Are all these food allergies real?
Replies
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I've just been diagnosed as gluten intolerant.
Believe me, I'm not making this up, because I don't WANT to be gluten intolerant. I'm a vegan for ethical reasons, and I cried when I found out, I didn't want this restriction. My doctor has theories about stress levels... but no, we're not all imagining it. In the past 6 days, I've lost 2 inches off my waist measurement, without actually losing any weight this week - not through exercise, through the uncomfortable, horrible bloating going away. I feel so much better, but I'm praying that my doctor has it wrong, because I don't want to feel like I can't eat out with my friends, can't have fun, go out and eat whatever I want.0 -
Allergies and intolerances are definitely real.
It's just that there are a lot of hypochondriacs out there who are saying that they are intolerant to something, because "it makes them a bit sluggish". And also a lot of people who are pretending to be allergic to something.
This is making it harder on people who have real allergies and intolerances, because other people will think it's not too bad and you would be fine eating it.
I have actually had people tell me to just eat some pie with whipped cream or whatever, because it probably won't be too bad and that I am just overplaying it and should just eat the damn pie.
I am actually quite badly lactose intolerant and even the slightest bit of milk will give me severe cramps and diarrhea.
But now people have this image of "intolerance" where they think it just makes you a bit tired. That is not what a proper intolerance is. Trust me.
On another note, yes sterile environments is definitely making people's immune systems weaker and causing more allergies and other illnesses.0 -
Allergies and intolerances are definitely real.
It's just that there are a lot of hypochondriacs out there who are saying that they are intolerant to something, because "it makes them a bit sluggish". And also a lot of people who are pretending to be allergic to something.
This is making it harder on people who have real allergies and intolerances, because other people will think it's not too bad and you would be fine eating it.
I have actually had people tell me to just eat some pie with whipped cream or whatever, because it probably won't be too bad and that I am just overplaying it and should just eat the damn pie.
I am actually quite badly lactose intolerant and even the slightest bit of milk will give me severe cramps and diarrhea.
But now people have this image of "intolerance" where they think it just makes you a bit tired. That is not what a proper intolerance is. Trust me.
On another note, yes sterile environments is definitely making people's immune systems weaker and causing more allergies and other illnesses.
Food intolerances and allergies can affect different people in different ways from very mildly to very severe.
However, tiredness does not come with lactose intolerance...............anything from sinus issues to very bad digestive issues is lactose intolerance.
The tiredness (mild to severe), bloating and such usually comes in with gluten intolerances due to the inflammation.0 -
I bet. I'm still bitter because I found out one of my county's locally based "organic" food companies pumped $500,000 into suppressing GMO food labeling. It's so frustrating because I just want information that should be available BY DEFAULT.Yes, it is awful. The farmers around here don't even want to deal with the big M that tries to promote their company as such a family loving, environementally friendly, gag, gag, gag.............
The billboards around here make me sick.
Oh yes. I know Whole Foods backed up Monsanto a whole lot in this mess.
I have also heard from others that live in California that it is possible that there was ballot tampering and that the measure might have actually passed.
I was praying for rop 37 to pass in California as a first so that it would spark and unite other states to join in also.
Of course Missouri would want no parts of it because they are big Monsanto lovers around these here parts.
This is not true. I work for Whole Foods and I know they've been fighting for YEARS to have labeling in GMO foods. They have been the biggest backer of the Non-GMO Project since it's inception! We all wanted Prop 37 to pass as well. It was a company wide initiative. They got a bad rap because people pointed out that many of our foods have GMOs, but that is simply unfair because many of EVERYONE'S food in the US has GMOs. Nearly 80% of the food chain supply in the US has GMOs. That's the problem with Monsanto and others getting away with not labeling, plus there is the issue of cross-pollination and drift which makes it virtually impossible to avoid all GMOs. Trust me, everyone in this company wants GMO labeling. We have said this from the very beginning. Our message on this issue has never changed, we just got a whole bunch of bad press which marked us as somehow being different from every other natural retailer (and indeed every conventional retailer as well), but EVERY natural retailer has this problem. Whole Foods was targeted simply because it is the biggest. Do not for a second think that your natural retailer is any different just because it isn't Whole Foods. Every single part of the food chain is poisoned by Monsanto. They need to be stopped!0 -
I must admit, there's a lot of things here that are only correlations; I highly doubt there's any causation between antibacterial handsoap and food allergies. It kills germs on HANDS. Not affect our overall system.
