So many allergies! Why?

I’m happy to do a vegetarian alternative but if any have more complex dietary, needs I ask them to bring their own food and I am happy to serve it together with the rest.
I have a granddaughter who does bring her own when she visits

I was born 1954. Years ago us as a family were brought up on vegetables and some fruit that my dad grew in the garden. All meals home cooked. Cakes, desserts all homemade.
The only store that I can remember was the Co-op.
As the years went by big supermarkets opened up and there's a multitude of all different kinds of food on offer. Chemicals to make things have a longer shelf life and to look good. Additives and goodness knows what that the body reacts to.
Every germ, virus cleaning products available. All I can remember my mum having was Ajax.
We went outside to play, in the muck, shared drink, bit into and shared an apple, didn't wash hands every time we came in or went to the toilet. I'm being honest here.
Our bodies built up immunity.
In this day and age we are too clean and open to all the stuff added to food.

I agree

Coeliac disease is a sensitivity to wheat and gluten it is not an allergy

Some confusion here.
It's a lot more than sensitivity.
You're right, though, it's not an allergy, it is an auto-immune disease.

Some people do have an intolerance to gluten, although they are not coeliac, eating gluten can make them ill, sometimes passing out.
Howe

I don't know how Howe crept in 🤔

Gwyllt

Monica. I too am lactose intolerant but did not enter myself into the discussion
I am different I like milk and didn’t associate milk with the gut problems I encountered. It was only when I took the lads off milk I took myself off and bingo my symptoms improved.
I don’t think it’s that simple as I am only slightly more tolerant of the low lactose variety
However when I was on high dose prednisolone I was much more tolerant and two years since I came off it my tolerance has seriously deteriorated and just about as bad as it had been

You may not have been more tolerant on the prednisolone but it probably dampened down your symptoms.
That's really interesting, my MIL had several food intolerances but then took prednisolone in her later years. I wonder if thst helped with her symptoms?

MissInterpreted

There's a big difference between actual allergies and intolerances, but I think now, in some circles, it has become quite 'trendy' for people to claim they 'can't' eat certain foods, when what they actually mean is they won't eat them - for whatever reasons. And no, I'm in no way minimising the seriousness of genuine allergies or food intolerances - my GS has a nut allergy and a friend is extremely allergic to shellfish. I know one woman who kept claiming she couldn't eat X, Y or Z - then when quizzed about her supposed allergies, admitted she was just a very fussy eater. It's people like that who take the focus away from those with genuine, and often life-threatening, allergies or health conditions such as coeliacs.

It does help in some ways, though, MissI, with so many people claiming to have gluten intlerance, the range of goods available now is much wider.
It used to be very restricted.

Two of my grandsons have very limited diets because they are both autistic and are very picky about what they will eat. The third one doesn't have any of these issues (hooray) but is lactose intolerant and suffers from asthma and eczema. Both my children spent their early years on a smallholding, generally covered in mud and drinking unpasteurised goat's milk. The only problem they ever had was when my daughter suffered from prickly heat for a while.

I remember hearing a bacteriologist talking about the overuse of antibacterial sprays in the kitchen. He said that people are killing off too many of the beneficial bacteria. He said his wife was a great believer in the sprays and refused to stop using them. He lets her carry on because she doesn't realise that they are supposed to be left to dry on the surface to be effective. She always wipes them dry as soon as soon as she's sprayed, so they have no effect at all.

Deedaa

Two of my grandsons have very limited diets because they are both autistic and are very picky about what they will eat. The third one doesn't have any of these issues (hooray) but is lactose intolerant and suffers from asthma and eczema. Both my children spent their early years on a smallholding, generally covered in mud and drinking unpasteurised goat's milk. The only problem they ever had was when my daughter suffered from prickly heat for a while.

I remember hearing a bacteriologist talking about the overuse of antibacterial sprays in the kitchen. He said that people are killing off too many of the beneficial bacteria. He said his wife was a great believer in the sprays and refused to stop using them. He lets her carry on because she doesn't realise that they are supposed to be left to dry on the surface to be effective. She always wipes them dry as soon as soon as she's sprayed, so they have no effect at all.

Reading the other thread about the state of posters' fridges, freezers and ovens, I doubt that many bacteria, beneficial or otherwise, are being killed off.

They're obviously something right 😁

Over-use of antibiotics kills off gut bacteria.

At least that has been realised now.

Callistemon21

Over-use of antibiotics kills off gut bacteria.

At least that has been realised now.

Which is why it's always a good idea to take a decent probiotic if you have been on a course of antibiotics. I take one on a daily basis anyway.

MissInterpreted

Callistemon21

Over-use of antibiotics kills off gut bacteria.

At least that has been realised now.

Which is why it's always a good idea to take a decent probiotic if you have been on a course of antibiotics. I take one on a daily basis anyway.

I don't take them generally but do eat live yogurt.

There have always been people with coeliac disease and others with allergies. Most of my family are atopic with either asthma and/or excema, hay fever and other allergies. My grandmother died aged 50 of asthma, so long before modern UPF food.
I think many atopic people have much worse issues now due to modern UPF diet and lifestyle. There are others who are not atopic who are affected by modern life.

There isn’t much overuse of antibiotics these days you have to be at deaths door to get them from my doctor, but if you are ill and need prolonged antibiotics they will affect your digestion, probiotics do help you recover.

