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FWIW, I was able to clear up my spring time pollen allergies by not eating gluten. I was tested for celiac disease, but I do not have it thankfully. However, I

FWIW, I was able to clear up my spring time pollen allergies by not eating gluten. I was tested for celiac disease, but I do not have it thankfully. However, I decided to stop eating wheat in early 2015 for other reasons. I noticed that when spring came, I had almost no issues with pollen. I mentioned it to my internist and he said he wasn't surprised given the typical immune reaction to gluten. This year, another repeat performance. Almost no problems with pollen season. I had one or two episodes where I sneezed, but that was it. My area of the US is one of the highest allergy areas due to the density of foliage. As to why this has happened, I can only speculate. I suspect that it's mostly due to the fact that the wheat we eat in the U.S. isn't the same wheat we ate 40+ years ago- it's been genetically altered and there are NO long term studies on the affect of these GMOs on health - they haven't been available on the market long enough to really know. I haven't tried eating non-GMO wheat products so I can't say whether my theory is correct. For me, not eating wheat was the way to go for better health overall. But.. I do miss eating warm bread from the oven now and then.

partiallypro 10y ago
None of what you said is backed by science, and people had allergies long before GMO crops ever existed. There have been tons of studies on GMO crops, long term and short term effects and there has been no link between them and anything even as nuanced as allergies. Every time people speak out against GMO crops, they are following their own faith instead of science. Golden rice could have saved hundreds of thousands of people from death or malnutrition, but those people died because of people that spout this nonsense.
- nashashmi 10y ago
  > None of what you said is backed by science, There is nothing out there to disprove what people fearfully claim either. The long term effects on a large were never tested, and it is being tested while in production. Unfortunately, there is no control case to compare against. >and people had allergies long before GMO crops ever existed. Sure there were people with allergies long before GMOs but they were in smaller numbers. There has been a growing trend of abnormalities and scientists cannot understand why. GMOs cannot be ruled out.
  - partiallypro 10y ago
    > There is nothing out there to disprove what people fearfully claim either. That's not how burden of proof works. > Sure there were people with allergies long before GMOs but they were in smaller numbers. Besides the fact that you've made this assertion based on no data what so ever, even if the data existed from the 1800s it's unlikely it would be that good as most people would just not report it and had no access to medical treatment. > There has been a growing trend of abnormalities and scientists cannot understand why. Such as?
    - pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
      the burden for stating personal opinions? i didn't realize free speech was abolished and we're all burdened now. you're an idiot.
- bokglobule 10y ago
  Never said it was, just a personal viewpoint. But just because there are no long term studies doesn't mean that's safe. In the U.S., we assume products are safe unless proven otherwise. In Europe, they have to prove they are safe before they are available. GMO manufacturers and scientists submit limited studies on their products to the USDA which is why they are OK in the US, but rejected in Europe. To your point, yes people have always had allergies but I can only speak for myself. I didn't have them as a kid, didn't have them as a teenager or young adult. I developed them in the '90s and now they're gone by eliminating wheat. My wife also had the same experience. Just a data point, but to discount it out of hand isn't much of an argument.
stinos 10y ago
Maybe you also changed other habits you can think of, apart from the wheat stop? Healthier lifestyle in general? More sports? Or maybe it's not because you stopped wheat, but you started with a replacement?
- bokglobule 10y ago
  In my case, it was a controlled experiment. I was suspicious that it might NOT have been wheat so I let it run for this year too and so far so good with pollen season almost over. Of course, the real test would be to consume large amounts of wheat this year, wait til next spring and see if the allergies return.

partiallypro 10y ago

None of what you said is backed by science, and people had allergies long before GMO crops ever existed. There have been tons of studies on GMO crops, long term and short term effects and there has been no link between them and anything even as nuanced as allergies. Every time people speak out against GMO crops, they are following their own faith instead of science. Golden rice could have saved hundreds of thousands of people from death or malnutrition, but those people died because of people that spout this nonsense.

nashashmi 10y ago
> None of what you said is backed by science, There is nothing out there to disprove what people fearfully claim either. The long term effects on a large were never tested, and it is being tested while in production. Unfortunately, there is no control case to compare against. >and people had allergies long before GMO crops ever existed. Sure there were people with allergies long before GMOs but they were in smaller numbers. There has been a growing trend of abnormalities and scientists cannot understand why. GMOs cannot be ruled out.
- partiallypro 10y ago
  > There is nothing out there to disprove what people fearfully claim either. That's not how burden of proof works. > Sure there were people with allergies long before GMOs but they were in smaller numbers. Besides the fact that you've made this assertion based on no data what so ever, even if the data existed from the 1800s it's unlikely it would be that good as most people would just not report it and had no access to medical treatment. > There has been a growing trend of abnormalities and scientists cannot understand why. Such as?
  - pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
    the burden for stating personal opinions? i didn't realize free speech was abolished and we're all burdened now. you're an idiot.
bokglobule 10y ago
Never said it was, just a personal viewpoint. But just because there are no long term studies doesn't mean that's safe. In the U.S., we assume products are safe unless proven otherwise. In Europe, they have to prove they are safe before they are available. GMO manufacturers and scientists submit limited studies on their products to the USDA which is why they are OK in the US, but rejected in Europe. To your point, yes people have always had allergies but I can only speak for myself. I didn't have them as a kid, didn't have them as a teenager or young adult. I developed them in the '90s and now they're gone by eliminating wheat. My wife also had the same experience. Just a data point, but to discount it out of hand isn't much of an argument.

stinos 10y ago

Maybe you also changed other habits you can think of, apart from the wheat stop? Healthier lifestyle in general? More sports? Or maybe it's not because you stopped wheat, but you started with a replacement?

bokglobule 10y ago
In my case, it was a controlled experiment. I was suspicious that it might NOT have been wheat so I let it run for this year too and so far so good with pollen season almost over. Of course, the real test would be to consume large amounts of wheat this year, wait til next spring and see if the allergies return.