I have a Lactose intolerance. The strange thing is that Ialways ate and drank dairy until I was pregnant with my 3rd child and simply could not get enough vanilla, malt milkshakes. Now I am intolerant to them and get very ill when I have some. So I don't know why or how mine developed I've just learnt to change recipes to soy etc

Cheers Heather

contentedbody wrote:

Allergies and intolerances have very different causes and mechanisms, although the treatment plan for both would be very similar ie avoid the food.  Intolerance though, unlike allergies, arent permanent and if you eliminate the food and do the right things to allow your body to heal then you will then be able to reintroduce the food at a later stage without it causing you any problems.  There are good tests available now to identify both allergies (IgE responses) and intolerances (IgG responses) so it's great that the guesswork can be taken away and we can all take control of our health when dealing with allergies and intolerances.

Sorry, to disagree, but it's not really just intolerances, but rather autoimmune conditions, you should be talking about.

For instance in celiac disease, gluten stimulates the production of immunoglobulins that attack the villi  lining the small intestine (that is, the body's own normal tissues), whereas allergies produce a reaction, for example hives, vomiting etc. Celiac disease is often confused for an allergic illness because (like an allergy) it requires a foreign substance to trigger it.

Another difference between autoimmune conditions and allergies is that autoimmune disorders are never outgrown; they persist for life. Allergies can sometimes be outgrown.

Also, autoimmune conditions can result in long-term damage to the body. For instance, because celiac disease damages the small intestine, people with celiac disease are at risk for malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, iron-deficiency anemia, and osteoporosis. People with celiac disease are also at risk for other autoimmune conditions, such as thyroid disease, diabetes, and liver disease.

In addition, in untreated celiac disease, a type of white blood cell called the T lymphocyte is activated, along with other parts of the immune system, putting patients at increased risk to develop gastrointestinal lymphomas. A wheat allergy, in contrast, would not put patients at risk for any of these problems.

I'm not trying to downplay the severity of allergies, (my husband has a very violent allergeric reaction to shell fish) but in general, allergies usually result in only temporary symptoms without long-term damage, unless they produce a fatal anaphylactic reaction.

But I think the main thing we should all be relieved about is that allergies and food intolerances are better understood now, making life easier for those affected.

Food intolerances are usually life long. Though often childhood intolerances and allergies are grown out of by adult hood.

You could try rye flour or barley flour - but the chances of cross-contamination with wheat during the processing is very high - it might be worth a go, though.  Also, it really does depend on which country you're in as to what might be available for you ....

Hopefully someone else will be along to help, too 

Instead of it being a nuscience like it would have been a few years ago, I find it very useful when the kids bring home friends that can tell me what they are intolerant of and/or allergic to. These days with so many people suffering from intolerances and allergies it isn't difficult to find alternatives in the supermarkets so that everyone can be catered for and most people from a young age now know what they can and can't have.

For example one daughter wanted a pizza party and was able to tell me that one friend was celiac and two were lactose intolerant. That made a trip to the supermarket armed with a list of no-go ingredients much easier than it used to be a few years ago. I think as people start making their needs made more public that manufacturers are now responding with new products.