What is with the rise of gluten intolerance?!

Celiac disease, Crohn's disease, and all kinds of food allergies, intolerances, and sensitivities are indeed becoming more and more prevalent.

As your doctor mentioned, no one can fully explain why this is happening. It takes a lot of time and a lot of research to get those answers, but there are a number of hypotheses out there.

Part of the reason for the increase in prevalence is almost certainly that there is greater awareness, so more people are being tested. Another reason is that now we have better testing methods. Every decade, doctors can more reliably test people for all these illnesses. So part of the reason there are more diagnoses is that there is better testing, on top of the fact that more people are getting tested as they learn what they should be tested for.

But better awareness and better testing do not adequately explain the increase in cases of allergies and intolerances. I read about a study that tested preserved blood samples taken from people decades ago. The researchers found that celiac disease was, in fact, less common then than it is now. My partner has celiac disease. It is not fun! If he eats something contaminated with gluten, he feels it for days. It's not just in his digestive system, but in his muscles, joints, organs, and general ability to function properly. If exposed to gluten, he feels suddenly like a very old man.

It has been known for decades that the incidence of food allergies is rising fast. I am in my thirties, and I have a severe allergy to peanuts, as well as other legumes. Before our generation, food allergies were just not as common as they are now. They were genuinely rare. Now, as you mentioned, we suddenly have whole sections of grocery stores! It will always be safest and healthiest to make food from scratch, rather than buying mixes, but every now and then a packaged food is a useful shortcut!

One idea that has been put forth by many researchers is that there are just a lot of new, untested, synthetic chemicals in the environment. Children are exposed to a lot of plastics, pesticides, herbicides, and drugs today that they were not exposed to in previous generations. And as you mentioned, GMO food didn't even exist.

Peanut allergies became a lot more prevalent right around when I was born. This has been linked to specific chemical pesticides used on peanuts in the 60s and 70s, and to a fungus that is still common to peanuts.

Another idea is that we are just too clean and germ-free. Our desire to make a child's environment clean and sterile is backfiring. We use harsh chemicals and sanitize everything the child touches. But if we don't challenge a child's immune system adequately, it may not get the exercise it needs. If it doesn't get enough exercise, it may increase the chances of developing autoimmune disorders, like allergies. The immune system needs something to do, so it attacks things that shouldn't be dangerous!

Antibacterial soap, hand sanitizer, and buildup in the body of triclosan and other chemicals intended to kill germs, have all been linked to worsened health.

There is no good reason to have antibacterial soap in your home, unless someone in your family is immune-compromised. Regular soap is perfectly adequate in the home setting. Antibacterial soap belongs only in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Overuse of these products has been strongly linked to the increased prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and there are suspected links to all sorts of autoimmune disorders, including allergies and other types of sensitivities.

Good luck managing your Crohn's disease! That's not a fun one.


Edited to add: Another reason contributing to the rise in allergies may be that more of us make it past infancy now. Had I been born with peanut allergy, but without access to epinephrine and benadryl, I never would have survived my first allergic reaction. I am alive because my mother had the awareness to test me with only a tiny amount of peanut butter when I was a baby, and she had the wherewithal to get me to the ER when I started to show signs of anaphylaxis. If she hadn't been informed, or hadn't had access to a hospital, things would have turned out differently.

I have made it into my thirties because I am always prepared.

In developing countries and in the times before modern medicine, you see a very high rate of infant mortality. Some of that has to be people who died of anaphylaxis, because they lacked information about and medical care for their conditions.

Yes, it's mostly due to eating unhealthy or adulterated foods such as dairy, trans fats, GM foods, etc. in most American diets that lead us toward increasing burden of obesity, health problems like allergies, Sinus problems, Ear infections, Type 1 diabetes, Chronic constipation, Anemia (in children), progressive disorders like diabetes, and chronic diseases like Celiac disease and Crohn disease.

MDs et. al. have demonstrated that 36% to 48% of celiacs tested were also intolerant to milk protein. Borner et. al. have demonstrated sequence homology, from the N-terminal, between casein and gliadin. The other three cited below are also identifying milk protein intolerances associated with celiac disease.

Playing the odds, exclusion of dairy is most likely to help. But there are other significant dietary allergens that might be eliminated if a dairy free diet, in addition to the g-f diet, doesnt help.

Lactose intolerance is very common in people with celiac disease, but lactose intolerance in celiac disease often improves after patients have been on a gluten-free diet for awhile.

Several studies have shown that untreated celiac patients have high rates of lactose intolerance. As their intestines heal on the gluten-free diet, however, their lactase-producing cells begin to function again and their tolerance for lactose-containing foods improves. In fact, some researchers recommend that patients who are lactose intolerant when they are first diagnosed with celiac disease should be retested for the condition after they’ve been gluten-free for a year. The gluten-free diet may have helped improve their lactase production to the point where they no longer need to avoid dairy products.

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/sympto…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hy…
http://www.celiac.com/articles/298/1/Dai…
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35065625/n…

IMHO its likely nature's way of trying to scale humanity back so nature can take over again. Look at our cities, look at the trash we've put into the oceans.

I have to be careful when buying supplies to do my laundry or else I could buy a fabric softener that makes me break out in a horrible rash. I'm also deathly allegic to a certain red and black ant that is common in North America. Luckily I've never had food issues because I've always suspected that if nature would win against the human brain, those with allergies to food would die off.

I mean really I think it is the western lifestyle. We have the privilege of being allergic too stuff. Yes it is a serious problem for those who have these allergies but mainly it is due to our diets and lack of care for health. I doubt you will go into a less developed country and find some of the poorest citizens and give them some wheat bread and peanut butter and have them say "oh sorry we are allergic"

Basically we have created this B.S. into a serious problem through our whacko fad diets and poor health and love of chemicals and other things that are horrible for our bodies.

They only thing I am allergic too or potentially allergic too is suntan oil and that stuff is garbage anyways. I keep myself healthy and don't eat or use a bunch of crap anymore. I also stay in decent shape. Give me a nice sandwich with seitan on wheat roll covered in peanut sauce topped with sprouts, spinach and carrots and I will be happy happy happy!

Vegan because animals are not property

Wheat is not genetically engineered, yet. I don't think it's anything wrong with the wheat itself. WIth inorganic wheat, NPK fertilizers lower the nutritional value of the food, and pesticides aren't exactly good for you, but neither of these factors would cause a wheat gluten allergy.

Food allergies to wheat probably are related to other issues. If they are rising it could be to immune system imbalances caused by other factors unrelated to wheat production. It could also be due to leaky gut syndrome, a condition of the intestines where proteins (rather than just amino acids) get through the intestine wall.

http://www.leakygut.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_gut