Now, as I have been taught, it's not that it didn't exist before. We just didn't realize it. Most people are in some way intolerant to milk. Humans are the only species that drinks milk after being weaned, and of another animal no less. This isn't bad or anything, but our bodies are made for that. Most people find that when they drop milk, they feel better in general. I dropped milk for a while, definitely found I felt a bit better. I just found it too hard to avoid milk entirely, so I drank it again. Those are most of the cases you here about. Not people who get sick, mostly people who feel better without.
Gluten on the otherhand is caused by disease. It's on the rise because it's now a fad, but usually those who *can't* have gluten have either an allergy (less common), or celiac disease. Most people aren't allergic to gluten, but are sensitive to it because of celiac disease. It's just a misconception that it's an allergy.
And again, some people feel better without it. It doesn't mean they were abnormal or are self diagnosing anything. It just means they cut something out and felt better because it affected them in some way.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.
In your last paragraph, I guess you missed my entire point. But, thanks for the other info.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.
This is so true.0 -
I bet. I'm still bitter because I found out one of my county's locally based "organic" food companies pumped $500,000 into suppressing GMO food labeling. It's so frustrating because I just want information that should be available BY DEFAULT.Yes, it is awful. The farmers around here don't even want to deal with the big M that tries to promote their company as such a family loving, environementally friendly, gag, gag, gag.............
The billboards around here make me sick.
Oh yes. I know Whole Foods backed up Monsanto a whole lot in this mess.
I have also heard from others that live in California that it is possible that there was ballot tampering and that the measure might have actually passed.
I was praying for rop 37 to pass in California as a first so that it would spark and unite other states to join in also.
Of course Missouri would want no parts of it because they are big Monsanto lovers around these here parts.
This is not true. I work for Whole Foods and I know they've been fighting for YEARS to have labeling in GMO foods. They have been the biggest backer of the Non-GMO Project since it's inception! We all wanted Prop 37 to pass as well. It was a company wide initiative. They got a bad rap because people pointed out that many of our foods have GMOs, but that is simply unfair because many of EVERYONE'S food in the US has GMOs. Nearly 80% of the food chain supply in the US has GMOs. That's the problem with Monsanto and others getting away with not labeling, plus there is the issue of cross-pollination and drift which makes it virtually impossible to avoid all GMOs. Trust me, everyone in this company wants GMO labeling. We have said this from the very beginning. Our message on this issue has never changed, we just got a whole bunch of bad press which marked us as somehow being different from every other natural retailer (and indeed every conventional retailer as well), but EVERY natural retailer has this problem. Whole Foods was targeted simply because it is the biggest. Do not for a second think that your natural retailer is any different just because it isn't Whole Foods. Every single part of the food chain is poisoned by Monsanto. They need to be stopped!
Your being lied to by your employer. There was a big article written a while back about the Partnership between Whole Foods and Monsanto.
It is kept under wraps to keep people shopping at Whole Foods.
I don't shop at Natural Grocers and I don't buy packaged foods and such. I make sure the fruits and vegetables I eat are either conventionally grown or they are organic. So, I don't worry about GMO's being eaten by me or anyone that eats in my house.
Whole Foods needs to stop stocking Kashi and other mainstream brands if they want to continue to have support. I know a LOT of people that have begun boycotting Whole Foods.
