Food Allergies/Intolerances
- Thread starter notb665
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notb665 said:
Hmmm, yes. These days, there is lots of rubbish in food, but instead of being artificial rubbish, as in the past, now it is naturally-derived rubbish.
Let me explain: 20 years ago (incidentally, when BBE dates were in their infancy!) there was a lot of artificial stuff in food, binders, emulsifiers, colourings, all E numbers. Tartrazine & sunset yellow ( E102 & E110 respectively) were 2 that were responsible (as we found out much later) for negative effects in the diet (hyperactivity in kids).
Nowadays, there is a great emphasis towards food that contains, no artificial colours or flavours. Emulsifiers are naturally-derived (lecithin). Use of preservatives has been greatly reduced. Anybody old enough to remember tomato sauce of the 1970's will know that our parents had no need to store it in the fridge after opening. Now, almost all stuffs advise refrigeration once opened.
There has always been intensive production for processed foods, at least from the 1950's onwards. Food processing is huge business, and there is great pressure for manufacturers to compete, and they do this by bulking out the food with fillers: rusk in sausages, water & polyphosphates (these allow the meat to hold more water) in meat, to name but 2 examples. Look at a typical lowfat mayo. There is water and starch to bulk out the product, and give it the viscosity required. Then to stop the water separating out, there will be emulsifiers holding it all together. To finish, it will have something to give a bright white colour, usually titanium dioxide, or E171.
There is very little in the way of what you and I think of as the traditional ingredients of mayonnaise - oil, vinegar, egg and natural flavourings.
But I'm not sure how this ties in with food allergies, other than that explained above: ie artificial foodstuffs are known to cause certain reactions in certain children.
I personally believe that all this namby-pamby dettox and "Kills all known germs dead" is very bad news because children are no longer exposed to the bacteria that previous generations were. Hence they have no built-in resistance to infections and become hyper-sensitive. So the very parents who think they are doing pettikins a favour by saving it from the big bad bacteria, are actually doing more harm than good.
I believe the human body builds up a resistance to certain irritants, bacteria etcetera, over a period of time which eqips the body with the means to fight infection and attack by, for example, pollen.
My old Granny used to say "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die", a peck being not the action of a bird, but a measure of weight.
Yes, good post. Maybe I shouldn't have said 20 years, as when you said 1950s I remembered that haven't cancer rates shot up since then?
I am 30 this month, and when I was 15 I battled with an on/off illness that I didn't know what it was, nor did the doctors. Only 7 years later did one doctor describe it as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), but as I wasn't particulary 'stressed' or 'nervous' I couldn't change my lifestyle. It was miserable at times, so I decided to try everything to help. At one point I had blood tests because my skin and eyes were going yellow, and my wife had to dig her knees into my back to relieve the pain. There were other things too.
So I spent 2 years analysing my diet and finally got it down to that I am intolerant to Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG or E621), the flavour enhancer and Aspartame, the artificial sweetener. If I cut them out I am perfectly cured.
So my point is (!): my Mum made everything from first principles and I was fine, when I got to the age where I started being independent, I started to get ill. Then when I left home I started to get worse. I think this is because I ate rubbish, cheap food. Nowadays, if I have time I always like to eat freshly prepared home-cooked food, and if I eat takeaways or quick food I feel ill.
I am 30 this month, and when I was 15 I battled with an on/off illness that I didn't know what it was, nor did the doctors. Only 7 years later did one doctor describe it as IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), but as I wasn't particulary 'stressed' or 'nervous' I couldn't change my lifestyle. It was miserable at times, so I decided to try everything to help. At one point I had blood tests because my skin and eyes were going yellow, and my wife had to dig her knees into my back to relieve the pain. There were other things too.
So I spent 2 years analysing my diet and finally got it down to that I am intolerant to Mono Sodium Glutamate (MSG or E621), the flavour enhancer and Aspartame, the artificial sweetener. If I cut them out I am perfectly cured.
So my point is (!): my Mum made everything from first principles and I was fine, when I got to the age where I started being independent, I started to get ill. Then when I left home I started to get worse. I think this is because I ate rubbish, cheap food. Nowadays, if I have time I always like to eat freshly prepared home-cooked food, and if I eat takeaways or quick food I feel ill.
Some people seem to be more sensitive than others. Which I guess is what you'd expect, if 90% of people ended up with IBS from eating MSG then no-one would buy food containing it! I've heard some people have problems with the weird plasticky cheese some pizza places use, but I'm fine with it.
I'm someone who enjoys peppers. All types, from the mild economy red pepper right up to the fiery scotch bonnet pepper. I just love them. I always found if I ate a dish with a LOT of chili in it, I would hiccup madly and later on get a MASSIVE bout of the runs.
Turns out to be a mild allergic reaction. Thing is, I eat tonnes of the stuff so you would think I would have gained some sort of immunity by now, but no! I know that bird's eye peppers are the absolute worst for me so I avoid them wherever possible.
My experience would support Joe's theory: peppers are still kept in the "fancy veg" aisle in Morrisons, they aren't a traditional British staple.
