Allergies to natural, whole foods

[Taedareth]

Spinoff from another thread because I didn't want to hijack it:

Originally Posted by tempestjewel

There are some chemical compounds naturally occurring in whole foods that people react to. Here is one website I know with LOTS of info:

http://www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuff.com/

At the risk of sounding really naiive, I would like to know how people can have negative reactions to natural, whole foods? The website above says people can be sensitive to:

# Salicylates (aspirin compounds) in a wide range of fruits and vegetables.
# Neurotransmitters: free glutamates (MSG) and amines (histamine, serotonin, dopamine, phenylethylamine, and tyramine) in aged proteins or fermented foods like cheese, game and hung meat.

Reacting to chemicals and artificial ingredients makes sense to me. But how do you get allergic to wholesome, completely natural foods like fruit and fermented foods? :

[momto5girls]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Spinoff from another thread because I didn't want to hijack it:



At the risk of sounding really naiive, I would like to know how people can have negative reactions to natural, whole foods? The website above says people can be sensitive to:



Reacting to chemicals and artificial ingredients makes sense to me. But how do you get allergic to wholesome, completely natural foods like fruit and fermented foods? :

Well, we deal with celiac disease at my house... and that's a reaction (IgA, not IgE mediated) to wheat, rye, barley. Those are all whole natural foods. My 4th dd was just diagnosed with tree nuts and sesame allergy this past week--also whole, natural foods.

I think that using the term allergy for the stuff on that website isn't technically correct--though I'm not positive. It's more a sensitivity and reaction as most people consider IgE reactions the true allergies. (Though I use the word allergy in reference to my daughters and myself, as most people understand that better with no explanation than they do "intolerance" and celiac disease).

I do wonder what we've done to our bodies that so many people have adverse reactions to real, wholesome foods, though. I have a hard time believing it's always been this way and we're just getting more aware, YK?

[erin_d_a]

I have a major food allergy to capsaicin which is the chemical in peppers that makes them so spicy. My mouth swells up and it closes my airway. I've developed a tolerance to the point where I can eat very limited amounts of sweet peppers, but more than a couple of bites can be deadly to me.

This is actually a pretty common allergy among people of european decent. I'm also 1/4 Native American, so I'm kinda surprised that I have it since peppers are native to the Americas, but I'm mostly european.

I think that some food allergies Do come from our genetic background and how humans and foods coexisted for generations. Europeans have a higher sensitivity to peppers, Native Americans have a harder time processing barley, Asians are more prone to lactose issues etc... Some nutritionists have been studying patterns of food intolerance and allergies among different ethnic groups based on the native and foreign plants of a region.

[ASusan]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Spinoff from another thread because I didn't want to hijack it:

At the risk of sounding really naiive, I would like to know how people can have negative reactions to natural, whole foods?

Reacting to chemicals and artificial ingredients makes sense to me. But how do you get allergic to wholesome, completely natural foods like fruit and fermented foods? :

DH is allergic to fresh fruit and vegetables. They make his throat itch and he gets nauseated. If the fruit or vegetable is cooked, it is fine. This started 15 years ago, in graduate school. I have a similar reaction to melons (cantelope, honeydew, and usually watermelon). We surmise that there is a protein in the fresh produce that is denatured by cooking.

[JElaineB]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

Reacting to chemicals and artificial ingredients makes sense to me. But how do you get allergic to wholesome, completely natural foods like fruit and fermented foods? :

When it comes down to it everything is a chemical. Just because something is a naturally occurring chemical doesn't necessarily mean that it will be something everyone can tolerate.

[HerbanGirl]

I just finished reading "The False Fat Diet" by Dr. Elson Kaas, which talks about food reactions in detail. One of the things that the author says causes food reactions is eating too much of the same foods over and over again. According to this book, the average American only eats 19 different foods! I can't imagine I eat that few, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did in the past.

BTW, the seven foods he says are most likely to cause reactions are almost all whole foods: corn, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, and sugar.

[caedmyn]

I think it's because poor nutrition and various toxins (environmental, vaccines, antibiotics, etc) cause immune system problems and mess with the gut flora. As far as salicylate sensitivity goes (technically food chemical issues are sensitivities or intolerances, not allergies unless they cause anaphalactic reactions), foods are probably far higher in salicylates today than they were 100 years ago. A lot of produce has been bred (is that the right word?) specifically to taste better, or look better, or have longer shelf life, and those things tend to increase salicylate content.