The video is linked in the link below.
http://www.naturalnews.com/037329_Whole_Foods_GMO_undercover_video.html
Whole Foods has mastered the art of bait and switch"0 -
We were having this same conversation the other day at work. My sister is allergic to peanuts, so much so that she only has to smell them on your breath and her throat starts to close over. I recently found out I am allergic to milk. I spent years thinking I was lactose intolerant but I was wrong.
What struck me as interesting about this is I asked my mother about when I was a baby and she replied that they had a terrible time with me, they tried to feed me all kinds of different formulas and milks but I was in constant pain, they called it colic. I think back then they just didn't consider allergies something to look into. Fussy babies didn’t have allergies or reflux, they had colic. I spent years feeling like a hypochondriac because of all the problems I was having, heart palpitations, headaches, sinus issues, rashes, reflux, joint pain, cough....ah the list goes on. It all came down to some allergy tests to determine that I am allergic to milk. Since I stopped consuming any dairy I feel like a new person.
But as you have said I have seen so many people give up gluten or dairy just because they have read something online and thought it would make them feel better, or lose weight. To truly find out if you have an allergy it requires testing and medical assistance, not some on line diagnosis. Especially with all those celebrity diet fads out there that people want to just jump on the bus with. There are also a lot of intolerances and sensitivities out there, once again you should be seeking medical advice before making those determinations on your own. People forget that the internet is full of misinformation and you cannot just diagnose yourself.
So it really is hard to say if it is a matter of better education medically on allergies than has been in the past, additives in foods, or just people self-diagnosing that have created this increase in allergies and sensitivities.0 -
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.
Are you in the medical field? I don't think your argument is accurate because there is real research (NIH research and immunology research, not some bogus nutrition website research) that supports the theory I described. If you read in immunology journals or medical journals like JAMA and NEJM, you will also find the information supported. Do you have any evidence to support what you've stated is correct and that can disprove the theory of international scientists and medical doctors?0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.0 -
We were having this same conversation the other day at work. My sister is allergic to peanuts, so much so that she only has to smell them on your breath and her throat starts to close over. I recently found out I am allergic to milk. I spent years thinking I was lactose intolerant but I was wrong.
What struck me as interesting about this is I asked my mother about when I was a baby and she replied that they had a terrible time with me, they tried to feed me all kinds of different formulas and milks but I was in constant pain, they called it colic. I think back then they just didn't consider allergies something to look into. Fussy babies didn’t have allergies or reflux, they had colic. I spent years feeling like a hypochondriac because of all the problems I was having, heart palpitations, headaches, sinus issues, rashes, reflux, joint pain, cough....ah the list goes on. It all came down to some allergy tests to determine that I am allergic to milk. Since I stopped consuming any dairy I feel like a new person.
But as you have said I have seen so many people give up gluten or dairy just because they have read something online and thought it would make them feel better, or lose weight. To truly find out if you have an allergy it requires testing and medical assistance, not some on line diagnosis. Especially with all those celebrity diet fads out there that people want to just jump on the bus with. There are also a lot of intolerances and sensitivities out there, once again you should be seeking medical advice before making those determinations on your own. People forget that the internet is full of misinformation and you cannot just diagnose yourself.
So it really is hard to say if it is a matter of better education medically on allergies than has been in the past, additives in foods, or just people self-diagnosing that have created this increase in allergies and sensitivities.
