I don't think that anyone can say for certain why there are more food allergies today than in the past. But it is interesting that the top cultivated foods in our country are also the top allergens. It could be because of genetic modification, or it could be because we are inundated with these foods in just about everything we eat. or maybe a combination of the two.

Heather Jacobsen
www.stuffed-pepper.com

Sigma40 you crack me up. Of course people are so easily led down the wrong path and it's wrong to try - and try the Tobacco Industry did.

So having 80% of the American men in the U.S. smoking cigarettes in the 1950s is just because all of those men (who all died young) decided to start smoking. Nothing to do with the ads, the false advertising saying it was good for you, had anything to do with it.

Example: One of their ads said "More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette".

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/busine...

One last point - the rapid expansion of consumer packaged goods as a percentage of the American diet corresponds directly with the recent time frame in which gluten intolerance and other "allergies" have developed.

Avoid the middle aisles and stick to foods that are not processed and/or packaged and you will save both money and your health.

Food companies have been putting gluten into foods as a filler. Consumer Packaged Goods companies can't make money out of the actual food, because it's a commodity. So they have to alter it - add something. Gluten is cheap and bulks up the product. It's in french fries, lunch meat, catsup, ricotta - you name it.

Add pesticides, artificial colors and sweeteners, and all of the rest and you've got a fake food revolution that steals our ability to get real nutrition into our bodies and most of us are probably starving of some nutrient, which triggers disease and a weakened immunity system.

I would also argue that wheat is not nutritious which is why bread companies tell us how they have added vitamins and minerals to it. Same goes for milk. Both of these are not essential foods - more likely added when real food is not readily available. They were meant to be a supplement but have become the dominant food source instead. Our bodies are finally saying "enough!" on the wheat products. This is not an allergy - wheat isn't really fit for human consumption. It's a grass - not a naturally appealing food source, let's face it.

Concentrate on eating organic vegetables and fruits, and lean protein sources and you will be getting the nutrition you need. Getting the nutrition you need is the key to good health. Many studies have shown that what we eat (and stress) weighs heaviest than other factors to trigger positive or negative health outcomes.

All wheat is non-GMO! Other crops grown in the US - corn and soy for example, are mostly GMO varieties. But there is no GMO wheat available anywhere in the world, at this point.

more on the FDA approval for aspartame... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf_9ZJZMO...

ASPARTAME! The country wanted to collectively "lose weight" and not give the kids so much sugar...so everything "healthy" contains aspartame...talk about the FDA sleeping with the enemy...there's a lot on the subject, but here's a link to get you started on learning more about the negative side effects of aspartame. It's a huge problem and a huge contributor to the health care mess the whole country is in, but that's another article, I guess... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola...

This is as bad as the smokers complaining about smoking related illnesses and blaming the large tobacco companies (rollseyes). Its always someone elses fault.

I am so relieved to see this many people on the same page......I agree with you all - it's the toxins, chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, food additives, increase in vaccine schedules, hormones, GMOs - maybe our bodies could handle one of these assaults, but the combination of them overwhelms our immune systems.

So the general consensus is that it is not our fault what condition our health is in?
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Did you have health class in school?
Do you know what food is good for you?
Do you have good food available?
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If you answered yes to those, then it is no ones fault but your own. Blaming something else or someone else is exactly what is wrong with this country.... no one knows what personal accountability is. Before you go out and get a vaccine because you heard someone talk about it...do some damn research. We wonder why America is falling, we got people all these people trying to manage stuff, businesses, their money..etc.. and they cant even manage their body. Epic failure of a society.

I just trapped a rat using peanut butter on the trap. Having lived in Wis. for a number of years, I could not bring myself to use cheese.

In the fifties we were still eating real and simple food without the processing and added chemicals. Our systems are bombarded with additives and hormones from eggs, meat, vegatables, junk foods, etc. All those poisons break our immune systems down. It takes a concerted effort these days to find wholesome, health inducing foods.