Salicylates and amines have to be detoxed through the liver (unlike traditional food allergies or intolerances, which cause an immune system reaction), and since people's livers today are already overworked trying to deal with unhealthy food and toxins, it's that much harder for them to process food chemicals.

[westcoastmom]

Originally Posted by HerbanGirl

I just finished reading "The False Fat Diet" by Dr. Elson Kaas, which talks about food reactions in detail. One of the things that the author says causes food reactions is eating too much of the same foods over and over again.

That makes a lot of sense. Gluten intolerance/sensitivity is quite common in North America where gluten is in everything and is a huge component of many people's diets. I have a friend in Japan who is rice intolerant and she says rice intolerance is very common (and rice is a staple food for them)

As for allergies, intolerances, sensitivities people can be sensitive to absolutely anything. I have known people who had allergic reactions to the sun, cold water.

Genetics, high exposure to toxins/chemicals, gut problems etc all play a part in sensitivities/allergies. A person suffering from 'unknown' sensitivities/allergies can react to other things.

[AJP]

Originally Posted by HerbanGirl

One of the things that the author says causes food reactions is eating too much of the same foods over and over again.

Most of the healthy people that Price studied had a few staple foods that they ate every single day, things that were available all year and could be stored through dormant seasons, supplemented by seasonal items. I don't recall that he mentioned any kind of food sensitivies in those people like are being talked about here. I don't think it's simply a matter of being exposed to a certain food too often that causes a sensitivity to develop, I think negative reactions are enabled by all the other things we're exposed to that damage our guts, immune systems and detox pathways (which are inextricably linked). A person with all systems intact won't have problems eating any particular food every day, but if there's a chink in the armor then it can start a cascade of inappropriate reactions. Given the environment we live in now, and the many unhealthy things we're exposed to (including foods so denatured and tampered with as to be toxic), sensitivities to foods are very common.

There's also the factor that in the past, before all the modern options we have of choosing different foods, and before people in general were more globally mobile and not restricted to living in the same area where they were born, someone with a severe food intolerance to a staple, whole food would have been unlikely to either reach adulthood or be healthy enough to reproduce, so any genetic factor predisposing to such a severe food intolerance would have been selected out of the population. Now, in most cases, those people can survive and be healthy if the intolerance is identified, because food choices are more varied and medical intervention is available to deal with acute reactions. I mean, if you're a Swiss villager in 2007, and you have an intolerance to milk or rye, you don't have to eat those things just to survive, because a much wider range of foods are available to you than would have been hundreds of years ago. IMO, in a certain respect, our modern lifestyle has both created these kind of problems and facilitated us living with them, which works out okay for those whose problems are identified and can be worked around, but not so good for those whose problems go unidentified or who don't have the option of choosing different foods.

[HerbanGirl]

Good point about the traditional societies, AJP...I guess there's no easy answer, eh?

[Flowergirl~]

In general I think it is an accumulative thing. All the additives, chemicals, acid producing elements etc in our diet.

I think it started with vaccinations weakening the system. Then staple genetically modified wheat (that contain excessive amounts of gluten) as it weakened the gut and immune system leading to the other problems. : Another major culprit is the feeding of soy to babies. The gut is compromised so early in life that there is no way around it but to seek out a culprit and eliminate it from diet later in life.

We trust too much in the health food industry and fads. I was in a health food store the other day and when I looked around I was astounded at the number of things I'd never put in my body!

[desertpenguin]

: i agree with that it's mostly caused by the toxicity of our environment and subsequently our bodies, but i also agree that some of it is genetic like someone else mentioned.

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by ASusan

DH is allergic to fresh fruit and vegetables. They make his throat itch and he gets nauseated. If the fruit or vegetable is cooked, it is fine. This started 15 years ago, in graduate school. I have a similar reaction to melons (cantelope, honeydew, and usually watermelon). We surmise that there is a protein in the fresh produce that is denatured by cooking.

This is absolutely correct. It's called oral allergy syndrome. It's usually a cross reaction between the fruit and certain pollens. The list at this website is NOT all-inclusive or even close: http://www.calgaryallergy.ca/Article...od_Allergy.htm

(I have OAS. My culprit is pecans. They make my mouth hurt BAD!)

[Plummeting]

Originally Posted by Taedareth

At the risk of sounding really naiive, I would like to know how people can have negative reactions to natural, whole foods?

...

