What's in the air - allergies and obesity

Gluten free. Coeliac. It was when I came to Australia that I first heard those words. And then I kept hearing it, and hearing it. People who have coeliac, or celiac, have immune systems which don't react well to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Many restaurants here cater to people who require a gluten free diet because it is that common.

Over time, I started hearing about more people with different allergies. A story of a kid who can't have nuts or peanut butter, another story of a kid who can't have nuts, dairy, gluten and some other stuff, and schools which decide to ban things like peanut butter and nuts altogether because some kids have allergies so bad that if you touched peanut butter then touched the kid, the kid would go into anaphylaxis. This is serious and can be threatening.

This happens every Spring here – everyone talks about hay fever.

Of course people in Singapore have allergies – nut allergies, shellfish allergies (eg, me), or lactose intolerance. I just hadn't heard of it this much and to this extent. So I started thinking, is it because people here eat so much bread (sandwiches are quite the lunchtime go-to)? Or is it something they do? Or?

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I came across an article that made me go AH-HA! IT'S TRUE! Confirming my suspicions, the title of the article was: Australian-born children more prone to allergies than those born in Asia.

And then I started thinking... does this mean I should raise my kids in Singapore for the first few years to avoid this allergy thingamajig as best as possible?! *dramatic paranoia talking; don't mind me*

Basically the research said Asian-born children who migrate to Australia (ie, have spent time in Asia) have lower rates of peanut and nut allergies. Being exposed to a different diet, and bacterial and UV environment of Asia, seemed to protect the Asian-born children.



This takes me back to the documentary I half-watched yesterday (half-watched because I was playing with my phone at the same time) – The Diet Myth by SBS. It was about microbes, and how it's important to have the right bacteria in your body as that affects how you process food, and your chances of obesity.

One thing it talked about was eating the right foods (no surprises here – fibre is important), but also being not overly clean, and there was also research into vaginal birth versus cesarean birth as it affects the bacteria the newborn is exposed to.

So yes. The environment. The air. Whatever is in it. It affects us and our bodies react to it differently. It's pretty interesting. It's true that the more you know, the more you know you don't know. At the same time, it's just SO much information and there is so much advice out there that, really, who do you listen to and what do you follow?