On Jun 29, 2004, at 6:09 pm, Todd Moody wrote:
> Why are some people seemingly more susceptible than others to
> this harm?  I conjecture that it may be more important what we eat when
> we are children, and our immune systems are not yet developed, than
> what
> we eat as adults, as far as this sort of thing is concerned.

My theory as to why some people react badly to certain foods is
simpler, though not necessarily correct either.  Our genes are millions
of years old, and will have collected a few unusual but unimportant
mutations.  Among these will be mutations that are not apparent in a
paleolithic lifestyle, such as an inability to digest gluten, or a
pancreas that can't cope with excess blood sugar.  But thrown into a
neolithic lifestyle, they become apparent as "diseases".  Well coeliac
"disease" is nothing of the sort, no more than you can accuse someone
of having a "disease" when they die from arsenic poisoning- because a
person should go near neither arsenic nor gluten in the first place.

That said, you may still be right about a child's digestive system not
coping with foods too early.  But then, bad foods will wear down a
person's insides at any age, they may just have a more dramatic effect
in children.

Ashley