Reacting to chemicals and artificial ingredients makes sense to me. But how do you get allergic to wholesome, completely natural foods like fruit and fermented foods? :

Because allergies are a sign that the immune system is malfunctioning. When the immune system is malfunctioning, something is WRONG. It's no different than being allergic to ragweed pollen or cats, both of which are natural.

[Panserbjorne]

Originally Posted by Plummeting

Because allergies are a sign that the immune system is malfunctioning. When the immune system is malfunctioning, something is WRONG. It's no different than being allergic to ragweed pollen or cats, both of which are natural.

Right. But Caedmyn is too. We have cross-bred and hybridized our food so much that what it is now is nothing like what was found in nature.

Eating things repeatedly is only a bad idea if you have a damaged gut. Then you are just providing more and more opportunities for the proteins to leak into your bloodstream. This is one of the ideas behind a rotation diet. Minimize exposure. A healthy person should be able to eat a non-varied for years and not develop issues.

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by firefaery

Right. But Caedmyn is too. We have cross-bred and hybridized our food so much that what it is now is nothing like what was found in nature.

Yes. I was told that a reason so many people maybe having gluten problems now is that the grains have been bred to have way more gluten then they ever did before.

Eating things repeatedly is only a bad idea if you have a damaged gut. Then you are just providing more and more opportunities for the proteins to leak into your bloodstream. This is one of the ideas behind a rotation diet. Minimize exposure. A healthy person should be able to eat a non-varied for years and not develop issues.

Yep...even practioners who helped me discover my food issues could not tell me why I developed them or how to get rid of them!

That is why I love all the mama-experts at MDC

Jen

[saratc]

Originally Posted by HerbanGirl

I just finished reading "The False Fat Diet" by Dr. Elson Kaas, which talks about food reactions in detail. One of the things that the author says causes food reactions is eating too much of the same foods over and over again. According to this book, the average American only eats 19 different foods! I can't imagine I eat that few, but I wouldn't be surprised if I did in the past.

BTW, the seven foods he says are most likely to cause reactions are almost all whole foods: corn, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, and sugar.

These are definitely the foods most common in the SAD. Has anyone seen or read the Future of Food?

The 7 foods named above have all been very denatured in this country. Much of the US supply of corn, wheat, and soy are genetically modified. Peanuts in this country are all hybridized and contain aflatoxins, which occur in miniscule amounts, if any, in truly wild/heirloom peanut varieties. Our cows and chickens are eating the same corn and soy. And most of the sugar is not being consumed as cane sugar but corn syrup, of course, derived from corn. Funny though that most farmers don't make money from corn in terms of profit -- it is a government subsidized crop. But that's a whole different discussion...

[AJP]

Because it's been mentioned twice now in this thread, I just want to point out that there is not currently a genetically modified wheat on the market or being grown commercially. Corn, soy, canola and cotton (via cottonseed) are the main sources of GMOs in the food supply currently. Monsanto has been working on GM wheat and trying to get it approved and commericalized for years, but said last year that they have put the project on hold for now. The "modification" that has resulted in wheat with different properties than it had in the past (like higher gluten content and easier harvesting and processing) has been the result of conventional plant breeding, i.e. cross-polination and selective breeding for certain traits. It is not the same as the laboratory-based, trans-genic, cross-species kind of gene scrambling that is known as genetic engineering or genetic modification. Virtually every food grown today has been selectively bred to some degree, but there is a vast difference between conventional plant breeding and genetic modification - although the industry producing the GM varieties would like you to think they are essentially the same. And while a GM ingredient is present in nearly every processed product on grocery-store shelves (non-organic, that is), it's not coming from the wheat, it's coming from the corn, soy, canola and cottonseed oil which are used so much by the food industry and the conventional livestock industry.

There's a lot more info here if anyone wants it: http://www.seedsofdeception.com/

[JaneS]

Two things related to this which I've been reading about recently is K2 (the X Factor) and vitamin C ... a true deficiency (aka not RDA levels which are not even close) in either will effect our bodies' ability to detox oxalates and amines and salicylates.

I think it's all about finding the correct (mega) dose over a long enough time to solve your accumulated deficiencies.

I got rid of hay fever after switching to a traditional diet and though this discussion I just remembered my oral allergies to fruits (cherries, apples) disappeared too!

[Kailey's mom]

It doesn't make sense to me, but dd is either allergic or food intolorant to sweet potatoes, oats, soya, along with other things.