Why "only 1-2% really have food intolerances" drives me nuts.

[fjm]

I saw this today in a cook book (Amazing Grains, bought because we need a wider range of options) and once more it made my teeth grind, not because it's wrong, but because the writer doesn't understand the implications

Comments

[felesin]

Mine's even more specific. I have real problems with tomatoes, including violent stomach cramps & vomiting.

However, the severity seems to be completely dependant on the freshness of the tomato e.g. fresh cut raw tomato or even fresh & cooked is instant violent reaction. Well cooked tomatoes e.g. tinned plum tomatoes cooked into a stew, will give me stomach cramps & maybe headaches after anything from a few mins to half an hour or so after eating, same with tomato puree. Processed to death, and I'm normally not too bad at all & even OK mostly. Just about the only tomato related foods I can cope with are cheapo mass produced pizzas, over-produced soup etc.

But of course this means I need to mention it if I eat out (you'd be surprised at some of the meals people add tomatoes to), and get reactions all the way from "oh I didn't think they had any in it" when I complain, all the way to a Chinese restaurant refusing to serve me anything that wasn't completely plain with no sauces of any kind on it.

[storme]

I kept having cramps and vomiting which I traced back to raw or undercooked tomato skin. And, yes, tomatoes are in goddamned everything. It's horrible.

[green_knight]

Given how laissez-faire the medical profession is about a real allergy ('I can't take this because I'm allergic to x, you shouldn't have prescribed it in the first place, good thing I read the notes' 'That contains x? I didn't know. Just blast it into your lungs' 'I'd rather not provoke a severe allergic reaction, thanks, please find me an alternative' 'NOTES: Patient refused treatment, case closed') I'm not at all surprised they ignore food intolerances, particularly when they're only make you feel a little ill some of the time (or even most of the time).

Blech.

[cmcmck]

Technically, my egg allergy isn't an 'intolerance' but I still can't tolerate eggs!

[nellorat]

I think this is actually kind-of like fat rights: we can get into a labyrinthine discussion of medical science sometimes when the real issue is just respecting others

[19_crows]

It doesn't seem surprising that fruit would have different effects as it ripens or ages - it's changing its chemical content.