Are all these food allergies real?

I belong to an organic CSA that has goes through organic certification every couple of years.

Please stop.......you are making me laugh.

Do you REALLY think that fruits and vegetables are NOT healthier than packaged junk? You have got to be kidding me.

I do trust local farmers around here where I live. I don't trust large Corporate farms and such. Here in the United States the large farms have massive recalls due to salmonella and listeria poisoning that it just pushes me more and more to eat as local as I can until I can grow all of my food myself.

And those farmers that are telling you about corn, wheat, soy and other seeds that are injected with pesticide..........That is Monsanto, round up ready seed.

That is only one reason as to why I don't eat grains. I have many other reasons also.

This thread keeps going back and forth through a couple of different issues. I'm glad I brought this up. Initially, I was trying to distinguish between people that have real problems with different food conditions, whatever they might be, and people that make them up.

I do think there is a huge difference between people that get official medical diagnosis and people that just claim that not eating wheat makes them feel better. I don't at all think there is anything wrong with it all by itself. But, as it relates to the growing trend, it is hard to tell the difference between a real problem and one that's not real. I shouldn't have to define what not real means but since this is the internet, I sort of have to qualify it. So, I'll just say it is anytime that there is not a medical diagnosis of an actual medical problem. So, by saying that I feel better eating gluten free food DOES NOT mean that I have celiac disease. And, that's what I was attempting to get at with my post.

So, we can move this forward and stop going back and arguing about an opinion that something makes you feel better. Again, just because you feel better on a gluten free diet does not mean that being gluten free has solved your problem, because you don't know what the problem really was. It could be that some component within the gluten free environment was the problem and you dont' actually have to eliminate gluten at all, you just think that because you felt better after eliminating gluten. This is a fact that seems to escape a lot of people. That's why I weigh heavily on more of an official diagnosis. It was never my attempt to belittle those with actual problems. I was more discussing those that are either jumping on the band wagon, or criticising those that self-diagnose. I was also asking if there was an actual increase in actual medical statistics of these increases. It seems that there is a general increase in over all dietary issues. It sounds like it is not clear as to why just yet. But, there are a lot of asumptions and theroies as to why.

Anyway, interesting dialog. Obviously, this topic touches a lot of people. I'm concerned.

When a person is kept in too clean of an environment, their immune system is not being kept busy fighting off foreign pathogens. Studies have show in this instance the body will then turn on itself and start attacking itself. This playings a role in the increase in autoimmune disorders and allergies. Let your children go outside and play in the mud, they will be healthier!

When people have medical difficulties they often have to try different things and get various oddball diagnosis from doctors along the way (and prescriptions for ridiculous medications with crazy side effects). Medical diagnostics are not always as good as you think, we don't have tricorders from star trek. And it isn't always easy or wanted to go through the major tests (colonoscopies, MRI's, intestinal biopsies), so sometimes doctors take the least invasive routes at first by trying elimination diets. Sometimes people are mis-diagnosed as having an issue they don't have and sometimes a serious diagnosis of an auto-immune disease is missed and they are told they have IBS (two very different scenarios). It's just reality. There are many factors that could contribute to a person's digestive pain and skin rashes (even anxiety can be a cause). But, that starts getting into people's personal medical issues. And sometimes things improve on their own (and if that happens then great). I don't really know what else to say, I thought this was common knowledge.

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.
I keep asking if something was wrong or what? but is the problem real. Ya know?
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?

Allergies-what a subject!!! I have good insurance and a dermatologist who said "If during your entire life, your throat closes and you get hives when you eat coconut, nuts, citrus etc, there is no need for an allergt test. Those are foods you can not consume" .

So it doesn't matter if a pesron has no official diagnosis, that person has arrived to adulthood by taking care with foods they eat.

Also, if a person has one known allergy, likely they have many "unknown" foods or substances to which they are also allergic.

My personal list is pretty extensive and I travel with medication that, so far, stops the allergic reaction quickly.