Gluten allergies, peanut allergies???

albinogorilla
albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
edited October 3 in Food and Nutrition
I know some of you might not remember this, but 20 years ago no one was allergic to gluten or peanuts. At least no one me or anyone else I knew knew of was. So what the hell happened? Now I send my daughter to pre-school and a PBJ in her lunch box might as well be Plutonium...............we also didn't have the internet or text messages............

Replies

  • voluptas63
    voluptas63 Posts: 602 Member
    I miss the good ol' days. Mom locking me out of the house until noon, when she'd feed us... then locking us back out until 5:30pm when she got home from work.

    And God forbid a kid walk home and *gasp* spend an hour by themselves until Mom/Dad gets home.

    How did I ever survive?
  • rockylucas
    rockylucas Posts: 343 Member
    I think in regards to the schools its a liability issue... You know there are a bunch of parents waiting to sue if little Johnny takes a bite of his friend's peanut butter sandwich and gets sick.

    And while I do know that celiac disease is real... there is something to be said for trendy illnesses and wanting to jump on the bandwagons. I have had a ton of friends who "discovered" they were gluten "intolerant" in the last few months :P
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    I think in regards to the schools its a liability issue... You know there are a bunch of parents waiting to sue if little Johnny takes a bite of his friend's peanut butter sandwich and gets sick.

    And while I do know that celiac disease is real... there is something to be said for trendy illnesses and wanting to jump on the bandwagons. I have had a ton of friends who "discovered" they were gluten "intolerant" in the last few months :P

    Haha...I am bullsh**t intolerant..........
  • JBRENTLINGER
    JBRENTLINGER Posts: 160
    I would give anything to be my age now (35) and live back in 1982. No internet, no cell phones, you actually had to talk face to face with people, or call them at the very least. Kids were thinner, they were more active, and you only had 13 channels on TV!

    The 80's were amazing, and I want to be back there now!
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    When you, personally, are no longer in control of your food source - you have no idea what is happening with the food you consume before it gets to you. I'm in my early 30s and for some reason, everyone I know who is my age is lactose intolerant (I'm aware that it's not the same as an allergy) - myself included. I find it highly coincidental that all of us would get the same condition right around the same time.

    Environmental factors may play a role as well. I have no idea what chemicals go on the lawns of these golf courses and houses with perpetually thick green grass, I don't know when or how they are regulated or if people are following those regulations. There weren't as many country clubs or thick green lawns back in the day either. Just something to think about.
  • ellekay22
    ellekay22 Posts: 147 Member
    My son has a nut allergy. He is 3. He can tell you he can't have nuts. He asks people to check the label. We do not have a nut free house. My nephew has a peanut allergy. He's 12. His mom is obsessed about have a peanut free house. He'll eat whatever he's given without thinking.

    Now, I understand allergies have different severities. I, myself, am allergic to melon. ALL melon. I once ate a strawberry from a fruit tray and ended up in the hospital. That was my bad. I should have known. And there are kids who just have to be in the same room as a peanut. But they are few and far between.
  • ellekay22
    ellekay22 Posts: 147 Member
    My son has a nut allergy. He is 3. He can tell you he can't have nuts. He asks people to check the label. We do not have a nut free house. My nephew has a peanut allergy. He's 12. His mom is obsessed about have a peanut free house. He'll eat whatever he's given without thinking.

    Now, I understand allergies have different severities. I, myself, am allergic to melon. ALL melon. I once ate a strawberry from a fruit tray and ended up in the hospital. That was my bad. I should have known. And there are kids who just have to be in the same room as a peanut. But they are few and far between.
  • NoDairy
    NoDairy Posts: 88
    well im allergic to all that and more in the way that I will breakout the next day. Im finally clearing up by not eating that stuff. We dont actually really know whats going on with the production of stuff so whats going on with the food industry now??
  • momma3sweetgirls
    momma3sweetgirls Posts: 743 Member
    My first born child is allergic to peanuts and we found out the hard way. I don't know why she's allergic to peanuts, she just is. I don't want my child to die so I educate her about not eating other people's food, about reading labels on packaging. My home is now a nut-free environment. I know the rest of the world isn't so I just want to make sure there is one place she is 100% safe from the EVIL PEANUT!

