I've written a little on this subject before, but it has impacted our lives again recently.
I have several friends/ relatives and also follow several bloggers who are suffering with intolerences /allergies, IBS, Coeliac Disease etc. The numbers of people living with these issues seem to be increasing.
We aren't talking about something exotic, we are talking foods such as milk and wheat. These seem to be the main culprits and these are STAPLES. These are foods that have sustained mankind for Milllenia. These are foods that are for some the main ingredient of their meals, foods that can be grown locally in some form or another all over the world.
The impact on lives is dramatic, from "I'm feeling a bit bloated and I'm going to look at what I eat to see if something is disagreeing with me" to, within weeks - " I ate something with a milligramm of wheat in it and I've been on the loo all night/ doubled up in cramps/hospitalised" . This is a scary situation!
It seems to be the same with Asthma. We have a sign outside our house saying that we have honey for sale. Over the last year we have sold just about all we have and mostly to people with asthma and/or excema who hope that local pure (i.e. nothing has been done to it) honey will help them. This rarely happened before, people bought our honey just because they liked honey!
So what's to do? I hope that the medical profession is doing more than handing out prescriptions for gluten-free bread, for example. I hope that they (and the farming community) are pressuring for assessments of the make-up of the wheat we grow or the milk we produce.
The only people responding to what I believe to be a "crisis" are the Supermarkets, who are doing very nicely thank you, with the rows and rows of Free-From foods, some of which wind me up as much as "Diabetic Jam"!
Rant over, but concern still here. What do you think? Do you think the "Government" should be doing more to research the reasons for this situation?
On a lighter note I have been working on the cucumber glut. It's not a vegetable that you can eat with every meal is it?! So this week I have made Cucumber and Tomato Relish and Bread and Butter Pickles.
" Happening upon happiness "(great handle!) was saying how she sometimes has an inferiority complex when seeing how others get on and/or achieve. Just to make her feel better here is one of my cucumber plants!
Back Soon
Gillx
Yep, that cucumber plant is definitely dead!
ReplyDeleteI've been selling up to 6 cucumbers every day - had to put a sign up saying cucumber glut so 25p each - they are all selling, have some odd shaped ones this year, looking like dumb bells or skittles, they should all be normal shape.
Always nice to have a second opinion!
DeleteWe have lots of skittle shaped ones too. It is the petite cucumbers that are like this. The long ones are okay.
Perhaps it's Monsanto's Roundup which is causing the milk / wheat intolerences? Spray drifts to, and contanimates, places it's not needed or wanted...
ReplyDeleteIt has to be something that wasn't around until fairly recently, be it particular seed or chemical. Unless of course it's a cumulative thing.
DeleteI can't imagine how horrible it must be not being able to have a thick slice of bread with lots of butter on it. I consider that to be one of life's greatest joys.
I'm with Dani plus all the Monsanto's GMO products on the market, as they produce more and more we see more and more intolerance, kind of food for though the government won't even stop them as they just pay to silence everyone.
ReplyDeleteIf it is Monsanto we are all doomed as they are SO powerful
DeleteI love good pickles.
ReplyDeleteI think Monsanto & others like them are killing us off
one plant, one bee, and one acre at a time.
money talks and it does not seem to care who it kills in the telling
we have tried some already, as we couldn't wait, the relish is delish!
DeleteWell put...."one plant, one bee, one acre at a time."
One of our local crops is Sunflowers (for oil). At a certain stage they are sprayed so that the plants die off and they become easier to harvest. The product used is a spin-off from Agent Orange (made by Monsanto I believe). Would I ever buy Sunflower oil.... not bloody likely.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people who looks at ingredients on everything I buy. I'm not surprised that so many people have allergies; the rubbish that's in foods these days is amazing.
Crikey I didn't know that! I usually but just vegetable oil and olive oil and will deffo continue to do so now.
DeleteLike you I buy little processed food, but I certainly buy flour and milk and butter and can't imagine not being able to do so. NOTHING beats a fresh crusty loaf covered in best butter!
They do the same thing with wheat. Buy organic as far as possible, spelt is probably the best. Monsanto, if allowed, will have total control of all our food. Fight them whenever and wherever you can.
DeleteAs someone who ate gluten all my life, then a couple of years ago started getting severe pains after eating it, and now if I accidentally eat it is on the loo for hours I want to know what the hell is going on!! I'm not coeliac but intolerant, it is horrible, I wonder if it is something they are doing to the grains that is causing the problems. There used to be many different varieties, now farmers are restricted to certain ones that have been developed for their resistance to disease. At home I have always cooked from scratch but going out to eat is a nightmare. A recent trip to London ended up with me stuck in the hotel for the day after being 'glutened' by something I drank!
ReplyDeleteYour situation is exactly what I mean and it must be horrible for you. As you say the restriction placed on farmers re. the seed they use (which of course is also fed to livestock) might well be a clue as to what is going on. I really hope that it is being investigated globally, not just accepted as "your" problem.
DeleteThis is a very serious matter, and should be addressed at the highest office (without the influence of the giant pharmaceuticals). The food we eat, and the water we drink... what is more important than that!
DeleteI agree totally.
DeleteYep I agree all the chemicals that are used are getting into the food chain and making people ill, GMO is another culprit do you ever hear of a goverment offical suffering from food allergies
ReplyDeleteIt almost seems as bad as before "Silent Spring" doesn't it?