Not to start the fad diet debate but this was very well written. There are herds of sheepish idiots giving up gluten to lose weight. Those are the people that make OP, (and restaurants, doctors, and dietitians) stop taking medical issues seriously.0 -
I just think that when you are a kid, you don't know everything and if something is normal for you, you may not realize that it's really not part of a normal functioning body. I do not have an allergy but I do have an intolerance that I recognized as an adult. I spent my life up until age 25 think that stomach aches, bloating, and all the glory that follows on a DAILY basis was completely normal and that everyone experienced it on a daily basis. If something is a part of your life and it's never talked about, how is someone supposed to know it's not normal? Things like that were never discussed in my house when I was growing up. As an adult I started learning more about intolerances and allergies, but even then I never thought I had anything. Again, I thought stomach aches daily were normal and everyone experienced them. I thought that was just part of pooping. I think it was talking to my husband about something that led me to realize that I might have lactose intolerance. So I tested it. I stopped eating dairy. Wow...no stomach aches! Then I ate dairy...and stomach aches and bloating were back! Now I take lactaid with anything dairy and it helps. If I forget to take it, then I suffer. So if someone like an older relative says, "Well you never used to have a problem with dairy...", I can say, "Well, I used to think that stomach aches and bloating every day was normal...."
SO MY POINT IS: Many people may not realize that how their body is reacting is not normal until they hear about how their symptoms are actually not normal....and that may be well into adulthood. This goes for allergies and intolerances.0 -
I think it's a combination of things..
The chemicals in our air, water, food, everything we use, touch eat and smell on a daily basis is finally reaching that 'tipping point' . Yes there have always been food allergies but not to the extent that we have been seeing in the past 10 years or so. These days you can't go anywhere without restrictions being imposed on you due to allergies - be they yours or someone else's. Forget the old PB&J standby, you will kill someone and heaven forbid my granola bar has come in contact with a nut!
The fact that we sanitize EVERYTHING to death - including foods.. We feed antibiotics and hormones to our livestock & implant vegetables with pesticides to kill the bugs. I think our great-great grandparents would struggle to call most of what we eat these days 'food'.
We over medicate, we live on pills for everything..feeling down, have a pill, shy? have a pill, tongue tied?..there's a pill for that too!! All those chemicals get into our ground water further contaminating everything..
We are continually assaulted every day of our lives, it does not surprise me that our young are becoming 'weaker' that the chemicals we are pumping into our bodies, lands, foods and air are slowly killing us or causing our bodies to rebel in the form of allergies or things like autism and adhd.
Nothing we can do about it but get the heck away from civilization and get back to growing and eating only what we can produce but unfortunately the air and water are already contaminated and most of the soil is already dead so good luck with that..welcome to the new reality..we're all fooked.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.
^^ THIS!!
I have developed an intolerance to Gluten over the last few years (only just figured it out). I do not believe our food is made the same as it used to be. Ie: growing it from a natural seed. Now everything is genetically modified, sprayed during the growing process, then who knows what is done to it during the processing. We are most definitely eating different foods than we were even 20 years ago. That is why I believe there is a lot more of this these days.
My daughter is intolerant to High Fructose Corn syrup. That is most certainly not a "natural" food. That is something man has created and injected into our food.
I deal with people saying it is all in our head all of the time...until they see the reaction she has when she eats something with HFCS.
Bottom line, I don't care if people think it is all in my head. I know how gluten makes me feel I SEE how high fructose corn syrup makes her react, so we don't eat it. Simple as that. How does it affect you what my family eats?0 -
I have to agree with Natasha. Why does it matter if I have discovered that when I eat red meat I have horrible intestinal pain therefore, I stop eating it. Its an intolerance to red meat. Its my body and I feel better if I don't put red meat in it. Simple as that. Would you continue to eat something that made you feel crappy? Isn't this site about getting healthy and losing weight? Finding what works best for you? If gluten makes you swell and retain water then that is YOUR problem to deal with. If cutting out gluten makes you feel better, I say go for it. If it was my problem, I would.
We all make decisions about what we put in our bodies.0 -
I have celiac disease, tested positive, and was aggressively getting sicker before I went gluten free. Allergies and autoimmmunities are no joke. They're finding the prevalence of celiacs and gluten intolerance more often because it's one of the most commonly misdiagnosed things around. I don't think more people have it than before,I think more people are finally being diagnosed correctly. I've even known people who had a negative diagnosis only to have a positive one years down the line.
