Has anyone else noticed a huge increase in food allergies?
When I was about seven, I told my mother that I could not eat apples anymore, because they made my mouth itch. A year later, I had similar reactions to soya products, plums, and carrots. By high school, the list spanned lots of fruits and vegetables, and included macadamia nuts, cashews, and almonds too.
When I first started reporting these "allergies", my mom thought I was lying and just didn't want to eat healthy fruit. After awhile she realized that it was real!
Over the past few years, I've talked to some friends and realized that this bout of "allergies" has been impacting many of them too, to the point where a substantial amount of my friends all have these new food "allergies."
Why am I putting the word allergies in quotes? Because I honestly don't think that a bunch of people and I spontaneously developed allergies. I don't know if it's some sort of disease, or if some new pesticides or hormones are being used in farming nowadays... But it's terrible!
by
gchinkin
asked a year ago
I feel like you just watched the same news channel that I did. They were doing a story on how a local doctor was quoting an increase in food allergies in children. He said that he wasn't sure if more people are aware of food allergies or if the amount of allergies is growing, but he was siding on the idea that there just might be more food allergies.
One towering factor today is the wide availability of foods that may or may not have been available to our regions 50 years ago -- I wonder if that's part of the issue
The issue is actually that children are protected in a world of fluff, and that solid foods and sensible diets are introduced much later in life than they used to be. Food allergies are not on the rise in most areas, just in those that are "civilized" (and the number of sickly children is also related to this).
Got purelle? Throw it away. I'm going to try and stand down from the soap box thing, but (with a few exceptions), most allergies seem to be related to the late introduction of food, rather than anything genetic, or even environmental.
I may come back tomorrow morning with links to studies supporting this, but I'm so overwhelmed with real life right now that I just don't have the time.
@shrdlu: I agree with the pampered children theory. Perhaps you were looking for a simple explanation like this?
There was a Dr. Phil episode, or maybe it was Oprah -- I got those two confused (lol)-- that my wife watched where they talked about over-sterilizing environments for children weakens their immunity to common bacteria. Exposure to germs is okay, just not overwhelming amounts.
I don't clean everything in my house with bleach. I don't use hand sanitizer in my home. All of my kids were eating what my wife and I were eating by the time they were a year old. My 3 children remain healthy with no allergies(knock on wood).
@holymythos: Sorry, don't own a T.V. I actually really want to watch that report now.
@shrdlu: I doubt it, I grew up in some pretty unsanitary places. The issue might be because my family was poor (my father was a Ph.D. and supporting everyone) and so I didn't get a diverse range of foods as a child. So I guess you have a point there.
But I'm just concerned about how prevalent these "allergies" are nowadays. Maybe it's because I'm 20 years old so I bump into a lot of kids, but it seems a disproportionate amount of young folk like me have this problem.
@capguncowboy: I think you may be onto something. I'm allergic to lychees. 50 years ago, I doubt few people in the country had ever even heard of them, let alone had access to fresh ones.
I agree that if there really is an increase in cases, not just more reporting, it is due to the over-sterilization in modern societies.
Statistically, children raised on farms or around animals have fewer allergies later in life than kids raised in "clean" environments. Most like because they are exposed to more "stuff" at a younger age.
Parents and teachers today are also over-reacting in many cases. One school banned high-fives during the swine-flu hysteria a few years ago, telling kids to bump elbows instead. I see moms whipping out sanitizer at McDonalds, at birthday parties, and even using it on themselves before picking up their kids! Sure, rinse your produce, and use something anti-bacterial on kitchen counters and utensils that are anywhere near raw meat, and wash your hands before sitting down to dinner and before/after handling/cooking meats... other than that, chill f**k out.
to me, a "food allergy" is something you eat that then causes your throat to start swelling, face to turn red, and break out into hives. Life threatening stuff.
"my mouth itches"? I seriously think stuff like that is often psycho-somatic. (although in your case, it may be real... just talking about cases like that IN GENERAL.)
Honestly, my hygiene is very questionable. When I was a kid, my parents never even told me to wash my hands! (I think they wanted to save water. Fair enough when my dad is earning $380 a month for a family of three).
Also, just to give you an idea of common things I'm allergic to, here's a list: apples, peaches, plums, carrots, bean sprouts, celery, avocado, hazelnuts, almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews, eggplant, snow peas... and quite a few more. As you can see, a good number of these are commonly grown everywhere, even fifty years ago.