DeleteOf course we know all about food issues in our house too! Side adopting a predominantly vegan, all home cooked diet, we have all benefitted enormously. I hate the idea of all those hidden nasties in our food.
ReplyDeleteMy cucumbers are alive but haven't produced any cucumbers, so fairly pointless! Still there's always next year!! :)
I think I would struggle with a vegan diet. I can do without meat but love eggs, milk and butter.
DeleteHowever, I know people who have improved their health since going vegan.
As you say, better luck next year!
I am exactly the same as Chickpea - never had a problem until about 2 years ago and am now having to learn to live without wheat. Interestingly, in Italy last summer I was able to tolerate some amounts of wheat without it upsetting me. I read something that suggested that the wheat varieties used abroad and the method of making dough (allowing it to prove for much longer, in the traditional way, which breaks down the gluten more and requires less yeast) might explain it. I don't know how much truth there is in that. I do know that I miss bread though!
ReplyDeleteHello Blimey, haven't seen you here before!
DeleteYes, it is cases such as your and Chickpea's that are not at all unusual and have led me to this post.
Interesting about your Italian experience.
Thanks for commenting
Gill
Oh Gill, I envy those cucumbers!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.I have to agree with Blimey, that the variety of wheat is important. Industrial agriculture wants to grow only one variety, and that one is the one they' want to "improve". I read an interesting article is Acres U.S.A. (the American bio-farming magazine) saying that the problem with wheat is the way they treat the seed. The author (a scientist himself) stated that gluten intolerance rose sharply when the chemical treatment was introduced. I need to dig out that article.
I've done a lot of research on what to feed my goats, and can safely say that it doesn't seem to occur to the scientific mindset to set something aside when it's proven to not work (or cause health problems). Grain for ruminants, for example, is known to cause acidosis. Rather than scientifically prove that grass is the best choice for them, scientists have set about trying to develop an additive for grain, to offset acidosis so they can feed them more! That makes no sense!
I would love to see that article.
Deleteit always surprises me how little people understand how to feed goats. They sayu "goats will eat anything" and indeed they do, but it doesn't mean it is good for them.
I hadn't heard about the grain for goats.. sounds like a way to get folk dependent on the big companies again. This is a dangerous way to go. The Mad cow disease was perpetuated by food fed to cows that contained animal matter. How can it be right to feed animal matter to herbivores?
I will have to dig around in my back copies of Acres U.S.A. to find the author and see if there isn't more information on the internet.
DeleteFeeding animal matter to herbivores is somewhat sick thinking in my mind.
I think coeliac disease are getting more spread because they are developing the grains to make better bread. Better like in more "bakable" flour, not like in more nutritios.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you are right.
DeleteThanks for commenting
Gill
Im in my late 30ths and have never been able to tolerate any dairy. You know the film hitch? that is me but my tongue swells and I cant breathe. Strangely 2 of my grandparents were allergic to shell fish and I wonder if it is something missing in me.... I also couldnt eat tomatoes they made me vomit. But now as long as they are cooked I can eat them.
ReplyDeleteI also cant eat kiwi, pineapple and shop bought strawberries. They give me horrendous mouth ulcers. maybe it is all linked.
It does make you think that you should grow as much as possible in your own garden and buy organic where possible.
Great post and some really thought provoking comments. its great to have a community on here that all feel the same. mono culture foods in the past have been deadly. You only have to think about potato blight to remember that it isnt how the land should be farmed if you are to survive.
Being able to grow your own is the way to go is you possibly can. Though I suspect that some grains and seed have been "got at" by the big companies. I have started to save as much of my own seed as possible nowadays.
DeleteHow awful about your allergies. I know that I am lucky as I can eat just about anything.
Both my husband and I suffered from acid reflux,Bloating and weight gain.
ReplyDeleteI bought the book Wheat Belly(I have no connection) by William Davis M.D.
Lost weight ,lost the reflux,lost the bloating.Wheat grown today isn't the same as wheat grown in the past,Please read for yourself,My friend even turned diabetis around.
We never eat wheat/flour,Sugar and follow Low Carbohydrate foods.It is not hard honest :o)
I'm so glad that you have found a diet that helps you to keep well. I must say I cannot imagine a diet devoid of flour and sugar. I have two large sugars in my umpteen cups of tea each day!.
DeleteWhile new ways of eating are helping people like yourself I truly believe that this shouldn't be necessary if our staple crops were not being tampered with.
Good luck and thanks for commenting
Gill
I know exactly what you mean. I have been unable to tolerate milk for 12 years just after the birth of my second son. Then this last year I was ill with cramps, rushing to toilet often ect, decided to cut out wheat and problem went in two weeks. Also no longer feeling drained. Trouble is as you say I can't eat even a tiny bit of wheat now without a massive reaction, It's insane. There must be something going on with the crops, or why now? Why so many people?? x
ReplyDeleteHow awful for you!
DeleteSo many people are experiencing these reactions aren't they. I do hope the powers-that-be are looking into this.
I see you live in Sheffield, my granddaughter is on the town there this weekend. I'm sure she'll behave herself!
Thanks for commenting
Gill
Interesting post.30% of bread in the UK has been found to contain glyphosate presumably from the pre harvest spraying to dry the foliage to make harvesting easier, this also applies to maize, oil seed rape and sunflowers, no wonder there are so many allergies around.
ReplyDelete