They used to be very rare, even 10 yrs ago. Nowadays, you can't go anywhere without someone claiming to have or worried about someone else with food allergies, and it seems to be the majority of the population that has them. And that it is now rare if you don't have any. How did they increase so rapidly? Is something like that even scientifically possible? Is it a fairly new genetic thing or something else?
I'm not saying they don't exist but I have honestly never met anyone, adult or child, who has ever had any.
2006-12-12 08:52:39 · 7 answers · asked by Cinnamon 6 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Allergies
A lot of time they aren't true allergies. Most people just have intolerances to the food then claim to be allergic. I have had patients claim to be allergic to eggs cause they gave them gas, sorry but that happens to everyone. People don't realize when you eat certain foods, certain things will happen and it isn't an allergy. Now there are a lot of nut allergies, who knows why that is on the rise.
2006-12-12 08:58:56 · answer #1 · answered by kirsten j 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Our environment changes constantly. For example, with time all commercial pesticides and fungicides loose their effectiveness, and our environment and the food we buy contains more and more potent chemicals-organic and inorganic. Since these substances kill small organisms they can't be healthy for us can they? Because they tend to accumulate in our environment and in our system, at certain point there is so much toxic stuff accumulated in our stomach, liver, intestines, and so on that our system cannot absorb anymore. What we call allergies, could be a beneficial message sent by our well functioning immune system telling us ---Do not eat this food, because the body cannot handle it, at least for a while, till it will figure out how to clear itself from the poisonous buildup. Perhaps our bodies adapt by assigning storage functions to some cells? Perhaps they eliminate some toxins after a while, because some allergies periodically come and go away. The build-up of toxic chemicals as a cause of allergies is a speculation only, but it seems to explain the known fact that people living in "less clean" environments have less allergies.
2006-12-12 09:23:54 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I don't really see or hear about food allergies very often, nor do many people I know have (or at least they don't broadcast them). I eat out a lot and the most I'll see is a warning that something contains shellfish, etc.
I think maybe there's been more research and finding out what makes people sick and people microdiagnose symptoms for things now. I agree that they may not be real allergies either.
2006-12-12 09:01:41 · answer #3 · answered by M C 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're right about the fact that food allergies have increased:
Some studies suggest about four percent of the U.S. population — more than 11 million people — have food allergies. Ten years ago, that figure was believed to be only one percent.
This might be the cause:
A growing body of research finds that children raised in clean, urban settings are more likely to develop allergies than children raised in rural areas or farming communities.
The "hygiene hypothesis" holds that children exposed to allergens and microbes at an early age develop a greater tolerance for those allergens, and are therefore less likely to suffer from asthma or allergies.
2006-12-12 09:00:53 · answer #4 · answered by lieselot h 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it has something to do with how we have stopped evolution as a species. It isn't survival of the fittest anymore, but survival of the richest with the best healthcare. In the past, people with severe allergies would have died, but now they pass these traits on to their children, and they pass them on... and so on and so on.
I am certainly not suggesting that we just let people die and get rid of health care!
But I think that what I said above may be why it seems like every kid is allergic to someting and has athsma.
2006-12-12 13:22:46 · answer #5 · answered by April 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is true. I believe that as mush as you get protected against something that much weaker your immunesystem will be. For example, in asian countries children exposed to all kinds of pollution , but they have higher immunity level than the American kids. So its the bodies tendency to adapt to the situation.
2006-12-12 08:59:12 · answer #6 · answered by Malu 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My daughter's pediatrition said that feeding her corn before she was 1 year of age increased her chances of having food allergies. I did not feed her corn before 1 year. I am allergic to fresh berries my husband isn't allergic to any foods. P.S. I don't get gas if I eat them, my throat swells shut and I cannot breathe
2006-12-12 09:01:46 · answer #7 · answered by jo_jo_baby2004 4 · 0⤊ 3⤋