Food Allergies?

[mkmoro311]

Are Food allergies a Western or Modern era problem or have they always been problems going back to early man?

[mkmoro311]

Any takers!

[tanyam926]

I dont' have an answer but I have been wondering this too. My guess is that it is more modern (a guess based on nothing) bc of our diets and how our bodies are treated.

If we had ideal gut conditions (no antiobiotics, bf, fermented foods and foods prepared properly, clean air and soil, etc.) we might be better able to handle foods w/out a problem.

We are dairy free over here but I have heard that raw cow's milk is easier to digest and doesn't cause the same problems for some people. I would like to learn more about this.

I also find it interesting that goats milk is so close to human milk, and wouldn't it be easier to keep a goat than a cow (modern day and traditional societies)?

I am interested to read the thoughts of other (and much more knowledgable) mamas on this topic.

[kjbrown92]

One of the theories is that in our "clean" society (disinfectants and vaccines so that there is no "real" threat to the body) our bodies make up things to respond to, and that's why they sometimes react to normal things like foods. Also, 90% of the SAD diet has dairy, gluten, soy, and corn in it, which wrecks your intestines and makes you more susceptible to food and environmental allergies.

[WC_hapamama]

Originally Posted by tanyam926

We are dairy free over here but I have heard that raw cow's milk is easier to digest and doesn't cause the same problems for some people. I would like to learn more about this.

I also find it interesting that goats milk is so close to human milk, and wouldn't it be easier to keep a goat than a cow (modern day and traditional societies)?

If someone is truly allergic to cows milk, rather than just intolerant, raw cows milk vs. pasteurized doesn't make a difference. Casein is still Casein whether no matter how the milk is processed. When someone is allergic to a substance, they're reacting to a protein.

A large percentage of people who suffer from cows milk allergic also react to goats milk. I don't have the numbers with me at the moment.

Immunologically, there is no difference between something like a pollen allergy and a food allergy, other than the vector in which allergen is getting into the bloodstream.

My family has a history of asthma, allergies and eczema (all related conditions), 4 generations back, and most of that 1st generation lived on farms that didn't use pesticides or chemicals.

[JTA Mom]

Food allergies have always been with us. Humans are true omnivores. We can eat pretty much anything. It stands to reason that a part of the population would react to something in that wide a food range.

For example, with the domestication of milk animals, there was a HUGE winnowing in the human population. All those who couldn't digest milk well or at all became smaller & smaller with each passing generation. That's how one can get near 100% lactose tolerance among the Masai and, say, Swiss.

With agriculture, again, there was a HUGE winnowing among those who did not do well on grains. This one is a bit trickier to see in the skeletal record, because nutritional completeness came later (beans & corn= complete protein, soaking corn with lime to make nutrients more bio-available, etc). But one can still see this by looking at the distribution of food allergies among populations. One can still see this today, for example, among those who, for example, cannot tolerate gluten. Many people who can't tolerate wheat, for example, their ancestry comes from places that didn't really depend on wheat. Also, in Thailand, and other places that use lots of peanuts, those with sensitivities to it probably died at higher rates than those without those sensitivities. Less chance of passing that gene down, & so on.

Ami

[Ruthla]

I suspect that, in "the good old days"- individuals with extremely severe food allergies didn't survive infancy.

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

One of the theories is that in our "clean" society (disinfectants and vaccines so that there is no "real" threat to the body) our bodies make up things to respond to, and that's why they sometimes react to normal things like foods. Also, 90% of the SAD diet has dairy, gluten, soy, and corn in it, which wrecks your intestines and makes you more susceptible to food and environmental allergies.

You might be on to something... Our daughter who was adopted from Vietnam has at least 9 confirmed IgE food allergies, and we were told that her body might possibly just be in overdrive fighting things off because her body was used to water and living conditions that are not as "disinfected" as they are in the US.

However, when we adopted her at 4 months old, they had her on a dairy based formula. She had severe reflux even then and we later found out it was a milk allergy IgE). It just went undiagnosed there because they really don't do allergy testing in rural Vietnam. (However, if you want to get really specific, I didn't see a cow the entire 5 weeks I was there...lots of water buffalo in her province but no cows. So the cow's milk formula was an "intrusion" on her body so to speak). Ironically, my 2 bio children are also allergic to cow's milk...

[AllyRae]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I suspect that, in "the good old days"- individuals with extremely severe food allergies didn't survive infancy.

Yes, this too. My little girl was very dehydrated when we got her and she spent our first 3 days together in the emergency room in Hanoi being rehydrated. She was listless and non-responsive because she had vomited so much. She was only getting mere ounces a day and vomiting them up, and it was 110 degrees outside. Babies like her with a dairy allergy who are not rehydrated and treated or the allergen is not considered would likely not have survived that.

[Poddi]

I always suspected allergies have something to do with the environment being too clean as well. Our first DS was never sick as a baby and developed all sorts of allergies. Our second baby caught a cold whenever big brother got one, so far he doesn't have any confirmed allergies.

When I moved to Canada I didn't catch a single cold for 3 years, then I developed my first allergy in my 20s. My mom was the same, moved to North America and didn't get sick for years, then got allergies in her 50s. It's not just a childhood thing. It's more likely to happen when you move from a germy place to a "too clean" place. Maybe even from city to country might be enough of a difference.

[crunchy_mama]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Food allergies have always been with us. Humans are true omnivores. We can eat pretty much anything. It stands to reason that a part of the population would react to something in that wide a food range.

For example, with the domestication of milk animals, there was a HUGE winnowing in the human population. All those who couldn't digest milk well or at all became smaller & smaller with each passing generation. That's how one can get near 100% lactose tolerance among the Masai and, say, Swiss.

With agriculture, again, there was a HUGE winnowing among those who did not do well on grains. This one is a bit trickier to see in the skeletal record, because nutritional completeness came later (beans & corn= complete protein, soaking corn with lime to make nutrients more bio-available, etc). But one can still see this by looking at the distribution of food allergies among populations. One can still see this today, for example, among those who, for example, cannot tolerate gluten. Many people who can't tolerate wheat, for example, their ancestry comes from places that didn't really depend on wheat. Also, in Thailand, and other places that use lots of peanuts, those with sensitivities to it probably died at higher rates than those without those sensitivities. Less chance of passing that gene down, & so on.

Ami

Originally Posted by Ruthla

I suspect that, in "the good old days"- individuals with extremely severe food allergies didn't survive infancy.

Ditto. Even today you have people totally oblivious to their kids intolerances and allergies. People w/ kids that never sleep, aren't growing and very "spirited" often that is food related. Back in the old days- you know all the G'ma's and G'pa's that say back in our day we didn't have that problem are full of horse hockey. They just ignored it. would put their kids on various formulas trying to find the best fit and then would just say the kid would have colic and that's it- then when the kid got older and symptoms change as they do they would just not be associated w/ food.

[mamadelbosque]

IDK, I'm sure there were some food allergies although obviously folks with really severe ones probably just didn't live too long. And while a lot were probably ignored by most folks, I almost feel like here on MDC at least, people have kind of gone to the other extreme - every little thing is a 'suspected allergy/intolerance' to gluten, or wheat, or dairy or whatever. And while I'm sure some people do indeed have problems, I just don't know that we need to be quite so bloody quick to jump to conclusions about allergies & intolerances - to food, to pollen or dust, or whatever. But thats just me.

[mkmoro311]

Some good theories, I likey! I use to work for a Dr who did Allergy elimination and it really works, i saw a lot of children helped! Something for you to look into if you child has multiple food allergies.

http://www.naet.com/