Think You Have A Food Allergy? You Probably Don't

[E Dogg Capizzle]

New study finds that while 30 percent of people think they have a food allergy, only 5 percent of the population actually do. I was thinking about this last night. Why is food paranoia so fashionable at the moment?

http://www.aolhealth.com/condition-cent ... webmaildl3

[scatter]

People get "allergy" and "intolerance" mixed up.

Food allergy is life-threatening. Intolerance just makes you feel a bit crook.

Why someone would cut a food group out of their diet without actually needing to is beyond me But then I'm intolerant to all kinds of random shit. I still eat it but I'm not pleasant to be around afterwards

[pissface]

Why someone would cut a food group out of their diet without actually needing to is beyond me

the desire to be special....

and to have an excuse for being an irritating fuck at eateries

[Bigfoot]

I would guess it has something to do with people wanting to blame something on their lack of health as well.

"Oh I feel like crap, it must have been xxxx that I ate. I must avoid it from now on"

instead of

"Oh I feel like crap, maybe I should stop eating beef and cheese at every meal and have a glass of water on occasion"

[E Dogg Capizzle]

"Intolerances" themselves are such a vague phenomena you have to be sceptical of a lot that is said about them. They often seem to be merely a pretext to market some new diet to consumers.

[Bigfoot]

"Intolerances" themselves are such a vague phenomena you have to be sceptical of a lot that is said about them. They often seem to be merely a pretext to market some new diet to consumers.

[GraemeWi]

You usually get your meals first on a plane if you specify a specific diet requirement like a low sodium, and also it's not some freaky vege meal normally! Thats one advantage

[E Dogg Capizzle]

[goldfish]

BRILLIANT

[Bigfoot]

I adore Mitchell and Webb

[dəRosa]

I don't make a big deal about it, certainly not in a "special" way, but, I don't eat meat, prefer not to eat a lot of wheat, and don't eat non-free range eggs (at least when I'm at home).

These decisions are partly down to my preference for avoiding food produced in a way which maximises profit at the expense of other factors; y'know, like health, trade equity, and the environment.

More people do stuff like this these days because these days there's more need to do it. For example, using wheat cultivars in bread production that are selected for traits that promote resistance to drought and pests at the expense of nutritional value, or processing methods that likewise tax nutritional content further down the line. These kinds of measures are cost-effective in the narrower sense only.

I guess this is more of an intolerance than a food allergy

[Bigfoot]

Choosing not to eat something is not what the issue is, you don't eat meat because you don't want too - not because you claim to be allergic too it. I don't eat KFC, not because I am allergic too it, but because the thought of it makes me want to projectile vomit on the computer (yeah, there was KFC ad on tv...)

[dəRosa]

KFC was the last chicken I ever ate. I always liked it actually. It's been a long time though.

But yeah, I get your point. However, ethical considerations aside, I gave up eating bread totally until I realised that it made me feel poorly because of some of the factors I mentioned (at that point I started eating better quality and sometimes non-wheat bread).

This doesn't amount to an allergy or an intolerance but it is a response to a particular food stuff and the way it's most commonly processed for consumption. In the same way, it sounds as if you'd eat chicken as long as it wasn't KFC.

My point is not that modern food production and processing methods are creating allergens, but that they may take a foodstuff beyond the point of being palatable, readily digestible, or nutritionally beneficial. I'd say many people claiming an "allergy" are actually responding to this.

[E Dogg Capizzle]

Hippy.

[bubbaa]

hair split but i think palatability or not and nutritionally benefit or not don't really count as a cause of "intolerance" . Digestability/ indigestibility definitely are about intolerance - example "FODMAPS". Allergy must be an immune mediated (eg gluten sensitive enteropathy) reaction by definition and many/most food reactions won't be immune mediated therefore are intolerances or something else.
Howerer I suspect that the majority of "allergics" out there are self diagnosed or diagnosed by someone without a robust diagnostic process or testing.
I reckon eating well is essential to good health and the poorly planned and managed withdrawl of major food groups on the basis of symptomatology without any diagnostic approach is truely throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Probably people need to eat less and better, drink less booze, exercise more, manage stress and understand that life can be pretty shitty at times and expecting to feel fantastic the whole time is silly.
Like the financial people say - If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. If simplistic models and manipulation of diet sound to good to be true - they probably are
RANT OVER. biking now
before the wave of vorb abuse starts - yes I know here are genuine intolerances and allergies - I wasn't talking about any individual in particular - dont take it personally