune disorder. I'm allergic to penicillin for similar reasons: I had too much as a baby and now I'm too sensitive to it.
I asked my dr why gluten was never a problem before. He said that since I'd been eating gluten and dairy pretty much every day since I was a baby, my body never got a chance to rest from the reaction. He says now that I've taken a break from it my body now has a chance to react, so it does. He also says if I went to another country and had bread I probably wouldn't have any problems. He attributes it to our crops being too messed with, too genetically engineered to grow bigger with less bugs and higher faster yields.
These allergies aren't made up, they are real. Before you judge spend a day in my shoes, eat gluten and dairy and you'll be sorry.0 -
OK, you edited while I was posting. LOTS of babies can be lactose intolerant and grow out of it. My son was. By about 18 months he was able to handle regular milk. Yay for us because the lactose free stuff is $$$$. And again, that is an intolerance, not an allergy.
Symptoms of gluten intolerance is lots of intestinal issues, bloating, etc. Not stuff people like to talk about openly LOL.
I don't really buy into the GMO link either, because that's relatively recent and the increase happened prior to that becoming mainstream (at least I think it did).
My endocrinologist told me that the influx of Autoimmune disease is most likely caused by GMO's. They have been using GMO's long before it became public.
There is also a link between GMO consumption and Parkinson's disease, which is another autoimmune disease.
That's scary. And the bill in CA to label GMO foods as such was shot down by the voters. Ugh!
Hang on. The fat lady hasn't sung on that one yet. It seems that there is evidence of massive vote fraud on the issue. The FBI is investigating. Stay tuned. The big agri-business concerns have a LOT of money riding on the acceptance of GMO and they fight exceedingly dirty when they think they have to. There are about 3 million votes that have not even been counted yet and yet the "Vote No on Prop 37" folks (who were majorly funded by big agriculture) have declared a victory. Monsanto lives next door to the devil. Cargill lives across the street. And Archer, Daniels Midland lives in the devil's basement.:mad:
p.s. If you want to get the low-down on the food corps just search "agribusiness scandals". It will make you sick.0 -
People really are allergic to certain foods...i've seen a couple of almost life threatning incidents because of food allergies, however i have also seen a lot of BS.....At work i had a guest say that the countertops needs to be extra clean because if she (not eats it) but touches it and it has peanuts on it she could die....i'm like really? Now thats a load of **** and not what an actual food allergy is...smh....the food has changed a lot though from being a kid, so it could be going either way....it took me until i was 14-15 just to "develop", and now i'm seeing more and more 12 year olds have bigger girls than me!!! (and thats a D right there!!!)....so basically it could go either way, but people are pansy *kitten*!!! lol
nope gotta call you on the peanut thing, my friend's son gets severely sick if he encounters ANY peanut residue. To the point that he got rushed to the hospital from school after sitting next to a boy in class who had just come from eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at lunch. The kid had washed his hands after and hadn't even touched my friend's kid but just the little bit that was still in his mouth that went out into the air when he was talking and laughing was enough to cause a severe reaction.maybe "i could die" is an overreaction because while untreated she may, someone with her condition surely travels prepared with an epi-pen and could use it to save her life, but it would certainly be an unpleasant day for her!
I know of a poor little girl who is so desperately allergic to peanuts that she will get a reaction if someone has peanuts on their breath and breathe on her! :noway:0 -
I too, wonder what the heck is going on! If I read or hear one more thing about "going gluten free" I am going to scream! I think it's a marketing tool and people are buying it hook, line and sinker. It's just interesting to me since something like only 10% of the population even has Celiac disease.
You don't have to have Celiac to experience problems with gluten. The human gut doesn't digest gluten very well. Today's commercial bread has a very high gluten content.0 -
its real. I eat wheat, apples, cherries, any type of nut, vanilla, or salmon and I'm dead in 7 minutes. I didn't believe all of it either and thought it was bs until i got two different tests, blood and skin, then actually ate some of the foods to try it out. That ended in me in the back of an ambulance with my throat closing half dead. so yes, many people make it up, or have an "intolerance" to a certain food but others like me, are truly allergic to way too many foods. I don't understand why, I was fine with all these foods up until two years ago when suddenly I ate a bowl of cereal with organic vanilla soy milk and ended up in the ER near death.
Were you on antibiotics at the time? A lot of people trace their food allergies to being on a course of antibiotics just prior to developing the allergy.0 -
Not sure if anyone else brought this up, but medical sciences are improving as well. Maybe no one talked about it 20 years ago because they just thought it was normal, and now there's proof that they're not crazy and something really is happening to them.
Self-diagnosed intolerance is a little different -- yes, you may feel better since quitting it...but that doesn't mean you have it. But you can claim it if it really does make you feel bad when you eat it.
And, when people say that they "felt bad" while on a specific diet with specific foods...it's usually digestion problems and the dreaded "diarrhea" that no one wants to talk about or a case of feeling nausea like no other. Just because someone doesn't want to disclose why they felt bad, doesn't mean that they really didn't.0 -
I think the explosion in IVF and that ilk is helping keep genetic codes surviving when they should be dying out. You have a couple who can't get pregnant via intercourse, so they spend $$$ to get his sperm and her eggs mixed in a dish and implanted in a uterus to have the kid(s) they've wanted. I'm not bashing on IVF, just pointing out that maybe people who can't get pregnant "naturally" shouldn't muck around.
