Food intolerance 'imagined' by many people?

[AB Asks]

Many people imagine their food intolerance according to new research. Not only that, but less than a quarter of people who claim to be intolerant have had the problem diagnosed by a health professional. Many celebrities have publicly acknowledged that they have a food intolerance and it is thought this has popularised the problem. What do you think about this issue? Are people just being fussy, or is it a real problem?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7000291.stm

[Reverandfunk]

Food intolerance, hyperactivy, e numbers load of old rubbish lol.

[Goodsoulette]

Hyperactivity caused by food is no way imagined. My kids eat a relatively healthy diet but I never even thought about squash and all the artificial colourings and preservatives in it. When I weaned my youngest off it and onto natural juice and water he became a different boy.
I also get hives if I eat dairy or strawberries. Two of my favourite things, so I have hives at least once a week. With the milk the fattier it is the worse it gets, so my mates call it cheese disease. I think the problem is, no one eats anything in moderation, if you drink a pint of milk you are going to get snotty, we dont need dairy as adults. If you eat half a loaf of bread you are going to feel bloated and yes lots of citric acid causes indigestion. Nation of little piggies we are.

[LoftyLottie]

It can be very real. However, a lot of people confuse proper food allergies/intolerance with more mild symptoms. Dairy produce makes me definately feel unwell and sick so I presume it is mild intollerance.

And food colourings and flavourings most certainly can affect children. Nothing to do with just an excuse for naughtiness. A well behaved, normally docile child can become agitated and hyper. I have witnessed it myself with my own child with a certain brand of highly coloured sweets.

[DONNA1458]

I have an intolerance to sugar (im a diabetic) is that imagined i wish.

[Loosehead]

Most of the so called allergies are complete and utter pony. If someone doesn't like something it has become fashionable for them to say they are alergic. It's just a part of the general need to make excuses for everything. Got a cold? no it's flu!, unruly little brat? no it's ADHD! Can't spell? you must be dyslexic. Utter ******** in most cases, they serve only to obscure the rare genuine cases.

[China Doll]

My sister makes up her allergy to peanuts.

She starts spouting on about how she can't breath.

Complete rubbish.

I told her she's just being fussy.

[indieanna86]

I've known a few people who said they were allergic to nuts. None of them were of course, it just sounds better than saying 'I don't like nuts', because they would all happily eat meals with nuts in the ingredients and it didn't affect them one bit.

I know some people ARE allergic to them, but there are also quite a few people telling fibs :)

[cazzz1975]

well My sons are definately autistic, my sons face and hands, feet and ears swell after eating nuts and yes they are definately hyper after drinking certain orange drinks

[LoftyLottie]

But genuine nut allergy is on the increase

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2487769.stm

And allergies in general are on the increase - asthma, eczema etc. We shouldn't 'poo poo' this fact, just because some people jump on the bandwagon.

Personally I believe that the overuse of chemicals in the modern world has a great deal to answer for.

[beryllium]

Probably doesn't do them any harm.... the ones with hypochondria.....
Of course, if they actually had to spend months in hospital, having tubes stuck in them and bits taken out of them???....

[LoftyLottie]

and having been involved personally in dyslexia research I know that it is more common than people realise and is a horrendous burden for the people affected by it. It's certainly not 'rare'.

[Hellyon]

A food allergy is when eating a specific food has physically harmful effect on someone such as diabetes, ceoliac (sp) etc.
An intolerence is when eating a certain food makes you feel, bloated, snotty, hyper, or generally crap in another way, you don't need to be diagnosed by a doctor to know that it's just common sense. So yes I think food intolerence is a perfectly legitimate complaint .
You have to remember that the pharmecutical industry is very keen to 'dis' the healthfood industry at the moment as by doing so they can scare people back into spending money on taking drugs for complaints that can be dealt with by altering your diet slightly!

[wiggal]

I heard about this before. Apparently alot of kids think its cool to make up the stuff that they hear celebs have and go to the drs making up symptoms, leaving the drs wary of beleiving them!
Which leaves the kids like me 10 years ago going back n forth to the drs many times and no one really paying much notice! Only to then change my Dr who took blood tests for me after my mum came in with me and said enough was enough, sort my daughter out! I am wheat intollerant and it sucks, and I'd just love to see some of the kids who think its cool to have it for just a month and not know what it is and see how cool it is then!
Having said that, i dont always stick to my wheat free, infact i am struggling to get back to completely wheat free, but i will not eat a roll for my lunch then say i dont feel well, upset stomach, i need to go home from work. If im stupid enough to eat stuff i know will make me sick, then i suffer the consequences! lol