Cinnamon asked:
Theyused tobevery rare,even 10 yrs ago. Nowadays,youcan’t goanywhere without someone claiming tohaveorworried aboutsomeone elsewithfood allergies,anditseems tobethemajority ofthepopulation thathasthem. Andthatitisnow rare ifyoudon’t haveany. Howdidtheyincrease sorapidly? Issomething likethateven scientifically possible? Isita fairlynewgenetic thing orsomething else?
I’m notsaying theydon’t exist butI havehonestlynever met anyone,adult orchild,whohaseverhadany.
A lot oftime theyaren’t trueallergies. Mostpeople justhaveintolerances tothefood thenclaim tobeallergic. I havehadpatients claim tobeallergic toeggs cause theygave themgas,sorry butthathappens toeveryone. People don’t realize whenyoueat certainfoods,certainthings willhappen anditisn’t anallergy. Now therearea lot ofnut allergies,whoknows whythatisontherise.
Yes itistrue. I believe thatasmush asyougetprotected against something thatmuch weaker yourimmunesystem willbe. Forexample,inasian countries children exposed toallkinds ofpollution ,buttheyhavehigher immunity level thantheAmerican kids. Soitsthebodies tendency toadapt tothesituation.
You’re rightaboutthefact thatfood allergies haveincreased:
Somestudies suggest aboutfour percent oftheU.S. population — more than11 million people — havefood allergies. Ten years ago,thatfigure wasbelieved tobeonlyone percent.
Thismightbethecause:
A growing body ofresearch finds thatchildren raised inclean,urban settings aremore likelytodevelop allergies thanchildren raised inrural areas orfarming communities.
The“hygiene hypothesis”holds thatchildren exposed toallergens andmicrobes atanearly age develop a greater tolerance forthose allergens,andaretherefore less likelytosuffer fromasthma orallergies.
I don’t really see orhear aboutfood allergies very often,nordomany people I know have(oratleasttheydon’t broadcast them). I eat out a lot andthemostI’ll see isa warning thatsomething contains shellfish,etc.
I thinkmaybe there’s beenmore research andfinding out whatmakespeople sick andpeople microdiagnose symptoms forthings now. I agree thattheymaynotbereal allergies either.
Mydaughter’s pediatrition saidthatfeeding hercorn before shewas1 year ofage increased herchances ofhaving food allergies. I didnotfeed hercorn before 1 year. I amallergic tofresh berries myhusband isn’t allergic toanyfoods. P.S. I don’t getgas ifI eat them,mythroat swells shut andI cannotbreathe
Ourenvironment changes constantly. Forexample,withtime allcommercial pesticides andfungicides loose theireffectiveness,andourenvironment andthefood webuycontains more andmore potent chemicals-organic andinorganic. Sincethesesubstances killsmall organisms theycan’t behealthy foruscanthey? Becausetheytend toaccumulate inourenvironment andinoursystem,atcertainpoint thereissomuch toxic stuff accumulated inourstomach,liver,intestines,andsoonthatoursystem cannotabsorb anymore. Whatwecall allergies,couldbea beneficial message sent byourwell functioning immune system telling us—Donoteat thisfood,becausethebody cannothandle it,atleastfora while,till itwillfigure out howtoclear itself fromthepoisonous buildup. Perhaps ourbodies adapt byassigning storage functions tosomecells? Perhaps theyeliminate sometoxins aftera while,becausesomeallergies periodically come andgoaway. Thebuild-up oftoxic chemicals asa cause ofallergies isa speculation only,butitseems toexplaintheknown fact thatpeople living in“less clean”environments haveless allergies.
I thinkithassomething todowithhowwehavestoppedevolution asa species. Itisn’t survival ofthefittest anymore,butsurvival oftherichest withthebest healthcare. Inthepast,people withsevere allergies wouldhavedied,butnow theypass thesetraits ontotheirchildren,andtheypass themon…andsoonandsoon.
I amcertainlynotsuggesting thatwejustletpeople die andgetrid ofhealth care!
ButI thinkthatwhatI saidabove maybewhyitseems likeeverykid isallergic tosometing andhasathsma.