@kamikazeken: I agree with you, which is why I put it in quotes. I'm allergic to walnuts/pecans (dead in 15 minutes), so that's what I call a "real allergy". But I need to use the term because nothing else really suits what I'm trying to describe.
i grew up playing outside everyday and eating fresh mangoes as a fruit, with a seed in the middle. today i get seasonal tree allergies in early spring and if i eat mangoes as a fruit (with the seed in the middle) i get these tiny itchy bumps on my lips and mouth corner, and itchy dryness. noticeable stuff, you can see it by looking at me
what happened in between? i dunno but i medicate in spring with claritin and avoid delicious mango fruit.
i think if i'd kept my exposure consistent i wouldn't have it
has anyone tried taking benadryl before eating a food you're allergic to? my friend is allergic to shellfish and wants to try eating it after taking benadryl. would that work you think?
Agreed, it is terrible. For my kids, there are strict restrictions against bringing any sandwiches with peanut butter in them to school, as other kids in class can have serious, dangerous allergic reactions. It's not one to put in quotes, it's a genuine allergy that some of these kids have.
While there may be some dimension of cases on the rise, I'm also wondering if these allergies were simply not diagnosed in earlier years.
@w00tgurl: tell your friend he's being suicidal.
benadryl is nowhere near as strong as what he needs. MAYBE if he was talking about Sudafed (which contains Ephedrine) in a huge dose, but that is just as likely to give him a heart attack.... that's what they use to make crystal meth.
@w00tgurl: It depends on the severity of your allergy. And by this I mean actual, tested allergies.
I am allergic to crab, but only on random occasion. I got hives once and decided to finally down some Benadryl - which definitely helped me.
@mistamoose: the whole "no peanuts or peanut butter in school" thing pisses me off. Take all the kids that have a deathly allergy to peanuts and put them is a separate classroom and keep them away. Why the hell should hundreds of kids be deprived of a HEALTHY menu choice because one or a few other kids are allergic? When did it become the norm to inconvenience the masses instead of letting the few deal with the inconvenience?
There's a few reasons:
A) Creating a classroom for kids just allergic to peanuts is logistically impractical, costly, and effectively segregates children based on an allergy vs. academic ability.
B) There are healthy alternatives beyond peanut butter
C) MY KID is allergic to peanuts. The "inconvenience" could make my kid have problems breathing. That is a big problem. We hope he'll grow out of it, as it's possible at an early age. Thankfully, the reactions are not as severe as they are for other children I know.
Our house is not coated in Purel or other excess behaviors like that either.
"there are healthy alternatives beyond peanut butter"
so what? if being around NORMAL food is dangerous to your kid, keep your kid home. I feel bad for them, but not to the point of depriving the entire school's population of something that isn't harmful to them. Next will be a kid that's allergic to fish, so all of a sudden another food option is removed. Hey, there's a kid that's allergic to milk, let's remove yogurt, pudding, ice cream, milk... Hey there's a kid that's allergic to eggs, oops, what else do we have to remove?
Sorry, but no one guaranteed life would be fair, holding something back from the rest of society because a few can't tolerate it is wrong on too many levels. It may sound cold-hearted, but parents have a hard time getting their kids to eat healthy as it is, so if their kids will eat something reasonably healthy like a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread for lunch, it is wrong for one set of parents to insist that their child's needs are more important.
from MSNBC:
"Under DOT’s rules, passengers with severe peanut allergies have a qualifying disability covered by the Air Carrier Access Act, which prohibits discrimination by U.S. and foreign carriers against individuals with disabilities.
As far back as 1988, DOT advised airlines to make reasonable accommodations for passengers disabled by their peanut allergies. Most airlines voluntarily comply, but no formal rules have been put in place.
DOT is posing three alternatives to accommodate peanut-allergy sufferers on airplanes:
* Ban the serving of peanuts and all peanut products on all flights;
* Ban the serving of peanuts and all peanut products on all flights where a passenger with a peanut allergy requests it in advance, or;
* Require airlines to establish a peanut-free buffer zone for passengers with severe peanut allergies."
"a qualifying disability" means that potentially, peanuts could be banned from EVERY PUBLIC PLACE, restaurants, bars, grocery stores,
(cont)
(cont), and we're not just talking about plain peanuts, but anything that may contain peanuts. No more crushed peanuts on your ice cream sundae at McDonalds, no more snickers candy bars, no more reese's peanut butter cups... no more peanut M&M's or Mr Godbar.
People are willing to give up freedoms because they feel sorry for someone, but once it starts it never ends. "it's just nuts"
If you have a disability or medical condition that makes it dangerous for you to be in public, then stay our of public places.
Hey, that kid's allergic to shellfish, and his class is taking a field trip to fisherman's wharf in San Francisco, let's make sure they remove all the crab before he gets there, and if that's impossible, then the entire class should stay away, because it wouldn't be fair for them to go if that kid can't.