    Yes, it's an annoyance to a lot of people - especially those whose kids' schools are peanut-free. Heck, I miss my peanut butter, but I'd miss my daughter more if a peanut killed her!
  • VickiMitkins
    VickiMitkins Posts: 249 Member
    I don't know about the peanut thing, but gluten issues have been around for a long time. Just not easy to diagnose. I've had symptoms 35-40 years. Really as long as I can remember. Doctors just said IBS and try to determine my triggers. That's awful hard to do when there is wheat in just about everything. I only learned about celiac and gluten intollerance about 2.5 years ago. I immediatly stopped wheat. I felt better in a matter of days. I remain pretty much gluten free now and feel so much better than before. Also, there is a difference between a wheat allergy and celiac desease/gluten intolerance. The allergy is pretty rare and is an allergy like others with a pretty quick reaction upon exposure. Celiac and gluten intellerance have more long term impact. Celiac is actually fairly common in certain groups (northern europeans have especially high rates of celiac) and causes damage to the intestine and antibodies develop. A much higher number may be intollerant to gluten and have symptoms, but not ongoing damage. Gluten is a very hard to digest protien, so it can cause differing levels of problems in people.
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    the question is why...............why all of a sudden can peanut butter kill so many people...............
    have people with peanut allergies been reproducing at an exponential rate and passing it on?
    doesn't make sense that in such a short period of time, it affects so many
  • FitMissVicky
    FitMissVicky Posts: 51 Member
    Many of us may have had undiagnosed food allergies as a kid - I know that I had eczema and asthma which as both linked to food allergies (that is according to my son's allergist). I do have an adult friend with a severe peanut allergy so I know it did exist back in the day

    We gave my son his first taste of ice cream at 11 months and he blew up with hives. We figured we'd hold off on the dairy for a while. Three months later there was a sippy-cup sharing incident at the park and he blew up again. So we got him tested and yep, he was allergic to dairy and peanut as well.

    He grew out of the dairy allergy (thank GOD) but remains allergic to peanut and has to carry an epi-pen. The first born kids of both my siblings also have nut allergies. It is indeed pretty weird and they aren't sure what is causing the rise. Frankly I don't care. I just want to make sure my kid isn't the one who is accidentally exposed and ends up in the hospital or worse. This kind of allergy is not merely an inconvenience like ragweed or pet dander. Your throat closes and your tongue swells and you can't breathe. It's pretty scary. So I do get a little annoyed at parents who complain that they can't send cupcakes or peanut butter to school. That's an inconvenience, sure, especially if you're pressed for time or your kids are picky eaters. But kids have died - why take the risk for convenience?

    He's five now and while he is pretty good at asking sometimes he cannot or does not want to resist treats when they are offered. I'll continue to educate him and make sure our home is safe but I also need to feel comfortable with the school environment because he is so young. Fortunately schools do make the effort; it helps ease the mind for sure.

    I miss peanut butter too, but fortunately my son is OK with Almonds and we substitute soy nut butter or almond butter at home and find other things to send for snacks and lunches at school.
  • albinogorilla
    albinogorilla Posts: 1,056 Member
    Many of us may have had undiagnosed food allergies as a kid - I know that I had eczema and asthma which as both linked to food allergies (that is according to my son's allergist). I do have an adult friend with a severe peanut allergy so I know it did exist back in the day

    We gave my son his first taste of ice cream at 11 months and he blew up with hives. We figured we'd hold off on the dairy for a while. Three months later there was a sippy-cup sharing incident at the park and he blew up again. So we got him tested and yep, he was allergic to dairy and peanut as well.

    He grew out of the dairy allergy (thank GOD) but remains allergic to peanut and has to carry an epi-pen. The first born kids of both my siblings also have nut allergies. It is indeed pretty weird and they aren't sure what is causing the rise. Frankly I don't care. I just want to make sure my kid isn't the one who is accidentally exposed and ends up in the hospital or worse. This kind of allergy is not merely an inconvenience like ragweed or pet dander. Your throat closes and your tongue swells and you can't breathe. It's pretty scary. So I do get a little annoyed at parents who complain that they can't send cupcakes or peanut butter to school. That's an inconvenience, sure, especially if you're pressed for time or your kids are picky eaters. But kids have died - why take the risk for convenience?

