Are there any of us left without a food intolerance of some sort?

[ViolaCello]

I have been reading about food and nutrition online recently and noticed a good amount of people with intolerance issues, most often dairy and wheat. No one ever seems to develop vegetable allergies, yet if I eat a big plate of certain cooked veggies I will definitely be on the toilet within 24 hours. The poison for me is in the dose, I guess.
I have never, to my knowledge had reactions after eating wheat or dairy of any sort.
But from what I have encountered online, most of my own health niggles are presumed to be wheat allergies. If other people get them , they say it was wheat. From my nasal drip, to my trapped gas, to feeling off in general. I wonder why we don't see so many people presuming it to be potatoes, salad or seeds?

However, since reading that stuff I am now side-eyeing bloody wheat. I did 3 weeks without it and felt no different. It seems everything is presumed to be caused by foods. What if a good deal of stuff we might suffer is in the outer environment, like stuff we can't change? That's a more scary thought tbh.

I remember reading about longevity and everyone focused solely on food, but what if it is community, good sleep, creativity, or lack of pollution instead?

On another note, I have recently had a rash on my ankles and when I foolishly consulted Dr Google I found a huge amount of 'evidence' claiming this was because of wheat or dairy? (surprise surprise!) My rash wasn't raised or itchy so perhaps not, but I did notice that wheat is taking a good deal of blame for many things nowadays, especially if the symptoms are vague.

My rash could easily have been from a lot of walking in heat, or my new body lotion, or something like a virus...
I know there are some very 'tribal' attitudes towards foods these days, and people seem to want you to be in their club, almost like a religion, but it still strikes me as perplexing... and confusing!

Just want to add here that this is not a criticism, I am intrigued by it, and also wonder why there's so much of it now. People with confirmed issues have my full respect, it must be a pretty stressful thing to navigate.

My mum doesn’t have a food intolerance nor does she know anyone who does.

but she won’t eat citrus because it makes her ill.

she won’t eat oats because “they always go through her”.

but she definitely doesn’t have a food intolerance because they are new and faddy.

But there's a middle ground - obsessive worrying about foods-as-a-cure or foods-as-unclean carries a great deal of weight online. It is difficult to sort the wheat from the, er, chaff..

Yes, one of my pet hates is the term 'clean eating' and sifting food into healthy and unhealthy because it's not that black and white

Acknowledging that most of us have some kind of food that doesn't agree with us? Of course.
That's somewhat different to creating entire online communities where everyone becomes fired up and evangelical about the subject, as if it is a wild and secret conspiracy. It spreads fear and confusion, I believe, more than it helps.

I certainly experience some issues with a couple of foodstuffs, but it wouldn't make me join an online forum forcing the issue onto others, suggesting that their headaches and finger pains are from lactose, oxalates or beef.

Your mother sounds sensible, knows her poison, gets on with life.

I don't have any food allergies or intolerances, nor does DC1. However, DC2 has oral allergy syndrome with quite a few fruits - definitely apples and strawberries and I can't remember what else.

Wheat is like an industrial product. I'm sure if you go back even 100 years it would be much closer to its wild ancestor.

To those who experience allergies to foods such as the DC with fruit above, is the the effect immediate?
How did you come to determine your trigger?

Wheat is like an industrial product. I'm sure if you go back even 100 years it would be much closer to its wild ancestor.

Surely this applies to everything?

I've been lactose intolerant all my life but it wasn't recognised in the 70s when I was a baby. Apparently I screamed the house down constantly and was covered in eczema. It didn't cause me many issues then until my mid twenties when I had pretty much constant indigestion (bottle of gaviscon in my handbag) culminating in me having a endoscopy to check for ulcers. When nothing was found the GP wearily told me to cut out milk and bread and slowly reintroduce them and - bingo! - the lactose intolerance was finally discovered. Food intolerances weren't widely known about in the 90s really- I was regarded as a bit of a crank, had to buy soya milk from Holland and Barrett etc. Things are so much easier now.
Unfortunately the older I get, the worse my dairy intolerance has become. I didn't take it very seriously for a long time. If I fancied an ice cream or some cheese or whatever I just did but I can't anymore. I feel so uncomfortable and ill it's not worth it now. I think peri and menopause is responsible.
I hate 'fussing' about not eating this or that, OH makes more of it than I do.

I don't consider myself to have any intolerances, neither does my sister, DH or either of my parents.

There are foods that make me gassy and uncomfortable (pasta). But I push through and keep eating it!

As far as I know I have no food intolerances nor allergies. Sibling can't eat a lot of things but is OK with wheat and dairy.

Don’t you go to the toilet within 24 hours of eating anyway? I’d be more concerned if I didn’t.

I don’t have any food intolerances, by the way.

