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Article: Food allergy nation: have our collective immune systems gone haywire, or are we just a country in search of a medical excuse for our picky eating?(NUTRITION NOTES)
- Article from:
- Muscle & Fitness/Hers
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Weider Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WITH THE VARIATION IN diets and differing tastes, getting a group of people to agree on a menu has always been difficult. But these days, it's become an exercise in frustration for another reason. It seems every other diner claims to have a food allergy. Have we really become a nation of the allergy-plagued? Or are we just looking for a way to justify our finicky eating?
Actually, food allergies are quite rare. Only about 2 percent of us suffer from a true food allergy--that is, a condition where exposure to something edible initiates an immune response. More people have what is known as an intolerance, a much less threatening, though often uncomfortable, ...