    He's five now and while he is pretty good at asking sometimes he cannot or does not want to resist treats when they are offered. I'll continue to educate him and make sure our home is safe but I also need to feel comfortable with the school environment because he is so young. Fortunately schools do make the effort; it helps ease the mind for sure.

    I miss peanut butter too, but fortunately my son is OK with Almonds and we substitute soy nut butter or almond butter at home and find other things to send for snacks and lunches at school.

    I get a little annoyed when the problems of a few, effect everyone. And its not about convenience. Its the fact that my kid isn't allergic and should be able to eat what they want. Last time i checked, this was America.....at least that's where I am.
  • mpfand
    mpfand Posts: 98 Member
    My daughter has a nut allergy. Peanuts and cashews specifically can kill her. Neither myself nor her dad have any such allergies. Our home is not a nut free home, but she has been educated since she was old enough to talk on the dangers that nuts pose to her. She can inform anyone, but whether or not they listen or take her seriously is a whole other matter. When she was in kindergarten she stepped on a peanut butter sandwich in the lunchroom. When she got back to her classroom she showed the teacher and was told to go clean it off. She told the teacher that she can't because she's allergic (she was wearing her medical bracelet and the teacher was aware of her allergy). The teacher again told her to go outside and clean it up. So she did. She was only 5 and had been taught to listen to her teacher. I got a phone call from the school nurse that Jessica was having "some kind of a reaction" to something. I raced to the school and sure enough, her eyes were swollen shut and she was covered in hives. I gave her a Benadryl and took her home and washed her thoroughly. She ended up not needing her Epi-Pen since she hadn't ingested the peanut butter, but she'd gotten it on her hands when she was cleaning her shoe and then rubbed her eyes. She didn't think to wash her hands afterwards and neither did the teacher. The worst of it was that my daughter felt it was her fault. My husband and I went to the school the very next morning to speak with the principal about the incident. We never expected the school to become nut free, we simply wanted everyone who dealt with her to understand the seriousness of it and take the necessary precautions to help her protect herself.
  • CorrieV1976
    CorrieV1976 Posts: 320 Member
    My son has a nut allergy. He is 3. He can tell you he can't have nuts. He asks people to check the label. We do not have a nut free house. My nephew has a peanut allergy. He's 12. His mom is obsessed about have a peanut free house. He'll eat whatever he's given without thinking.

    Now, I understand allergies have different severities. I, myself, am allergic to melon. ALL melon. I once ate a strawberry from a fruit tray and ended up in the hospital. That was my bad. I should have known. And there are kids who just have to be in the same room as a peanut. But they are few and far between.
    My Dad and sister are both severely allergic to Nuts / Peanut butter. My dad cant even be around the smell. When he flies , he has the airline remove the peanuts 3 flights before his. That being said, we were NOT a nut free house.....I LOOOOVE peanut butter. To this day though, I put the jelly on first then the peanut butter, and if I forget I get a new knife for the jelly, and I dont live with him anymore. Also I do not eat anything peanut butter realted when I am going to be around them. They survived! I took peanut butter to school all the time. I really think these kids need to be made aware of their allergies and surroundings. I am allergic to bees and have been since I was 9... I know what to stay away from and I also knew how to use my Epipen as did my sister. You can not make the world conform around you...you just need to be more aware of situations.
  • ellekay22
    ellekay22 Posts: 147 Member
    One theory is breast vs. formula as infants, but my son was breastfed. I know for sure a gastro flu went around in the 80s leaving a lot of us with lactose intolerance.
  • Babieseverywhere
    Babieseverywhere Posts: 311 Member
    I get a little annoyed when the problems of a few, effect everyone. And its not about convenience. Its the fact that my kid isn't allergic and should be able to eat what they want. Last time i checked, this was America.....at least that's where I am.
    I really hope I have misread your post. Do you really think the 'right to eat what I like when I want' overrules someone's elses 'right to live'. ?

    All public building should be nut free, why wouldn't they be. Most people wouldn't bat an eye at having to wait to get home to eat nut versus saving a child's life !

    Sorry, if I sound a bit tactless, I have just found out my young daughter is likely to have a peanut allergy following very frightening allergic reaction two days ago. If anyone at our local school felt that their right to eat peanuts is more important than my daughter life. I will be one very angry person.
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