As to why it's more prevalent, if it is, I recently read an article linking GMOs of wheat to rising autoimmunity. It's something to think about. Also, I thought I was allergic to carrots for a while, turns out I'm allergic to the chemical processing agent they use on baby carrots to stop them from turning white (I work in food manufacturing, so I know it's not that whole urban legend thing going around). Companies can legally put stuff in your food and not have to include it on the label if it is considered a "processing agent". It should be criminal.0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.0 -
I developed allergies late in life. They ARE real and it took YEARS to diagnose them properly.
Peanuts = Me chain puking in a toilet. It's completely disgusting and not something I can control.
Tree nuts = Me exploding into hives and then anaphylatic shock if I'm not stabbed with my epi-pen immediately.
Dairy = My stomach in KNOTS. It literally feels like my insides are trying to become outsides. Hurts like hell.
Gluten = *see above* This one was hard to figure out because I initially thought it was the dairy that caused the stomach pain. Took some time to figure out the gluten caused the exact same stomach pain. Now, the dairy and gluten may not TECHNICALLY be allergies but they ARE intolerances and they make my life living hell so I don't touch them. The moment I cut them out - BAM! No more stomach pain.
Chocolate = instant migraine, puking and stomach pains.
Apples = hives.
Are these allergies real? Damned right they are and after years of tests and poking and sickness I am so freaking relieved to be properly diagnosed.
I was diagnosed through a series of food elimination tests, skin tests and even blood tests. I know my allergies are real. And if you still doubt I encourage you to come meet me in real life. I'd be happy to eat some peanuts for you and chain puke on your feet.
PS: I call the dairy and gluten 'allergies' because I tested positive when given the skin test AND in the blood tests. So while my reaction is more an intolerance reaction, the science says I'm actually allergic.0 -
I just think that when you are a kid, you don't know everything and if something is normal for you, you may not realize that it's really not part of a normal functioning body. I do not have an allergy but I do have an intolerance that I recognized as an adult. I spent my life up until age 25 think that stomach aches, bloating, and all the glory that follows on a DAILY basis was completely normal and that everyone experienced it on a daily basis. If something is a part of your life and it's never talked about, how is someone supposed to know it's not normal? Things like that were never discussed in my house when I was growing up. As an adult I started learning more about intolerances and allergies, but even then I never thought I had anything. Again, I thought stomach aches daily were normal and everyone experienced them. I thought that was just part of pooping. I think it was talking to my husband about something that led me to realize that I might have lactose intolerance. So I tested it. I stopped eating dairy. Wow...no stomach aches! Then I ate dairy...and stomach aches and bloating were back! Now I take lactaid with anything dairy and it helps. If I forget to take it, then I suffer. So if someone like an older relative says, "Well you never used to have a problem with dairy...", I can say, "Well, I used to think that stomach aches and bloating every day was normal...."
SO MY POINT IS: Many people may not realize that how their body is reacting is not normal until they hear about how their symptoms are actually not normal....and that may be well into adulthood. This goes for allergies and intolerances.
This!! I had the same experience but with gluten. I even went to a doctor, who confirmed as best he can even though there is no real test (I even had a stomach biopsy, it came up inconclusive). These days I try to stay away, but my body has become a gluten alarm and I know within an hour whether that soup I ate at the cafeteria had gluten or not. Just because I'm not hospital bound doesn't mean it's not uncomfortable.0 -
We were having this same conversation the other day at work. My sister is allergic to peanuts, so much so that she only has to smell them on your breath and her throat starts to close over. I recently found out I am allergic to milk. I spent years thinking I was lactose intolerant but I was wrong.
What struck me as interesting about this is I asked my mother about when I was a baby and she replied that they had a terrible time with me, they tried to feed me all kinds of different formulas and milks but I was in constant pain, they called it colic. I think back then they just didn't consider allergies something to look into. Fussy babies didn’t have allergies or reflux, they had colic. I spent years feeling like a hypochondriac because of all the problems I was having, heart palpitations, headaches, sinus issues, rashes, reflux, joint pain, cough....ah the list goes on. It all came down to some allergy tests to determine that I am allergic to milk. Since I stopped consuming any dairy I feel like a new person.
