Dietary requirements - are people fussier now ?

I am lucky enough to suffer no allergies or intolerances, however I am now very worried about a number of foods.
My daughter and her family are vegan, which hasn't been a problem, but now they are avoiding all ultra-processed foods.
That's proving quite a challenge, which surprised me as I cook everything from scratch. I'm alarmed when reading labels on everyday foods and ingredients to find that so many contain odd chemicals and additives that you would never find in a kitchen cupboard.
It's worried me a great deal - I'm not a fussy or picky person, but I'm convinced that all these chemical additives are damaging our health more than we realise.

Whitewavemark2

DaisyAnneReturns

Sorry, I should have added that I am sure we will one day rue our use of ultra-processed foods.

Yes i think that it is now being implicated in all sorts of nasties like cancers etc.

I read ages ago that our digestive systems are really still at the hunting gathering stage and haven’t developed to deal with a modern diet. I suspect there is truth in that theory.

DD, who is coeliac, finds a Paleo diet is good, without, of course the addition of most grains.
It's not just wheat, barley and oats can cause problems top.

Too

growstuff

GrannyRose15

It’s not funny. It is a fact that American and European wheat are different. So it’s quite feasible that the gluten content is different.

The gluten content is different because different types of wheat are grown. The problem is that the UK and other European countries import some wheat from the US.

All wheat contains gluten.

However, as wheats have been tweaked over the years, some contain much higher levels of gluten than they did decades ago.

That may have caused more people to become intolerant, although I do know that coeliac disease is an auto-immune disorder.
And yes, despite claims to the contrary, I am positive that gluten does go through into breast milk which is why some breast-fed babies may get colic.

I am on a low potassium diet, medical reasons, and am shocked by what I can get served up.
I had to print a list of what I can and cannot eat and was shocked by the result. No yoghurt, tomatoes, chocolate, limited milk just to name some. Restaurants have absolutely no idea, adding tomatoes as a garnish, offering chocolate puddings. A chef once told me that a low potassium diet was so unusual that he had to get out his books to see what I could and couldn’t eat. I rarely eat out nowadays unless I am away on holiday, safer for me.

I bought a punnet of strawberries and by mistake they got left at the back of the fridge. A week or so later I found them- pristine as if they had just been picked. Tell me they weren’t full of additives. I remember strawberries only used to last a day before they went soft and mouldy.

Callistemon21 All wheat contains gluten.

However, as wheats have been tweaked over the years, some contain much higher levels of gluten than they did decades ago.

Indeed.

Wheat of Ukraine or Kansas USA - higher crop yields than in past decades. Different to UK soft wheat or Italian wheat, obviously.

It may be that more people are allergic today, due to additives in food, or due to pollution, or simply that more people are diagnosed as having allergies, as allergies are better understood now than formerly.

Formerly, many people simply avoided food they knew upset them - for those with serious intolerence this could mean they no longer could eat out with being ill afterwards.

So obviously it is better if they can politely refuse food they know causes problems.

Fussiness is a different thing altogether - and should not be encouraged or allowed to dictate what people eat when invited out.

As well as increased choice and awareness of GI function, MANY foods today are 'fit for consumption' - BUT not good for most people. Me, its wheat flour - not alergic, but gives me migraine 'hangover' sort of feeling. Of course I avoid it. Before I knew, (2020 aged 51) I lived with this hangover, which put me in bed in a dark room several days a month. Tried giving up coffee, cheese, wine, chocolate, used lord knows how much painkillers - all pointlessly. Doctor told me it was hormonal. As soon as I knew wheat was one of the commonest sensitivities, I thought I'll try a week without - it was like walking into the sunshine. Never looked back. Can consume as much wine and choc as I fancy!

I suspect that in the past a lot of cases of anaphylaxis resulted in deaths that were explained away as something else e.g. heart problems, strokes etc

I agree that 'intolerances' can muddy the water for people with severe allergies. I am allergic to nuts (I carry EpiPens) and I was once asked in a restaurant if it's OK if 'just a few' nuts were included! Aaargh!

I think there's supposed to be a difference between the labelling of what counts as gluten free between America and the UK but not what gluten actually is. I'm not coeliac but probably only because I've not been tested, however, a number of relatives have stopped eating gluten or have been diagnosed as coeliac recently, including one who's a doctor. It maybe more common or just that more people are tested these days. It's supposedly an autoimmune condition and can develop later in life, in some cases in people who were fine as children. Some of us are intolerant to cows milk as well ☹️
PS If I have to, I can cook for GF vegans but it's not very interesting food 😂 anyone got any good recipes?

mousemac

I'm by no means a fussy eater but I have a few intolerances. Happy to pick my way round whatever disagrees with me. But sometimes I do need to ask what might be invisibly included, such as MSG. I do not dislike it; like everyone else, I find it very tasty.
Until I found out what disagreed with me, around the age of 40 or so, I would frequently have arthritis so severe that I could not stand up in the morning but literally crawled into the bathroom. It's not a choice we make in order to get attention, but the choice we do make is to diagnose our own personal physiological stumbling blocks instead of living on various medicines.

