Question: Also, why do our bodies become allergic to foods?

Martin Pike answered on 10 Mar 2025:

I think the short answer is that we don’t really know. Allergies are more common in developed countries and this might be because they are more frequently recognised there, or maybe the rate is truly higher and some aspect of life in developed countries is making allergies more common. It is my opinion that the tendency to use disinfectants on kitchen surfaces and things that children touch is not helping. I think the immune system needs to be challenged from an early age with a wide variety of ‘foreign’ items (dog hair, mud, less-than-clean fingers etc) rather than wall-to-wall ‘Dettol’. Without enough challenges the immune system develops reactions to food and other things that it should not. Having said all that, I am not an immunologist and would welcome their opinions.