Eating tomatoes 'turns kids into criminals'

The Observer [UK] ^ | February 23, 2003 | Jean West

[Mamzelle]

I had one of these allergy-obsessed mothers next to me at one time. She carried around epipens (injectable epinephrine) for fear her kids would go into anaphylactic shock. No one ever witnessed an episode...finally it turned out she was one of those "Meunchausen Syndrome by Proxy" nuts. Bizarre.

[freebilly]

Are you sure it wasn't the cockroaches and mouse feces?

I've seen cockroaches in Florida that could have fed a family of four....

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

A member of the deadly nightshade family, tomatoes were erroneously thought to be poisonous (although the leaves are poisonous) by Europeans who were suspicious of their bright, shiny fruit. Native versions were small, like cherry tomatoes, and most likely yellow rather than red.

[LaineyDee]

Tho alot of people like to laugh this off, there is certainly sound science to back up the allergic responses to certain foods. Several years ago, a Dr. Ray was using concentration/dilution therapy on children with food allergies. The videos I saw were astounding. They would give a 3yr old kid one drop of say.... a corn concentrate under his skin, with a TB syringe. Within 10 minutes, the kid would be out of control....hitting, biting and spitting (this response was typical of 90% of the kids with allergies). Then, they would give him a diluted form of the same allergen and within the same amount of time.....he would calm down and become focused.

My friend who has a child with FOD and CP, went to Dr. Ray's clinic in Dallas and the child was able to overcome the constant seizures she was having. Basically, what they do is find out what they're allergic to, then mix a diluted formula to give them for 3 weeks. After that.. they should be able to resume those foods in their diet without side effects. I was extremely impressed.

As far as people turning into criminals.....I'm not sure of that analysis. I do know some of the kids became extremely violent when going thru the testing.... but I think you'd have to have the propensity for that...as an adult. Kids react, but adults have the ability to reason and weigh the consequences....regardless of "how they feel".

[buffyt]

Doris Rapp has some books on food allergies and behavior. We tried the food elemination diet on our oldest son when he was in elem. sch. and didn't figure out what he was allergic to, but I always noticed he went wild when he ate hot dogs or chocolate, any my other kids did, too. He was allergic to eggs when he was little, and still hates to eat them. Now the oldest son is allergic to codiene and ceclor. Ceclor, one pill, sent him into anaphyatic shock and we almost lost him a couple of years ago at Christmas time. A team of doctors and nurses worked feverishly on him for 6 hours in the emergency room, then he was in observation room for two more hours. It was touch and go. Allergies to food and drugs are REAL. I have a friend who has to carry a shot kit for allergic reactions to TOMATOES. I almost died of penicillin reaction. I am allergic to milk and chocolate. A friend of ours had to stop drinking beer, he craved it, but it made him MEAN. After he gave up beer, their marriage became strong again, he stopped beating her.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I have a no-coffee allergy. If I have no coffee I get cranky. ;)

Seriously, foods do affect the way you feel. I found out about a year ago that sugar upsets my system purely by accident. I cut sugar out of my diet and have felt great every since.

As to making them misbehave I do not buy it. Sure it may make you cranky but so does going without enough sleep. That is no excuse for poor or out of control behavior.

[Cicero]

My first impulse was to scoff. But there's probably something in this.

I suspect that nutritional science is probably in a pretty dismal state, because the organic chemistry of foods, vitamins, digestion, hormone production, and cell building is extremely complicated. We see that when doctors issue warnings not to eat one food and to eat plenty of another and then ten years later reverse themselves completely.

Given the lack of solid understanding of the physical processes involved, probably the two best sources are folk wisdom (which regretably was heavily suppressed by overconfidence in science) and statistical surveys like those mentioned here. And individual tests. How does Jimmy behave when he eats apples? When he doesn't eat them?

In other words, our real knowledge of diet is still extremely primitive.

[js1138]

hypocondria can be distinguished from allergy by a blind skin patch test. (usually)

[ricpic]

Eat your spinach Johnnie, or you'll grow up to be a SICK FREAK!

[HairOfTheDog]

She's probably allergic to the skin patches used in the test! - LOL!

[DallasMike]

Tho alot of people like to laugh this off, there is certainly sound science to back up the allergic responses to certain foods. Several years ago, a Dr. Ray was using concentration/dilution therapy on children with food allergies.

I have been 95% cured of horrible allergies with this same therapy. I had 3 allergists tell me that I was the most allergic patient to ragweed they had ever seen. The 4th used this concentration/dilution therapy and now ragweed season is nothing more than occasional sniffles on a few days each year.

I saw a video by my doctor (Dr. Chung in Bedford) when he was on a TV show showing how he treated kids with allergies that produced ADD and even violence in children. One small injection of a dilution of the allergen (oftentimes milk) turned a raving monster into a calm child within a few minutes.

I guess you could say I'm a believer.

[Bernard]

Can't be - it hasn't affected me, yet.

[johnny7]

“I love those big, Cape Cod tomatoes. Yoi can eat them like an apple!”

-George Costanza

[dighton]

An excellent defense for mafiosi.

[Marauder]

cockroaches in Florida that could have fed a family of four

LOL. We have those palmetto bugs in South Texas also. I watched a fight between one of them and a gecko one night. The gecko eventually won, but it took him a long time. For a while I thought he was going to have to send for reinforcements.

[wcbtinman]

"My first impulse was to scoff."

So was mine. Then, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. After years of cavalierly treating it, I became depressed, irritable and it almost cost me the things I hold dear.

After much research, and the help of a family member who is a doctor, I slowly came to realize that it is the foods we eat today that are causing a multitude of problems, including the epidemic of type 2 diabetics, mostly related to how the body processes sugars, and how the body utilizes insulin.

My doctor relative is even more convinced now that diet plays a much larger role in the ills of society tody than we ever thought.

If one looks at things like crime increases, and anti-social behavior increases, you can see that the timeline coincides with the introduction of "fast foods" of various kinds.

Hormonal imbalances caused by these foods also may be responsible for the 'they didn't make girls like that when I was in school' observation. In fact, they didn't. But hormonal changes brought on by food additives and processes seem to be causing puberty and accelerated growth stages in our youth, with all of the attendant problems that causes.(girls and boys in adult bodies)

Nowadays, having a garden to grow your own produce may be a vital means of self defense.

[strela]

Tomatoes, eh? I'm deathly allergic to 'em in the raw form. That explains a lot, I guess ...

[Servant of the Nine]

I KNEW IT! Anything with inards as slimy as tomatoes must be evil.

I felt that way about wimmin right after my divorce.

So9

[Riley]

The same way you eat "$h*t on a shingle". One bite at a time!

I had a rather fortunate situation when I was in the Corps many years ago-- I actually like SOS. I remember my first acquaintance with it- "What is this stuff, anyway? Its pretty good!"

[Lijahsbubbe]

I understand why you would have your doubts about criminal behavior and allergies.

We certainly don't need any more excuses for bad behavior. It's sad that there will always be people (and lawyers) in society who will try to misuse discoveries and programs for their benefit.

I have read however, that there have been studies linking allergies and diet with mental illness. It would be wonderful if this proved to be something that could benefit families who are dealing with the horrors of schizophrenia and other mental disorders.