My sympathy but how interesting that it triggers your arthritis. It's presumably not a problem when you cook from scratch but I am not impressed by those who use 621 instead of MSG in the ingredients list.

What I cannot understand why someone would care so little for a friend that they don't want to help and contribute to the wonderful news that they have found a way to stay well.

nanna8

I bought a punnet of strawberries and by mistake they got left at the back of the fridge. A week or so later I found them- pristine as if they had just been picked. Tell me they weren’t full of additives. I remember strawberries only used to last a day before they went soft and mouldy.

My strawberries only last a day so i am not sure how yours managed a week!

Have always enjoyed good plain food and rarely eat out. Although it is difficult now for me to cook I still do so. I tried ready meals but the list of ingredients puts me off. Especially bread so I make my own with the aid of a breadmaker. Just. Flour, water, dried milk, sugar and yeast.
The only pills I take are pain killers, COD liver oil and turmeric.

I suspect this is mostly stuff which has been caused by ultra processed foods entering the diet, particularly from the 1980s onwards. Scientists will look back in fifty years time and wonder how we sleepwalked into an epidemic of slow poisoning.

I think you should know a genuine allergy can be life threatening.
Still think we're all being too fussy!!!!! Shame on you!

Pjcpjc77

I think you should know a genuine allergy can be life threatening.
Still think we're all being too fussy!!!!! Shame on you!

No-one on here has said otherwise. I think everyone has drawn a distinction between those who have a genuine allergy or intolerance and those who are simply fussy eaters.

I don’t know the answer to this but for me not now being able to eat cheese, fresh bread, butter, pastries is horrible as I have a sensitivity to all of these and I realise I’ve turned into the guest everyone dreads for dinner. Stick to plain stuff nothing messed about with and most are fine with that. Vegans are somewhat different tho.

Is it because there are more foods and drinks available now than say 50 years ago. I didn't know what an avocado, broccoli, mange tout, sugar snap pea, kiwi fruit was until probably 20 years ago. All the standard meats and fish were around for as long as I can remember. Not such a variety of breads and we know manufacturers add this that and the other to try to have long use by dates. Plus all the ready made meals, additives to foods, makeup, toiletries etc , the list is endless. As for allergies, the only one I can recall from 50 years was someone having itchy eyes due to her hamster. There seems to be an allergy to everything now.

There is a theory that one of the potential causes of the increase in allergies and intolerances could be related to the introduction of all the cleaning products that claim to kill 99% of germs.
As bacteria, viruses, fungi etc are protein based the immune system has less work to do and gets bored.
As the vast majority of allergens are protein based eg. gluten, dairy, eggs ,shell fish etc. the immune system attacks these instead causing adverse reactions.

I have a problem with fresh onion. In the event that I accidentally bite into it - this provokes a "heave/vomit" response which is probably worse for other people than it is for me. I have no problem with dried onions and use these all the time. When eating out, or with family/friends, I just pick out onion if it's large enough to be seen. If chopped small, I take very small amounts and swallow without chewing. Although I can "taste" onion for quite a long time after eating it, there seems to be no other I'll effect!

According to consultant my son saw re bad reaction to alcohol, you can be allergic only to a protein. But you can lack certain enzymes for body to process properly the likes of alcohol or whatever triggers a reaction.

I can only eat cake, ice-cream and chocolate.

I think, as lots of people have suggested, that our immune systems can be overloaded by pollution in the environment and by the synthetic ingredients in a lot of processed food. We have 2 sons, both with children. Youngest son's family seem to be ok with all foods although the children can be a bit fussy about what they eat - quite normal for children at various stages I think. The children in the other family have loads of problems including actual allergies to dairy, nuts, and sesame. DIL is diabetic and a veggie. DS has always had gut problems and is now on a low FODMAP diet which does help him but is not easy to stick to. Eating out they probably usually go for steak (apart from veggie DIL). I have managed to feed them at family get togethers but it has taken some ingenuity over the years. Eldest GS with the most allergies more or less took responsibility at a very young age for what he could eat by asking if items were ok for him and as soon as he could read he looked at labels on packets.

I tend to believe those who suggest that it's not so much the food itself but what happens in commercial growing. The pesticides and fertilisers which get doused on soil and on plants could be responsible for health problems for consumers later on.
The human stomach is pretty robust and can cope with most things but a steady stream of toxins eventually harm the system which could explain the food "intolerance" which is becoming more prevalent.