A Nutty Way of Looking at Food Allergies
By Veronica MacDonald Ditko
An Accidental Anthropologist
Ask any elementary school teacher today – food allergies are a problem. Some children develop such a bad reaction that medicine must be nearby. Some of the extreme baddies are peanuts, but I’ve heard about bananas, apples, dairy, shellfish and many other seemingly harmless foods to other people. I’ve even heard of a woman who cannot eat produce that’s been wrapped with rubber bands. That’s got to be tough.
There are many theories as to why allergies are getting worse. Our homes are too clean. Our food is too free of good bacteria. Fruits and veggies and grains have been altered too much. There are too many chemicals in our bodies. And while I tend to agree that returning to a more pastoral existence is not bad idea, it can’t be the entire answer.
If you were to think about it like an evolutionary biologist, you would ask, “Why are bodies evolving to react like this to food?”And as many of these biologists know, certain conditions in this world have developed to combat something else. Like sickle cell anemia genes can help people against malaria. Or certain populations have high rates of diabetes because their bodies were made to actually fatten up certain times of year and starve other times, not be well-fed all year long.
In August 2012, Ohio State University published an article about a link between allergies and cancer. They asserted that people who have allergies are less likely to develop brain tumors. Other studies have shown a link between less incidences of colon and pancreatic cancers and childhood leukemia in people with allergies. Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia is doing similar research to see if it is the allergic condition or the medicine that makes that true.
Of course, keep in mind there are lots of studies saying the opposite is true. It’s not for sure yet. But it would be good to find out. Cancer is the No. 2 killer in the US behind heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Scientists believe they’ve already established a genetic component to allergies. If your mother or father has them, well then, you’re pretty much doomed. So there must be a reason that these genes are getting passed on – and with a heck of a lot more frequency.
Scientists are just beginning to understand the role of DNA and the whys of succession, or passing on of select genes, as populations evolve. Why are more people being born with webbed toes and fingers? Why is red hair or blue eyes, so-called recessive genes, not petering out? Why is autism so rampant – is better diagnosis really the reason?
While these questions may not keep me up at night – they are always there. They are extremely pervasive in our lives. So let’s start finding the answers! Do you have allergy theories of your own? Please share them with us.
Veronica MacDonald Ditko is originally from the Jersey Shore, but married and settled in northern New Jersey. Her journalism career started a decade ago after studying Psychology and Anthropology in Massachusetts. She has written for several newspapers and magazines including The Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Springfield Union News and Sunday Republican, Happi, Chemical Week, The Hawthorne Press, The Jewish Standard, Suite101.com and more.