Allergies are caused by immune deficiencies or damage and there are multiple causes, in addition in the past they were not diagnosed and death was attributed to other causes

My serious food allergies started post menopause and I do wonder if there is a hormonal link which for some people affects the immune system. Postnatally after having both my daughters I had bad asthma.
I had anaphylaxis after having a local anaesthetic at the dentist and then was fully resuscitated when allergy tested at the hospital. After that my immune system became unstable and I started having anaphylaxis to foods which I had eaten all my life. Now I cannot eat wheat,nuts,peanuts,balsamic vinegar,wine or chocolate. Some fruits will cause my mouth to swell but not put me into shock. This has stopped me from travelling abroad as it is difficult to get medical insurance plus the anxiety of trying to eat out puts off anyone wanting to travel with me.
I rarely eat at restaurants as the slightest cross contamination can put me into shock and in hospital.
Allergies are so strange ,how they can suddenly develop at any time in your life. More research needs to be done to work out prevention and a possible cure.

It’s coming out that all these allergies are the result of multiple vaccinations in childhood. I’ve saved quite a few doctors’ and scientists’ papers on it and it seems pretty conclusive - including SIDS.

I am sure all these things (ME, allergies, asthma etc are down to something either 'environmental' or something that is being put into our ultra processed food - something that would cost 'someone', somewhere a great deal of money were it to be found out.

Always follow the money ...

I agree with you! I understand some people are genuinely made ill by some foods and they just can't touch it, people have always been that way and always will be, but it seems everyone has allergies/intolerances now.

My hubby can't touch too much bread/similar things because of the gluten problems that physically make him sick and he's on life-long tablets for it from the doctor but he's OK apart from that and can eat a variety of other things.

There's certain food/drinks I absolutely hate and just will NOT touch them but I don't claim to be allergic/intolerant, I just tell people I won't touch it!

Absolutely what Katie said!
As a food allergy is actually a very serious thing with anaphylactic reactions and all that. Ask with invitations these days that children with allergies please be aware and bring lunch boxes. Do not accept responsibility. If it were my own I would not put the onus on someone else. But still want the little one to go along and have fun. They would no doubt be very aware of the dietary limitations.

My little sister developed a rash and I went with her and my mother to the doctor's surgery (his daughter was my best friend).
"Well," said the doctor. "It could be an allergy."
"We don't have allergies in our family," replied my mother. That was her attitude.
Was this just luck, or was it because we lived in the country, ate fresh or home-preserved food, walked or cycled to school?

I have been allergic to peppers and chillies for some years. Unfortunately it’s getting worse and checking ingredients on things it seems paprika and cayenne pepper is also affecting me. These are being added to things like baked beans, pickles,cheese and onion crisps and even sausages.The problem is if allergies are not taken seriously there could be serious implications so please take all allergies seriously.
A bit annoying but serious 🧐

DH was a child in the 50's and early 60's; parents were successful business people who worked long hours and employed daily cleaners and full time carers for the children in the home.
Those who looked after the children fed them almost exclusively on the new TV dinners, frozen orange coloured breaded fish fingers and chips, Vesta curries etc.Practically no fresh fruit or vegetables.When he was old enough, he was sent to a boarding school.During the holidays, he was seen on 2 occasions by a local doctor who diagnosed him with malnutrition.It was thought that some of the wartime surplus food used over a number of years by some of these establishments contributed to this.

It was only in later life,as his stomach problems got worse, that he was referred by his GP - after scans showed he did not have cancer - to a nutritionist. She tested him for allergies and discovered he was intolerant to wheat and dairy.Things have improved immensely for him since that diagnosis.

My own mother and grandmothers always cooked from scratch.Too much red meat for today's tastes, perhaps - but plenty of cabbage, carrots, onions, herbs and potatoes from the garden; likewise tomatoes, apples, blackcurrants and strawberries in season.Only ever home made cakes or biscuits.Ultra processed and ready made foods were frowned upon - and my mother worked full time, too.
I followed in my mother's and grandmothers' footsteps,and have been lucky enough to date to have had no problems with my own digestion.Neither have my own children from a previous marriage Somehow, I don't think this is coincidental.

Our head mistress in the 1950s church school!! would punch children in the back if they didn't eat their school dinner or sit up straight. Thank goodness those days are gone. There must have been children then intolerant of the school milk or be allergic to some of the dinners. If only we could go back and put an arm round their shoulders. It makes me want to cry for some children from the 1950s. It wasn't a great time for everyone.
But I do hate to hear of some children today only eating pizza. The cheap ones especially can do them no good. At least 50s and 60s school dinners were made to a high standard....mostly.

I visited a well-respected allergy doctor who tested people for sensitivities. There was a very young child there, covered in huge lumps, and he had a potato allergy. We learned that very often the food that causes the allergy is the person's favourite food. The little boy actually loved chips.

So far as cows' milk is concerned, it might be good to remember that milk is for calves, not for humans.

Like you Monica, I have never liked the taste of milk and when made to drink it at school (usually tepid from sitting in a warm environment for hours) I would be sick. I have always taken the view that milk disagreed with me, never given it a label.

These days I have become intolerant to mass produced bread and have assumed it is the accelerated fermentation process used. I can eat sour dough from an artisan baker when I can afford it! As I have become older there are quite a few things I find cause digestive problems. I assumed that was just me aging but this post has made think maybe be other factors are involved.