Sorry, but my read of the US constitution says I have a right to feed my kid pretty much whatever I want.
Jesus, how the hell did this get so far off the original question?!?!
Wow. I thought I was self-centered. Negative rep to kamikazeken for being insensitive.
So I first developed food allergies at around the age of 15 to Shellfish, legumes and peanuts and about 5 years ago I developed allergies to corn, soy, veg oil, canola oil, sunflower, and dairy. However when tested 2 years ago my dairy allergy has gone down and is more of a sensitivity(yay).
OK so we have been discussing why has this happened recently? Well there are many theories out there many of which have been discussion, the thing is there is not enough research done to know exactly the cause. My allergist said perhaps I developed my allergies due to stress but I doubt it as I had not really been stressed out at those periods in my life. I have heard the theory of being too clean as well, I have seen documentaries discussing the change in peoples diet. Many people today are consuming more genetically modified foods (companies are not required to label if they are in the US and Canada), also growth hormones are more prevalent in milk in the US. (CONT)
@kamikazeken: I'm pretty sure ephedrine is a decongestant rather than an antihistamine. Last I knew to stop a severe allergic reaction you needed adrenaline (ephinerine) or a steroid. You're correct in that an antihistamine won't do, but please don't tell people that ephedrine is the solution. Misinformation can be deadly.
@w00tgurl: Tell your friend it isn't worth it, she's playing with fire. Unless she's aching so badly for the shrimp cocktail that she's willing to eat it in the emergency room with an epee pen in hand (and that's painful, expensive, and irresponsible to the people who need real care)
As for the foods being introduced too early, I studied nutrition in school and was thought by every single professor and dietitian that foods should be introduced at a later time to avoid children developing allergies if they are given foods too early then that increases their risk of developing allergies.
The question was raised about taking a benadyl and eating foods you cannot, that depends on the individual and the severity of their allergies. As mentioned before my sensitivity to dairy and a few other food items have decrease therefore, yes I personally can take a benadryl and consume those foods with a benadryl. However, I do not attempt to try that with shellfish or legumes as they are my highest sensitivity. (CONT)
Lastly, I have heard of the theory of genetics playing a factor, however no one in my family has allergies. Again there are many theories out there but no one has yet come to a conclusion as to why this has happened, perhaps its a mix of things? It is really hard to say at this time until more research has been done.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I have been seeing a HUGE increase in the number of people that have (or at least a huge increase in those that have been diagnosed with) Celiac disease. Although it is possible that people have had this disease just as consistently in the past, it seems to be increasing quite a bit.
I've heard various reasons on why people think this might be the case, and the one that makes the most sense to me, is that it may be a result of all the chemicals in and on our food. It's possible that the chemicals, fat content, sugars, additives, etc. are affecting more than just weight and diabetes issues, but allergies and the ability to process foods as well.
Thoughts?
Yes celiac disease has also become more prevalent and I have heard this theory too, I do think this plays a factor. Back in the day people didn't really eat all the processed foods as we do today, they consumed more whole foods and cooked from scratch. Because of my allergies I have had to cook like this, and in a strange way sometimes in glad for this. The foods taste better and are better for you.
Before my allergies I used to eat very very unhealthy especially the year before my allergies got worst. It was the year I moved to the US and boy is fast food cheap and easy to come by lol, so it is possible my increase of processed foods triggered the increase. Oh also another point that my allergist brought up was the fact that I moved and she said the environment could also play a factor. This I do think has some merit as even my skin changed once I moved here. Whenever I go back home n visit my skin is clear but as soon as I come back after about a week I break out.
I have similar allergy problems. My allergist told me that i have something called food allergy syndrome. When my allergies are the worst (springtime tree and grass allergies) i develop minor allergic reactions to most stone fruit( Apples, pears, plums, peaches, cherries) It isnt life threatening, just itchy mouth and sores/scratchy throat.
for the last 25 years of my life its never been a problem. Now that i am getting a bit older and my allergies are getting worse, it became so annoying that i avoid those fruits altogether.
My allergist explained that some of the pesticides/hormones/chemicals used to grow the fruit have a similar makeup (or share similar characteristics) with grass and tree pollens.
I think there is a link between the foods being grown, and changing enough for the bees to not be pollinating and making honey (did you realize there was even a bee/honey problem out there?) Past 3 or so year, the bees cannot process the pollen to make honey. Something has changed, whether genetically modified to resist pests, disease, etc, for the bees to not even be able to do their thing. I think this difference is detected in our bodies when we are injecting various foods. An allergic reaction is our bodies rejecting something it feels is harmful. To reject whole fruits and veggies later in life is a problem.