But as you have said I have seen so many people give up gluten or dairy just because they have read something online and thought it would make them feel better, or lose weight. To truly find out if you have an allergy it requires testing and medical assistance, not some on line diagnosis. Especially with all those celebrity diet fads out there that people want to just jump on the bus with. There are also a lot of intolerances and sensitivities out there, once again you should be seeking medical advice before making those determinations on your own. People forget that the internet is full of misinformation and you cannot just diagnose yourself.
So it really is hard to say if it is a matter of better education medically on allergies than has been in the past, additives in foods, or just people self-diagnosing that have created this increase in allergies and sensitivities.
Not to start the fad diet debate but this was very well written. There are herds of sheepish idiots giving up gluten to lose weight. Those are the people that make OP, (and restaurants, doctors, and dietitians) stop taking medical issues seriously.
Who said I don't take medical conditions seriously? You need to chill out big time.0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.
No, it's not ridiculous. People often thing correlation is causation. And, it's not. Just because you THINK you are gluten intolerant, or allergic, or whatever, because some ailment you had goes away, doesn't mean you actually are gluten intolerant. It might be something else. It's like saying, eveytime I eat greenbeans, I get a cold. It just so happens that that has happened. It doesn't however mean that the greenbeans are causing the cold.0 -
I bet. I'm still bitter because I found out one of my county's locally based "organic" food companies pumped $500,000 into suppressing GMO food labeling. It's so frustrating because I just want information that should be available BY DEFAULT.Yes, it is awful. The farmers around here don't even want to deal with the big M that tries to promote their company as such a family loving, environementally friendly, gag, gag, gag.............
The billboards around here make me sick.
Oh yes. I know Whole Foods backed up Monsanto a whole lot in this mess.
I have also heard from others that live in California that it is possible that there was ballot tampering and that the measure might have actually passed.
I was praying for rop 37 to pass in California as a first so that it would spark and unite other states to join in also.
Of course Missouri would want no parts of it because they are big Monsanto lovers around these here parts.
This is not true. I work for Whole Foods and I know they've been fighting for YEARS to have labeling in GMO foods. They have been the biggest backer of the Non-GMO Project since it's inception! We all wanted Prop 37 to pass as well. It was a company wide initiative. They got a bad rap because people pointed out that many of our foods have GMOs, but that is simply unfair because many of EVERYONE'S food in the US has GMOs. Nearly 80% of the food chain supply in the US has GMOs. That's the problem with Monsanto and others getting away with not labeling, plus there is the issue of cross-pollination and drift which makes it virtually impossible to avoid all GMOs. Trust me, everyone in this company wants GMO labeling. We have said this from the very beginning. Our message on this issue has never changed, we just got a whole bunch of bad press which marked us as somehow being different from every other natural retailer (and indeed every conventional retailer as well), but EVERY natural retailer has this problem. Whole Foods was targeted simply because it is the biggest. Do not for a second think that your natural retailer is any different just because it isn't Whole Foods. Every single part of the food chain is poisoned by Monsanto. They need to be stopped!
Yeah, actually in Missouri, we have fought Monsanto twice. The most recent time, Anheuser-Busch put a bunch of money in to fight it. (They grow their own hops here in Missouri.)0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.
No, it's not ridiculous. People often thing correlation is causation. And, it's not. Just because you THINK you are gluten intolerant, or allergic, or whatever, because some ailment you had goes away, doesn't mean you actually are gluten intolerant. It might be something else. It's like saying, eveytime I eat greenbeans, I get a cold. It just so happens that that has happened. It doesn't however mean that the greenbeans are causing the cold.
When I eat bread my stomach hurts. When I don't eat bread my stomach never hurts. Therefore - bread is causing the pain.
It really IS that simple. A food elimination diet and careful diary keeping CAN help diagnose intolerances and allergies. True fact, yo.
You're blowing things out of proportion by comparing this to having a cold. You're effectively trying to dismiss anyone who has experienced these things. But you haven't lived it. You haven't taken the time to properly study it. You're clearly talking out of your *kitten*, so no offense but shut your pie hole.0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.
No, it's not ridiculous. People often thing correlation is causation. And, it's not. Just because you THINK you are gluten intolerant, or allergic, or whatever, because some ailment you had goes away, doesn't mean you actually are gluten intolerant. It might be something else. It's like saying, eveytime I eat greenbeans, I get a cold. It just so happens that that has happened. It doesn't however mean that the greenbeans are causing the cold.
I would say after 2 solid years of feeling like absolute crap and many doctor visits later with no answers...then me cutting out gluten and instantly feeling better and now when I "slip up" instantly feeling crappy again is a bit more than coincidence. But it is fine that you don't understand it. You aren't in my body. You aren't having to digest what I decide to consume so it does not effect you whatsoever. I know how I feel and like I said, I would not choose to give up these foods if it didn't make me feel better.
Same thing with my daughter and the High Fructose Corn syrup. Her ADD symptoms happening every single time she consumes it is a little bit more than coincidence.
Sure some people cut it out as a 'diet' or 'craze' but it could also be that people getting answers and finally figuring out their issues is helping other people. That is what helped me. I never even considered it until hearing other people's struggles.0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.
No, it's not ridiculous. People often thing correlation is causation. And, it's not. Just because you THINK you are gluten intolerant, or allergic, or whatever, because some ailment you had goes away, doesn't mean you actually are gluten intolerant. It might be something else. It's like saying, eveytime I eat greenbeans, I get a cold. It just so happens that that has happened. It doesn't however mean that the greenbeans are causing the cold.
When I eat bread my stomach hurts. When I don't eat bread my stomach never hurts. Therefore - bread is causing the pain.
It really IS that simple. A food elimination diet and careful diary keeping CAN help diagnose intolerances and allergies. True fact, yo.
You're blowing things out of proportion by comparing this to having a cold. You're effectively trying to dismiss anyone who has experienced these things. But you haven't lived it. You haven't taken the time to properly study it. You're clearly talking out of your *kitten*, so no offense but shut your pie hole.
Perfect. Thank you! :flowerforyou:0 -
We were having this same conversation the other day at work. My sister is allergic to peanuts, so much so that she only has to smell them on your breath and her throat starts to close over. I recently found out I am allergic to milk. I spent years thinking I was lactose intolerant but I was wrong.
What struck me as interesting about this is I asked my mother about when I was a baby and she replied that they had a terrible time with me, they tried to feed me all kinds of different formulas and milks but I was in constant pain, they called it colic. I think back then they just didn't consider allergies something to look into. Fussy babies didn’t have allergies or reflux, they had colic. I spent years feeling like a hypochondriac because of all the problems I was having, heart palpitations, headaches, sinus issues, rashes, reflux, joint pain, cough....ah the list goes on. It all came down to some allergy tests to determine that I am allergic to milk. Since I stopped consuming any dairy I feel like a new person.
But as you have said I have seen so many people give up gluten or dairy just because they have read something online and thought it would make them feel better, or lose weight. To truly find out if you have an allergy it requires testing and medical assistance, not some on line diagnosis. Especially with all those celebrity diet fads out there that people want to just jump on the bus with. There are also a lot of intolerances and sensitivities out there, once again you should be seeking medical advice before making those determinations on your own. People forget that the internet is full of misinformation and you cannot just diagnose yourself.
So it really is hard to say if it is a matter of better education medically on allergies than has been in the past, additives in foods, or just people self-diagnosing that have created this increase in allergies and sensitivities.
Not to start the fad diet debate but this was very well written. There are herds of sheepish idiots giving up gluten to lose weight. Those are the people that make OP, (and restaurants, doctors, and dietitians) stop taking medical issues seriously.
Who said I don't take medical conditions seriously? You need to chill out big time.
Am I mistaken in that you are calling reactions to food "fake" if you've never had them? I'm not sure what I need to chill out about, I'm not the one having a public hissy fit regarding other people's food choices. You may not want to believe in the severe undernourishment, gastro-intestinal distress, and neurological reactions stemming from the ingestion of a product considered foreign to the body. That is irrelevant in comparison to the scientific and medical study that has proven it's existence. You claim that the anecdotes you hear aren't proof, yet you say that your remembered lack of allergic concern as a child is enough to discount recently diagnosed reactions? How is your faded anecdote any more scientific?
You came here asking "are all these food allergies real?" though it seems you had already decided that they were not. You may be the first person in this world upon which I have ever wished the pain and suffering of Celiac Disease. Perhaps if you'd ever spent several years suffering with no perceivable reason before finding a medical reason for your distress, you would take the time to understand something before dismissing it in the future.0 -
I decided against typing what I originally wrote. It was quite rude and probably would have been reported. The overly censored version is:
You probably shouldn't reject and insult an intolerance/allergy that you don't understand or are too ignorant to research. Perhaps some education into the physical effects of gluten intolerance and the autoimmune extreme, Celiac Disease, will lower your sense of superiority and provide you with a better understanding than anecdotal evidence.
My point is to educate yourself before you *kitten* on people.
^ YES!!! :flowerforyou:
There is a difference between intolerance and allergy and I do think people get that mixed up. However, to question what someone has figured out in their own body is ridiculous.
People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them after 2 years I finally figured out my body does not like wheat. Then I get the scoffs...like I really wanted to give up beer?? :sad: and bread and pastas...all of the things I enjoy.
No, it's not ridiculous. People often thing correlation is causation. And, it's not. Just because you THINK you are gluten intolerant, or allergic, or whatever, because some ailment you had goes away, doesn't mean you actually are gluten intolerant. It might be something else. It's like saying, eveytime I eat greenbeans, I get a cold. It just so happens that that has happened. It doesn't however mean that the greenbeans are causing the cold.
When I eat bread my stomach hurts. When I don't eat bread my stomach never hurts. Therefore - bread is causing the pain.
It really IS that simple. A food elimination diet and careful diary keeping CAN help diagnose intolerances and allergies. True fact, yo.
You're blowing things out of proportion by comparing this to having a cold. You're effectively trying to dismiss anyone who has experienced these things. But you haven't lived it. You haven't taken the time to properly study it. You're clearly talking out of your *kitten*, so no offense but shut your pie hole.
Perfect. Thank you! :flowerforyou:
Another :flowerforyou: for pen0 -
I work in an allergy clinic and I can tell you these food allergies are real. Just as real as people with allergies to pollen and such. Although people do get allergy/ sensitivity/ and intolerances mixed up often, they are not the same thing and have different immune response and immunoglobulins that react with allergies(IgE) or sensitivities(IgG). Also celiac's disease is an autoimmune disease and is different from someone being gluten intolerant.
But i assure you, all of them are not good for your body and they are real. Whether its an allergy where it can be life-threatening or a sensitivity that just makes the person feel bad, just as an anaphylaxtic reaction is bad, long term exposure to a sensitivity can start to destroy the lining of the intestine and can lead overtime to bigger health problems.0 -
"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."
Antibiotics have saved a number of lives (including my own) but they have caused a LOT of health problems too. It is even questionable to take them for something like strep. My daughter had chronic strep throat as a child and was constantly on and off antibiotics. Finally, we got her to a specialist who said that he had had a lot of success in fighting chronic strep in children, with just the simple step of taking the child off of cow's milk. We did that and she has not had a strep infection since.0
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