*awaits flaming*
Aren't you just little Miss Sunshine? My husband and I have tried for 5 years to get pregnant and would be wonderful parents. I wish we could afforf IVF. Yet there are irresponsible, immature people all around us having kids that don't really want them and can't really take care of them. I guess according to you, their geneitc codes are better than ours.
And BTW, allergies and food intolerances have nothing to to with genetics.
I don't agree with the original post, but you are also wrong. Genetics can play a big role in both allergies and intolerances. Sorry, but it is the truth.0 -
As for wheat, read the book "Wheat Belly." Yes, according to blood samples taken from military members in the 40s (or there abouts) and tested recently for Celiac, (low levels reported) the compared to men of the same military age, AND men who would be the aged result of the first blood draw, there are significantly higher percentages of people with Celiac's.0
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Saturday Night Live had a skit about fake allergies last week:
http://www.tastefullyoffensive.com/2012/11/snl-flaritin.html#.UKG4lHy9KK00 -
I'm a child of the 50/60s; I found out the 'hard' way I'm severely allergic to mushrooms, beef liver (same enzyme as the mushrooms) and mildly allergic to berries and citrus (internal hives, whilst not deadly like the 'shrooms, are miserable). As a result I've become an avid label reader, and I've made my doctor do the same as many tablets use pineapple juice to bind the powders. I end up with internal hives when ingesting citrus; I can tell you its maddening to have your throat itch knowing there's nothing you can do about it.
Funnily enough, nuts and seafood are fine with me, but I recently eliminated the heavily modified GM wheat from my diet and my life long battle with eczema disappeared within a week not eating it.0 -
I have food allergies and I just found out in my forties, I think back to my childhood and never knew anyone with food allergies. But as I look back over the years I have seen how pesticides and growth hormones and the general way our food is made has changed a lot. I think the environmental impact on our food source is what's changing and causing the allergies to wheat and other such things.0
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Totally personal opinion, but I think we've trashed our immune systems until they react to everything under the sun because they're not exposed to anything to build them in early childhood.
When I was a kid (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) we played outside, dropped our cookies in the dirt and ate 'em, crawled around floors that were not disinfected to within an inch of their lives. I teethed on my Dad's tobacco pouch. Our immune systems got exposure and became robust. I have friends now who make us use hand-sanitizer before we can hold their baby.
I think that many of us have "hyper-excitable" immune systems. Some researchers feel that they are like that because we are assaulted by man-made chemicals at every stage of our lives. This is a fairly recent development--just since the 1950s (remember "better living through chemistry"?).0 -
Although allergy tests and blood tests and cultures are the most scientific ways of diagnosing allergies/sensitivities, there are reasons why they aren't always done, often due to finances/lack of insurance/access to tests.
I will use gluten as an example - if you have a gluten intolerance, your symptoms may range from mild upset stomach to sores on your skin to inflammation to fatigue - very vague symptoms that can have any number of causes. The thing is, the solution for a gluten intolerance (whether Celiac's or allergy or regular intolerance) is to eliminate gluten from the diet.
If you think you have a sensitivity to a food or food group and cannot afford/do not have access to testing, eliminating it from your diet for a period of time (my doctor recommended a month to start) is the best way to rule it out. If you feel better at the end of a month, keep it up; if you don't, then look for another possible cause of whatever is ailing you.
The other thing is, some food sensitivities/allergies cause more harm than just the way they make a person feel. Someone with a gluten allergy, for example, may only feel bloating and cramps after consuming gluten, but it actually can be causing damage to the lining of their intestines, which can cause long-term problems.
On another note - why does it bother you if someone feels better without consuming a specific food, whether they are allergic or not? I understand getting irritated when people tell you what you should/shouldn't eat, but what someone chooses to feed themselves (or not feed themselves) is not really your concern.0 -
Too many processed foods, too many pesticides, too many hormones in meats. Not scientific at all. No study to back up anything I said. Just a thought. Hope someone can answer this I am curious too. Seems like every poster on the forum has an allergy to something. *shrugs*
My husband is always saying things like this, that food doesn't taste the same as when he was younger (he's 38) because of the reasons stated above.
I think intolerances have increased, but also people are more aware of what they eat now.
There also seems to be a rise in things like autism and ADHD. I'm a teacher and we have a massive percentage of students on the SEN register. I'd never even heard of ADHD when I was at school myself. Are people more aware? Are conditions like that a result of diet?
I
Yeah, the ADHD thing gets me all riled up, so lets not go there.
Autism is hugely on the rise, they say.
I think diet plays a role. IMO, the fact that people are having babies at later ages also play a role.0 -
It's not GMO's or aliens. It's simply because sterile environments weaken the immune system, so it becomes overstimulated by the tiniest, most insignificant things. The weakness reacts to innocuous things like gluten or whey or sugar and treats it as a toxin. People used to live in less sterile, more natural places, and that lessened allergies. Simple as that.0
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