Now now, you know i meant explosive toilet issues, not my typical daily 'business'.

I actually didn’t, that’s why I asked!

about two thirds of the population of the world today are lactose intolerant.

lactose tolerance is believed to have developed many times but is certainly more prevalent in the European populations that have a history of dairying cows.

in most other populations lactose tolerance fades after infancy, in European populations it tend to last into adulthood but will fade then so older people are more likely to be lactose intolerant,

https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/research/2022/articles/famineanddiseasedrovethee.html

As a baby I couldn’t digest milk but it was the 1960s so the advice was to keep giving me it as ‘she’ll keep some of it down’. Anyway I’ve never been good with milk but other things like ice cream and some yogurts I’m ok with. Late 40’s I developed eczema out of nowhere, then rheumatoid arthritis and there is definitely a link between diet and flare ups. I stick to a low wheat/gluten diet as there was a link to what I’d eaten and painful joints and skin issues. If I don’t eg a friend has cooked and I’ve eaten pasta or sandwiches or biscuits/cakes I will wake during the night or in the morning with crippling hand and knee pain and pins and needles in my feet. Similarly with refined sugars, MSG, too much red meat and I can’t eat bread without painful consequences but a muffin, crumpet or piece of sourdough are fine. It’s weird but there’s definitely a link with what I eat and how my body reacts.

I have a friend who doesn't like a particular vegetable that's used in a lot of meals so she loves it now she gets asked if she has any allergies or intolerances.

She just says she's allergic to this vegetable and this forces them to make her food without it. Drives me batty though (she's also very fussy - complains about food being too hot, too cold, too spicy etc -I hate going out with her)

No allergies or intolerances in my immediate family, I’m glad to say.

One of my children is a vegan (for ethical rather than health reasons) and my husband is extremely fussy, but that’s rather different!

Wondering has anyone else heard of the oxalate panic?

I read about it, ie, scurried down a rabbit hole a few weeks ago and came out very conflicted. It is easy to create fear and confusion about foods, since we are all so very complex and food is especially important to us and our health.

I actually threw a bowl of nuts and seeds away, regretting it later. I had read a study/report (the only one with a scientific basis) about a woman in her late 50's who had damaged her kidneys consuming very high oxalate foods.

Sadly, if you gave them a swerve, you are left with hardly any nutritious fiber or vegetables/plant foods to consume.

It appears to be very popular with hard keto or carnivore dieters, who claim that shedding oxalates creates dreadful pain and rashes. According to medical sources, this is far fetched, as there is no known scientific evidence to support this theory of shedding/dumping. It seems that the keto 'rash' might be connected to other mechanisms of the diet.

But we have a lot of stuff out here on the wild wild webz to contend with, so much misinformation mixed in with truths.

I will continue with my moderation, it is the best way to live unless a trigger becomes potent and obvious to you.

I agree. The difference now is that we can't stop talking about everything, all the time. Exhausting times we live in.

(Not a dig at you, OP, or anyone!)

I get diarrhea every time I eat a prepared salad in a bag or bowl, even if I rinse it at home. But not from eating the same ingredients bought separately!

The only food I've ever had an issue with is oranges. Eating an orange would trigger migraines and as I suffered from lots of migraines I definitely didn't want any I could avoid. I don't know if it is still an issue as I don't eat oranges.

I’m lactose intolerant. I find that people just don’t understand it. We went to friends for dinner. She did a milk pudding, when I said I couldn’t eat it, with much embarrassment on my part, she offered me a yoghurt. Her DH doesn’t approve of food intolerance and scoffed that we’d found somewhere serving dairy free coffees.

My niece has Coeliacs and I go out of my way to make sure my kitchen is completely gluten free for her. It’s so important. She already has a lot to deal with as a teenager feeling different.

Wheat has been modified so it’s not the same as people were eating 50 years ago, it’s much higher in gluten, so the fact people react is not surprising.

Interesting. I have no issues as long as I eat wholewheat - pasta, bread, coucous etc. I gave up on supermarket bread in January when our Waitrose stopped selling Heyford wholemeal. Since then I order a sack of legacy wholewheat flour from our local mill every six months, and make my own. I feel a lot better for it.

I cook everything else from scratch except ds' Friday night pizza and garlic bread. grow a fair amount of fruit & veg. Eggs from a neighbour. We live rurally. Our water comes from an artesian well, straight out of the aquifer.

Neither ds nor I have any allergies.

Nothing at all in our family and no history going back to grandparents either.

For people who have had to give up wheat, do you find your diet is legume or meat heavy as a result?

I don't like legumes, so when I experimented with wheat free diet I found myself consuming less calories and more meat. It didn't suit me at all. I would struggle so much if I had to exclude permanently.