When your mouth/throat itches from eating raw fruits, nuts, or vegetables, it's called oral allergy syndrome. Here's the wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome
It is a true allergy - your body is having an immune response to something not otherwise harmful.
Scroll down for a list of cross reactions - for example, it looks like gchinkin's list of foods matches the birch pollen list.
Often, you can cook the foods that give you problems when they're raw, and you'll be fine.
When you're exposed to more things that you're allergic to, your allergy symptoms get worse - so when there's high pollen levels, your oral allergy syndrome problems might be worse.
I have oral allergy syndrome symptoms with some fruits, sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes I can eat a banana with no problems, and sometimes I can't.
I also have an allergy to avocado. It feels like I've eaten glass and have glass shards in my stomach.
@mellielou: There was a recent study done that revealed the reason honey bees have been on the decline over the past several years. Cell phones. The signals interfere with their communication and tracking abilities. They get disoriented and can't find their way back to their hives.
@amaragold: Wow, that was really helpful! One of my friends was diagnosed with some other type of disease, which causes you to "gain allergies", although the actual reaction was not due to allergies.
@mistamoose: How about you tell your kids not to eat other peoples peanut butter sandwiches? What could possibly happen, a food fight breaks out and someone gets hit in the face with a PB&J?
Banning peanuts on flights is just a stupid, firstly how many people have allergic reactions to eating peanuts versus BEING IN THE VICINITY of peanuts? Secondly, many airliners are like 20 years old. You don't think there's just pounds of peanut dust built up in the cushions and in every crack and crevice of a plane?
@osculant: Again, my kid's reaction to peanuts is not as severe as other kids. If hit by a PBJ or if he ate a PBJ, the allergic reaction would be minimal. For other kids, it can be serious. The son of a friend of mine has an even more severe allergy, where a kiss from somebody who ate something with peanuts actually left an allergic rash on his face. If he ate, it would be much worse.
@pxb006: Ditto that.
My wife is allergic to cantelope and honeydew melons (something to do with penicillin). She gets the typical symptoms: throat closes up, rash inside her mouth, etc. They can be quite deadly to her, but she's not about to banish cantelope and honeydew from our home, much less the grocery store that she shops at. She knows the proper precautions and acts accordingly. This nonsense about PB being banned at schools all falls back to be accountable for yourself. Instead, we teach our children that everyone has to do what's best for you, not themselves, and it's stupid.
@mistamoose agreed some people have a higher sensitivity then others, I have trouble breathing if I smell legumes. I used to be even more sensitive to other smells but thankfully my sensitivity for those foods have gone down. It can be quite frustrating when some people don't understand or care, but such is life...
@capguncowboy: So, you actually think that we should rely on six year olds to take responsibility for not only themselves, but also the actions of everyone around them? while that might be good for thinning the herd, I hardly a reasonable approach would involve putting the lives of people on the line simply for the convenience of a few self centered individuals.
@pxb006: I am not being self-centered, people demanding that 99% of the population cater to their particular needs are the ones being self centered. If a person on a flight next to me mentions that they are allergic to peanuts and politely asks that I not open anything with nuts on the flight, I'd be happy to oblige. If they DEMAND that I do it under penalty of law, screw 'em... they can walk.
@kamikazeken: No, that is pretty much the definition of being self centered. Sorry if other peoples desire to not die is inconveniencing you too much.
@capguncowboy: Apparently you did not read that article.
It only says a study showed that an active cell phone in close proximity to a bee hive has negative affects on the occupants. Near the end it actually goes on to say that it's likely a minor issue and that a "few known factors are pesticide exposure, mice and fungal disease and poor nutrition" are likely the major causes of the declined population.
Interesting article in any case.
1. I don't buy the "pampered child" theory. My in-laws both grew up on farms eating only what they grew, & in their 50's developed severe celiacs disease/gluten allergy. I'm no expert, but I know that flour, corn, & wheat are nothing new.
2. Recently, my wife & some friends have developed IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) related problems that doctors can't specifically diagnose. My wife had many tests. None conclusive. One doctor recommended trying gallbladder removal surgery. Seriously? Without trying dietary/nutritional changes 1st? We have had minor success with dietary changes (organic, gluten-free, mostly vegetarian).
Look, I'm not saying that organic food / holistic methods are the answer, but I want to see science & medicine start addressing the ROOT cause of these issues, & stop band-aiding them with drugs & surgeries.
P.S. If u are having trouble with your stomach, try diet changes 1st before paying $1000s for tests that didn't tell us anything.
Stats
- Asked
- a year ago
- Asked By
- gchinkin
- Answered
- 40 times
- Viewed
- 1247 times
- Voted Against
- 0 times
- Voted For
- 14 times
40 Answers answer
Sort By: