"Allergy Promoting Compounds"

[Peter B Wolf]

Watching the “ Today on NBC “ show a few days ago, one of the topics drawing my interest, was extended commentary about “ Food Allergies “ in adults and mainly children. The comments by the guest physician, the name escapes me now, are of great interest and value to me as general knowledge.

One of the statements made was, the fact that ‘ Antibiotics ‘ play a large role in our body’s reluctance to fight off bacteria naturally. In other words we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics

The other statement which caught my attention, was of the public not being aware of any possible “ Allergy Promoting Compounds “ being introduced into the foods we eat. The issue is, as I understand it, that there are compounds added in the processing of any and all foods. These compounds are usually stabilizers, preservatives, enhancers and others not known to the average person. And no reference was made to the actual ‘processing’ in detail, saying that this does not only apply to processed foods what we perceive as ready to eat, no, but all ‘commercially handled’ food, except from earth to mouth.

They also do not need to be (by law) addressed on product labels. Most likely these compounds are all save, and actually meant to make these foods safe for consumption. Others are so called “ Additives “ , again, no need to be on labels, these may or could be at fault to actually create allergies, although tested and supposedly to be safe by not only the manufacturers using them, but also by the FDA.

My personal unsolicited opinion on the “ Additives “ matter is, that these are chiefly and greatly used to entice us to extremely well like them and therefore eat/consume more of the product, and making us “ addictive “ resulting into increased intake of those foods and becoming ‘ obese ‘.

Furthermore , All of us know about the Tobacco Industry and their Additives

As always, I stand corrected.

[DoctorPaul]

Watching the  “ Today on NBC “ show a few days ago, one of the topics drawing my interest, was extended commentary about “ Food Allergies “ in adults and mainly children. The comments by the guest physician, the name escapes me now, are of great interest and value to me as general knowledge.

One of the statements made was, the fact that ‘ Antibiotics ‘ play a large role in our body’s reluctance to fight off bacteria naturally. In other words we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics

The other statement which caught my attention, was of the public not being aware of any  possible “ Allergy Promoting Compounds “ being introduced into the foods we eat. The issue is, as I understand it, that there are compounds added in the processing of any and all foods. These compounds are usually stabilizers, preservatives, enhancers and others not known to the average person. And no reference was made to the actual ‘processing’ in detail, saying that this does not only apply to processed foods what we perceive as ready to eat, no, but all ‘commercially handled’ food, except from earth to mouth.

They also do not need to be (by law) addressed on product labels. Most likely these compounds are all save, and actually meant to make these foods safe for consumption. Others are so called “ Additives “ , again, no need to be on labels, these may or could be at fault to actually create allergies, although tested and supposedly to be safe by not only the manufacturers using them, but also by the FDA.

My personal unsolicited opinion on the “ Additives “ matter is, that these are chiefly and greatly used to entice us to extremely well like them and therefore eat/consume more of the product, and making us “ addictive “ resulting into increased intake of those foods and becoming ‘ obese ‘.

Furthermore , All of us know about the Tobacco Industry and their Additives

As always, I stand corrected.

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Peter...

I agree!

People should read labels and inform themselves, relative to ingredients, additives, etc.

Nothing is more important to the human body than a fully functioning immune system. Thus, we must build ourselves up through proper nutrition, exercise. ameliorating stress, and exposure, in small amounts, to foods, toward which there's an allergy. The latter should be accomplished, following a physician's approval.

Some neat research has been done on peanut allergies. A group of adversely affected people was given small amounts of peanut particles. The portion was progressively increased over several month. Thus, a desensitization transpired, and much, if not all, of the allergy disappeared.

That said, the manufacturer/processer should not permit his pocketbook or greed to rule. The consumer should never be blindly exposed to any potentially harmful additive.

Antibiotics and potentially destroy all bacteria in one's digestive system...a very, very dangerous possibility. Once that happens, reestablishing balance can either be easy, or next to impossible. Consequences ranges from C-dif, to buying a yogurt factory and living on the toilet!

Well written, Peter!

Paul

[jumanggy]

I've googled "allergy promoting compounds" (admittedly the exact phrase) but have not come up with a link besides the eG forums. I hope someone has a link/ paper/ name of the doctor.

I've often wondered about the reports of severe anaphylaxis I've encountered here on the forums, when in my country most allergy-related consults in the ER of the general hospital are due to asthma (and rarely is a severe exacerbation) and urticaria.

When I was much younger (primary school, positively medieval times) I made a simple paper about food additives. I found that I couldn't come up with very many from local food products (occasionally I'd see sodium benzoate, nitrates, food coloring and EDTA). I'm eager to see what the connection may be.

[Peter B Wolf]

jumanggy , your quote : " I hope someone has a link/ paper/ name of the doctor "

A letter / email to the Today Show from me did not get answered. My request was for a transcript of that segment of the show and name of doctor with the quote "allergy promoting compounds" has been totally ignored.

It seems people on the Today Show, although constantly soliciting letters pertaining to the Show, do not care for certain types of comments or any requests mentioned.

I previously have requested some Info about a specific segment and never received any reply.

If any of our eGullet honchos , who read this post, and do have some clout with NBC, please go and request what I was not able to do.

As always, I stand to be corrected.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

Jumping off of DoctorPaul's post, the study that they're doing with desensitization doesn't make the allergy go away, but increases the body tolerance levels to the point where small, accidental ingestions are not a big problem.