I've wondered if anyone in countries like Thailand and Malaysia have people who suffer from nut allergies and fish allergies. Most of their dishes include one or both to some extent, and I've met plenty of British people with both of these allergies.
I'm someone who enjoys peppers. All types, from the mild economy red pepper right up to the fiery scotch bonnet pepper. I just love them. I always found if I ate a dish with a LOT of chili in it, I would hiccup madly and later on get a MASSIVE bout of the runs.
Turns out to be a mild allergic reaction. Thing is, I eat tonnes of the stuff so you would think I would have gained some sort of immunity by now, but no! I know that bird's eye peppers are the absolute worst for me so I avoid them wherever possible.
My experience would support Joe's theory: peppers are still kept in the "fancy veg" aisle in Morrisons, they aren't a traditional British staple.
I've wondered if anyone in countries like Thailand and Malaysia have people who suffer from nut allergies and fish allergies. Most of their dishes include one or both to some extent, and I've met plenty of British people with both of these allergies.
notb665 said:
The kind of stress associated with IBS isn't always obvious. General low grade daily life stress, eg growing up and having to stand on your own 2 feet is more than enough to trigger it. In fact it's worse than individual things because it just goes on and on.
It's the combination of things, poor diet and stress that does the damage
If your intolerant to MSG never have Chinese food. They use enormous amounts, it gets thrown on most things like salt as they cook
pickles said:
Yes, thank you. I didn't have a that great teenage years - I do think that is part of it. But if I avoid MSG now, and refined carbohydrates, I feel on top of the world (looking down on creation. And the only explanation I can find...). It was actually Chinese food that triggered my realisation. There is a take-away round here that doesn't put it in because "MSG not real Chinese cooking".
It's in all sorts - fresh pasta, crisps, stock, packet stuff, loads of stuff, fast food. And as for Aspartame (which is broken down to the same molecules as MSG) that is in diet drinks, non-diet drinks especially.
I always thought I didn't have any intolerance problems until I went out to a birthday party on Saturday and didn't leave til about 2 am. The next day I had a headache and didn't feel like getting out of bed and I had to drink gallons of water. I hope I'm not intolerant of birthdays!
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I must say, I hate artificial sweeteners, esp. Aspartame.
They contain Phenylalanine, a toxin. See here:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/phenylalanine.html
But that's only part of the reason I hate them. I admit the main reason for my non-consumption is because of their effect on the body, but I also hate the taste.
Whenever I drink something with Aspartame in, I can tell. They may make my huge frame even huger, but I much prefer soft drinks with nothing but sucrose in them.
Don't know if anything ever came of it, but a few years ago in the US they were exploring links with aspartame and brain tumours in rats.
In fact, I've just looked up this, one of many:
http://aspartametruth.com/braintumors.html
They contain Phenylalanine, a toxin. See here:
http://www.sweetpoison.com/phenylalanine.html
But that's only part of the reason I hate them. I admit the main reason for my non-consumption is because of their effect on the body, but I also hate the taste.
Whenever I drink something with Aspartame in, I can tell. They may make my huge frame even huger, but I much prefer soft drinks with nothing but sucrose in them.
Don't know if anything ever came of it, but a few years ago in the US they were exploring links with aspartame and brain tumours in rats.
In fact, I've just looked up this, one of many:
http://aspartametruth.com/braintumors.html
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kendor said:
Very well put, matey!
I was trying to say something like that in a previous post!!
We've taken our kids to a "Chicken Pox Party"!!
Like Securespark I agree. When in the early 90's the 'Wall' fell and Eastern Europe became more 'excessable', medical scientist thought they would find a lot of asthma and allergy effected children there because of the pollution (coal, brown coal and no environmental regulations). But that just wasn't the case, they found less children effected by it than in Western Europe. Reason: our over zealous cleanliness 'kill's' also harmless bacteria which do protect us against other bacteria. Over there children were still 'allowed' to play everywhere, coming in contact with all kinds of bacteria (hmm, starts to sound like the commercial: good bacteriakendor said:
)I'm all for healthy eating, but I draw the line at "you should eat yoghurt what makes you go poo-poo", or however they phrased it in the TV advert
And why in a*se does the girl's mum steal all the yoghurt and run off with it? Is she playing a trick on her daughter regarding some yeast infection they don't mention in the advert? Because if she is, that's bl**dy funny and they should just make it an advert about itchy privates.
Perhaps they could invent some special nappies that you could pour the yoghurt into to keep it all in place on the affected area while you do your everyday stuff?
And that opens up a whole new world of possibilities. If you don't have thrush, there's nothing to stop you just filling the pants with milk and wearing them. Incubated with your body heat, you'd soon have some delicious fresh yoghurt. Simply carry a spoon with you and any time you are bored or hungry, just pull your waist band out in front of you and start eating.
Got genital warts? Brilliant, it's now a crunch corner.
Time of the month? Who doesn't like Muller fruit corner... the appearance at least.
And after a night on curry and pop, you could have yourself the mississippi mud pie one they make. Again, in appearance only.
Dunno about you, but I'd eat more yoghurt.
And the nhs prescription bill for Canestan Combi would halve overnight.
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