sunybuny wrote:

getting old has got to count for something...  

I have Acquired Inefficiency Syndrome.


Funny, my hub has that too but he calls it being retired. Still lazy.

 oldviolin wrote: 
yes i do and i appreciate your depreciation

 oldviolin wrote: 

 miamizsun wrote: 
shameless bump

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 
Could it have been the Seaside meetup?

Trying to inject some humor back into this forum...

 westslope wrote:
 

My son has it. It's known to be hereditary.
My wife's grandfather always struggled with gastro issues for years until he past away.
He was always chugging Pepto Bismol and eating antacids.
They didn't really diagnose  the issue back in the day.

 Ohmsen wrote:
 

"Welp, there you go again." —Ronnie Raygun

 westslope wrote:
 I have heard a theory about that, it involves herbicides, pesticides, et al.

Until the 60's or so, wheat had much more nutritional value than it does now. But it grew slower, and had smaller harvests. So the helpful folks at places like Dow and Monsanto stepped in to increase crop yields. Reducing weeds was one goal, increasing production another - I'm sure there were many aspects, but you get the idea.

Their research developed effective weed- and insect-killers: poisons. Then they went further, and developed plants that were resistant to the poisons - they could spray a whole field with poisons, and not kill the crop.

The other goal, increasing yield, led to the development of faster-growing varieties - more grain per acre. But since they grow faster, they do not develop the nutritional value of the older varieties. Plus, farmers could not compete unless they used the new varieties: their neighbors would get the crop to market long before their crop was mature. Which led to everyone using the same handful of varieties - a population with very little genetic diversity, and lower nutritional value. But boy, they sure could grow a lot of it!

It started with wheat, but the techniques spread to crops like soybeans and peanuts. And farmers were still using poisons to kill weeds and insects. They don't harm the plants, but the poison is there. Well, what happens to it? Does it magically disappear when the crop is harvested? Uh, no.

I am convinced people are not so much allergic to gluten or peanuts per se, so much as they are allergic to the POISONS used in their production. How many of us grew up on PB&Js for lunch every day? With rare exceptions, nobody had a reaction. But these days, a peanut in the same room with the wrong person can kill them. Sure, the concentration of poison is very low, likely hardly measurable. But allergic exposure tends to be cumulative - the first exposure, you might not notice a thing. Second time, you feel itchy. Third, you get hives. On and on, until finally the tiniest exposure is life-threatening.

Pogo was right: "We have met the enemy..."
c.

 pigtail wrote:
 

Nah. 

 westslope wrote:
 

My hunch is that there are a lot of foods we tolerate because of lifelong exposure. I cut out potatoes a long time ago because look at me, and now if I have baked potatoes I can count on having a bad time. Did I lose some sort of ability to process taters?

 westslope wrote:
 
I read something about these recent food allergies that seem to effect more people and children than ever.  GMO has alot to do with it.  I can't remember where I read it or I would refer to the article but I found it very interesting.  By messing with our food supply we are slowly making it completely inedible.

Questions:

Why are we observing so many people with gluten allergies these days?   What has changed?

Or did those suffering gluten allergies and Celiac disease simply suffer and die in silence in the past?

 cc_rider wrote:
 
Thanks for the tip

 ScottN wrote:
 
A year or so ago I got the urge to make a big pot of gumbo. A friend has celiac and type 1 diabetes, and he's from Louisiana. What to do for a roux? Turns out GF flour (Bob's Red Mill, in this case) makes a roux just like the real thing. Better in some ways, less likely to lump up. Browns up just like gluten flour. Now it's my go-to for sauces.
c.

 ScottN wrote:
 
Oh, it was sarcasm to the food faddies.  Not to those whom I have known who get violently sick.  But as someone else observed, it did increase choices for true sufferers.

I have a celiac in my family.  She becomes very  ill if she has even a modest dose of gluten.  I do not find the GF "food fad du jour" topic funny.

I vote the last 3 post as top contenders for this forum. 

 sunybuny wrote: 

 VV wrote:
 
As a part time Shipt shopper I have to agree. Really? Gluten free is going to cure what ails all these people??  Great for the rice and corn industry, I guess.