[docsconz]

One of the statements made was, the fact that ‘ Antibiotics ‘ play a large role in our body’s reluctance to fight off bacteria naturally. In other words we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics

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Frankly, I think this statement is BS. The problem with this statement is that it implies that antibiotics are the problem and should not be used. Yes, antibiotics have been overused and that has been a problem, but would anyone here or elsewhere prefer to go back to a world without them? When used appropriately and wisely, they are lifesaving substances and have contributed greatly to increased life expectancy. I do, however, agree that that we have an overemphasis on avoiding all bacteria bad or good in or out of our food supply and that may be a factor in the topic under discussion.

Though I don't dismiss the possibility, I too would like to see more data about these so-called "allergy promoting compounds" being placed in our foods.

[jumanggy]

One of the statements made was, the fact that ‘ Antibiotics ‘ play a large role in our body’s reluctance to fight off bacteria naturally. In other words we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics

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Frankly, I think this statement is BS. The problem with this statement is that it implies that antibiotics are the problem and should not be used.

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That's post-9/11 television for you! (Disclaimer: my statement was exaggerated and may not even be true.) Without going too much off-topic food-wise, I think they just went hyperbolic w/r/t emerging antibiotic resistance. (Which I'm all for, since in my country, many can be purchased without a prescription. Yikes.)

Now I'm beginning to wonder how NBC tied up those two topics! It just sounds like a disjointed report now.

Edited September 9, 2007 by jumanggy (log)

[Adam Balic]

One of the statements made was, the fact that ‘ Antibiotics ‘ play a large role in our body’s reluctance to fight off bacteria naturally. In other words we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics

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Frankly, I think this statement is BS. The problem with this statement is that it implies that antibiotics are the problem and should not be used. Yes, antibiotics have been overused and that has been a problem, but would anyone here or elsewhere prefer to go back to a world without them? When used appropriately and wisely, they are lifesaving substances and have contributed greatly to increased life expectancy. I do, however, agree that that we have an overemphasis on avoiding all bacteria bad or good in or out of our food supply and that may be a factor in the topic under discussion.

Though I don't dismiss the possibility, I too would like to see more data about these so-called "allergy promoting compounds" being placed in our foods.

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I agree, the statement itself is utter rubbish. A significant proportion of the population using egullet today would not be around if it was not for the use of antibiotics. Furthermore, if you did not have an immune system as is implied in the original comment then you will be dead very rapidly.

I guess the comment could be a very confused reference to the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria strains, but the point of those is that they are a issue because they are difficult to treat with antibiotics.

The other part of the statement boils down "There is "stuff" in food, and there is also bad "stuff" happening to people, so maybe the two "stuffs" are related and maybe we should be worried about "stuff"".

I should say that I have worked in the immunlogical mechnisms in the development of Th2 (allergic) immune responses for a number of years and at this point it is unclear what the underlying causes are.

[cdh]

Interesting topic... Didn't see the report, but the juxtaposition of antibiotics and allergies isn't surprising as a story concept.

An allergy is the immune system going crazy and lashing out at certain stimuli. Antibiotics certainly change the balance of stimuli a body's immune system is exposed to. Is it not reasonable to question whether the new antibiotic-enhanced balance of stimuli might have something to do with the increase in allergic responses people are suffering now?

[Adam Balic]

Interesting topic...  Didn't see the report, but the juxtaposition of antibiotics and allergies isn't surprising as a story concept.

An allergy is the immune system going crazy and lashing out at certain stimuli.  Antibiotics certainly change the balance of stimuli a body's immune system is exposed to.  Is it not reasonable to question whether the new antibiotic-enhanced balance of stimuli might have something to do with the increase in allergic responses people are suffering now?

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Yes I think that is very reasonable and so is looking at possible links between vaccination and allergy, changing diets and allergy or lack of GI-parasites and allergy.

What is BS is statements like "we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics". It is misleading, false and detracts from real and important issues

[jumanggy]

Hi Adam and Christopher,

That certainly is reasonable as a point to jump off on, thanks for pointing it out. My understanding from Peter's first post, though, is that one of the major points of the report is regarding the association of food additives and allergy, then another part on antibiotics and immunity. In any case, your points interested me and I went searching for articles (1, 2, 3). Obviously there's no advocacy to let kids be kids and lick their soiled fingers, but deworming strategies here are extremely poor (apparently mothers are afraid a worm might come out of their kids' eye-- oy). In any case, nutritional deficiency is still a bigger problem in a third world country like mine. Anyway, it may have made a more cohesive report, but how would you be able to include earth-shattering topics like "Antibiotics kill your immune system!" Hee. Oops, it's not fair of me to rag on a show I haven't seen. Sorry.

I wanted to come up with real numbers as to how much food allergies have increased through the years. I lost the link in a sea of open windows, but one article said twice over the last decade. (There's another article, just for epidemiology). It's too bad I don't have money to subscribe to or buy journals with

With regards to food additives, I found only a few articles relating to direct sodium benzoate sensitivity, and annatto and carmine for food colors (quite rare according to the article). I found a few articles on GMO but I've yet to digest them.

Interesting topic...  Didn't see the report, but the juxtaposition of antibiotics and allergies isn't surprising as a story concept.

An allergy is the immune system going crazy and lashing out at certain stimuli.  Antibiotics certainly change the balance of stimuli a body's immune system is exposed to.  Is it not reasonable to question whether the new antibiotic-enhanced balance of stimuli might have something to do with the increase in allergic responses people are suffering now?

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Yes I think that is very reasonable and so is looking at possible links between vaccination and allergy, changing diets and allergy or lack of GI-parasites and allergy.

What is BS is statements like "we have literally destroyed our natural immune system to fight off foreign bacteria by over-use of antibiotics". It is misleading, false and detracts from real and important issues

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