Granted, it's only one study, but it might explain the rising numbers of people with this very dangerous allergy in only some parts of the world: What We Do to Peanuts Causes Allergies Not all that surprising, considering the likelihood that a pesticide, not wheat gluten itself, is responsible for what’s known as non-celiac gluten intolerance. Another example of “If it ain’t broke…”
I've been allergic to peanuts since I was toddler and for years avoided them completely. Fortunately one of the things I learned from Alton Brown (hallowed be His name ) is that the allergen in peanuts is contained in the protein, not the fat, so I can use peanut oil for cooking without any problem at all.
That would be a help for any accidental ingestion, but due to not being able to eat them my whole life I don't like the taste of them at all. I associate it with getting sick.
Right. I imagine that thinking, "Ewww! This tastes like shit!" has to be better than flopping around hoping somebody's able to jab you with an epipen before you die.
I think it might be more plausible than the sterile-environment hypothesis, what with the folks I know with peanut allergies having grown up on farms that were certainly not sterile.
There's a growing school of thought that the more environmental stuff (read "dirt") you expose a kid to when they're growing up, the healthier they'll be. Considering that when my son was a toddler one of his favorite things to do was to find a bare patch in the grass at the local park and smear handfuls of dirt all over himself, I feel vindicated. Bit different with severe allergies like peanuts, though, where people are so sensitive that just inhaling the oils released from a packet of airline peanuts into the closed atmosphere of a plane can trigger an attack. At least that's what the flight attendants always say when someone complains about the pretzels.
Agree with the dirt thing, hand sanitizing lotions are going to kill us all. I've never heard that gluten intolerance is a reaction to a pesticide, can you provide some more information?
There was an article by a food critic awhile back (can't locate it now; I'll have to dig for it) who thought her career was over once she was diagnosed as gluten intolerant (a very different thing from celiac disease). She was puzzled because she'd been living in France for three years and scarfing down baked goods (for work, of course ) without a problem, but as soon as she got back to the States she had the miseries. One of the culprits, as I recall, was Roundup (should have said "herbicide," not "pesticide," but I'm a patio gardener and I use a mix of olive oil, dish soap, and Tabasco on my plants - and beer for the slugs - so I'm not up on these things), and other chemicals that are banned in Europe but widely used here. More careful food choices, and her gut and her career were saved. Will edit this if/when I find the article.
I'd be interested to read it, because glyphosate (Roundup) isn't banned in Europe, and has never been used in wheat as much as it is other crops like corn, soy, and canola.
Natch I can't find the food critic's article, but you're right about glyphosate use in Europe, along with a concomitant rise in celiac disease: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/ Atrazine, OTOH, is banned in Europe because of concerns about water pollution.
Roundup=Monsanto=evil. In the Netherlands, a first step was taken early march, prohibiting the use of all chemical weed killers from november 2015 on - first on hard surfaces (don't ask details), and after november 2017 anywhere - except on farms, it seems....
Here's the thing about using chemicals to "dry down" wheat. It's strictly a thing in northern climates. In the Dakota's, Canada, and a lot of Europe wheat is planted in the spring, and harvested in the fall. This creates a problem in that the wheat doesn't want to get dry enough to harvest as the temperatures cool. This has always meant cutting the crop so that it will dry, then thrashing it a few weeks later. When it became cheaper to spray the crop, which means killing it just before the grain is ready a lot of farmers abandoned the mechanical drying method. I said there's a thing and here it is, that is only an issue in northern climates where they grow spring wheat. Hard red winter wheat, which is grown in the lower plains, say everything south of Nebraska has no problem drying down. It's planted in the fall and harvested in the summer, the dry, hot summer. If there is a link I'd like it known, chemically "drying" wheat is unheard of in a large portion of the wheat belt and I don't want to be lumped in with those that do it. And I would still have some questions about the connection because as I said, roundup use is far more prevalent with corn and soybeans, where it is actively sprayed on varieties that are immune to roundup. There is no such thing as commercially available Roundup Ready wheat.
Good info - thanks! And, yeah, I know, it's easy to try to find a single villain responsible. I'm also aware that "gluten-free" is the Next New Thing among a lot of people who really don't need to follow it, and that complicates things (though it does make it easier for celiacs and people are genuinely gluten intolerant to find substitute foods...at 2-3x the price of regular stuff, naturally). The answers will turn out to be far more complex than "Chemicals Bad," but as I see it, every new bit of information helps.
http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/basics-food-allergy-intolerance/ You can also google "Gluten Free Fad" and you will find a trail of articles talking about how many people are just avoiding gluten for the sake of avoiding gluten, but not for any real reason. If they feel better they automatically assume it is because they are "gluten intolerant" If I were writing a paper for school I would cite my sources and be more specific. My next post I will talk about my personal experience with food and food choices.
Okay, here is the thing- my body became sensitive to most processed foods. I stopped eating wheat, white rice, white potatoes and milk that is not organic. What I have found out is that if I ate wheat that I grew myself, and drank milk from my own cow etc etc I would be fine. But because so many processes, poisons and pesticides are added to foods or into and around the process my body is rejecting it. So I am listening to it. So basically I am eating mostly vegetables, and fruits and some meats on occasion. I eat brown rice. Anyway, I could go on and on.
Agreed that "gluten-free" is the new Atkins/paleo Yuppie fashion statement, but there are also people with legitimate food sensitivities that show up on lab tests. And thanks to the Yuppies, it's possible for them to find more gluten-free products in stores and restaurants.
Yeah, I'm not gonna knock it. And if people who don't need to avoid gluten do it anyway, there might well be some related benefits.
I bought a thing of hummus yesterday with the "gluten free" label in a prominent position. What a relief, since you know, I've always been so very concerned about the gluten status of hummus.
Dumbfucks, however, will buy it since it says "gluten free" on it. Something becomes a buzzword for "healthy" and companies will eagerly slap it on a label for something, even if its the kind of thing that never could have contained it to begin with.
There are still plenty of things still labeled "cholesterol-free", like potato chips (which are typically gluten-free, as well), that never contained cholesterol anyway.
That's actually more necessary than you might think ... gluten can be in preservatives, emulsifiers, etc., so even things that you wouldn't expect to have gluten, can.
Little quiz: Which of the following contain gluten: Beer Dry-roasted Nuts Orzo Malt Vinegar Soy Sauce Answer: A rather long list of foods that do and others that may (depending on the manufacture) contain gluten: http://www.celiac.com/articles/182/1/Unsafe-Gluten-Free-Food-List-Unsafe-Ingredients/Page1.html That's not to mention fillers in vitamins and prescription meds, etc. For someone with celiac disease, long-term digestion of any of these substances will gradually destroy the lining of the intestines. In severe enough cases, complications can lead to death. For someone with a gluten sensitivity, ingesting gluten won't kill them, but a flareup can make them wish for death. Yuppies who follow every fad and the marketers who pander to them are only part of the picture.
True, but let's face it, there are lots of chronic diseases requiring adherence to specific dietary requirements. In most cases, the affected people know how to sort things out. I have a cousin who was diagnosed with celiac disease at about two, and it's an extreme case for her -- she can't even use a the same toaster for her gluten-free bread. But she and her parents know what to look for, have access to those lists, etc. The point is, we can't label for everything, so we only label for the fad, and that is something properly criticized.