Some things show a you age as well. I have asthma now. never did before.

BPA(a synthetic chemical called bisphenol A) is derived from petrolem. It is the building block for polycarbonate plastic. The sort of hard, clear plastic often used for water bottles. It's also present in the epoxy resins used to line aluminum soda cans and the steel cans that contain your soups and vegetables. BPA contributes to cancer,diabetes, heart disease and immune disfunctions.Chemicals everywhere we go are in our foods,water,fruit,etc. God help us all.

The quote "assault on the immune system" made me think of vaccinces. Probably a link there.
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I guess all the haters will attack me now. So be it.

because people are fat and unhealthy maybe?

"There is an inverse relationship between the level of hygiene and the incidence of allergies and autoimmune diseases," says Dr. Delespesse. "The more sterile the environment a child lives in, the higher the risk he or she will develop allergies or an immune problem in their lifetime."
http://www.physorg.com/news190391661.htm...

happycamper - You made a claim, yet provide no evidence?
I'm just skeptical...

Myself and my 5 daughters suffer from food allergies. I had symptoms but did not realize that food was the culprit as I was growing up. I believe that the assault to our immune systems that happens on a daily basis is the cause for allergies...these being unnatural chemicals found in foods, OTC and prescription drugs, pesticides, building materials, etc. Also, as the number of childhood vaccines is increased, some children are genetically programmed different and are not able to tolerate that much of an assault on the immune system at one time. All these things cause the immune system to be hyper aware and constantly reacting.

GMO. Genetically modifying our food is the culprit. Leave it to man.

Maybe people are bigger whiners today than before.
I'm just sayin'...

I agree with Northman to a point. There are kids that need to be pushed outside. I have an 8 and 6 year old and they are outside any chance they get. They are not sick very often. My 6 year old however can not have any food or drink that has the artificial color Red 40. His behavior and energy goes off the charts and he has enough going on without that being added into the mix.

I agree as well. They just didn't know yet what was going on. I agree with Northman as well.Get outside and dig in the dirt!!

I agree with formerwisconsinite. This is the information age. More people are aware and more people are getting a correct diagnosis.

I have celiac disease, so I'm only speaking to that.
More people are diagnosed with celiac disease today because doctors are more aware of it, so they are more likely to test you for it. It used to take people about 10yrs to be diagnosed if they ever were. Some people still have problems getting a diagnosis since the symptoms are often just written off as IBD.
So, for celiac disease (which is an autoimmune disease, not an allergy) it isn't so much that more people have it, but more people are diagnosed.

“Why is there an increase in food allergies?” Because we’ve gone from an outdoors culture to an indoors culture. Back in the day, kids played outside from breakfast ‘til dinner, and often afterwards. They played in the dirt, ate dirt, ate bugs, climbed trees, splashed through drainage ditches, rolled in leaf piles, and did all manner of things today’s parents would consider “unhealthy”. If we survived all that – and most did – our immune systems were pretty well set to handle minor things like unseemly glutens. Now, you practically have to throw kids out the door and lock it after them if they’re to get any fresh air. Their immune systems are pure as the driven snow, and slow down killer peanuts the way the Maginot Line slowed down panzers. Now you know.

Some food allergies are related to pollen allergies. I have very bad birch tree pollen allergies in the spring (thanks to the stand of birch my parents had, I'm sure), and as a result there are many foods I cannot eat raw, especially if they are not quite ripe, although I can eat them once they are cooked. These include all fruits with a pit (such as cherries, plums, peaches) and some other fruit such as apples and pears, as well as chickpeas/garbanzo beans, hazelnuts, celery and carrots. I always keep children's generic liquid Benadryl in the house and car in case I miss that a suspect ingredient is in a food (such as a fast food salad), but I am lucky that I have never had a truly severe reaction. At this point, I wouldn't bother with de-sensitizing shots or the like, but if my kids started to have severe issues, I would certainly try.