DH and I were discussing this last night because lots of my friends' kids and our kids have food allergies. I argued that eating 3 other foods- cow, chicken, & pig (what most meat-eaters consume) should not make a difference in whether a child develops allergies. I think most of my friends just happen to be veg like me and allergies are everywhere. Anyway, I was just interested in what others think.

I seriously doubt it. It seems like everyone's kids have allergies these days, vegetarian or not. Maybe you guys just happen to know more vegetarians.

Well, we're completely herbivorous and none of us are allgeric to anything afaik. I will say that we are more sensitive to our bodies reactions to certain things, for ex. I ordered an almond mocha icee at Panera one day, and had them make it soymilk instead of half and half, the owner assured me it was dairy free, well I drank it, and afterwards I instantly felt mucuousy, I went back and told the owner I could tell there was dairy in it and to look at his ingredient list closer, sure enough there was :irked: . Or if I drink a corn-syrup soda, I feel sick by it, but I felt this way before, I was just so used to it, and I didn';t even know what it felt like to feel good.
I also think a lot of allergies are not due to using a given food, but to ewxcessivly using it, so perhaps being a vegetarian, you masy use a ton of peanut butter, and maybe the amount is enough to casuse an allergic reatcion, but perhaps the person could handle it in smaller amounts (ie a rotation diet or something of the sort)
Disclaimer: None of the above was based on any scientific evidence that I am aware of, and is only my opinion ...:o

Hm... interesting. I wouldn't conjecture that vegetarianism would be the cause of food allergies. But, it might be more apparant in vegetarians because they tend to have more contact with the most common allergens (peanuts, soy and wheat in particular, dairy and eggs in some cases). So, by that argument, they may have slightly more food allergies.
OTOH, I think vegetarians may be more likely than the general public to observe their body's reactions to foods and identify subtle sensitivities. Omniverous health-food junkies are in the same catagory there, but it seems like vegetarians are rarely compared to them ;) Anyway, so vegetarians may *seem* to have more allergies and sensitivities, just because they are more likely to be observant of symptoms more subtle than anaphylaxis. By that argument, they wouldn't neccisarily have more allergies (they could, but not neccisarily), but they would be aware of their allergies and sensitivities to a greater degree than the general population. Thus they would appear to have more allergies.

I'm an avowed meat eater, ala Nourishing Traditions. I know children of all diets who have food allergies, and it doesn't seem to be congregated to one style of eating in what I see.
It's my observation that the mother's diet isn't an issue per se, but the mother's *gut damage* is. That, in turn, exposes the nursing baby to allergens through her milk, and in the first six months of life while the gut is still permable, sets the child up for allergies. Plus continuing damage occurs from repeated exposures once solids are begun, or if the child is given antibiotics.
So diet only plays into it if she's eating a food she's allergic to and it's causing continuing damage or the mom has leaky gut or damage from antibiotics. And since your kids eat the same things you do, and the tendency towards things like celiac are inherited, they'll have continual exposure to the gut damaging irritants once they're weaned.
Personally I've got two kids who are also celiac and casein allergic, and one was homebirthed, exclusively breast fed until 6 months, we avoided all allergens until 15 months and is still nursing now at 2, and has never had antibiotics in his life. So, you can do things 'perfectly' and still have a child end up with allergies. My other child was exclusively nursed and didn't try solids until 8 months, didn't take solids until well after 1 year with any regularity and it looks like she recently weaned at 4, but has been on antibiotics twice. She does have worse gut damage than my son, but she also has had two more years of exposure to gluten than my son did.

My allergies/asthma/eczema go back several generations. It has nothing to do with the food I eat. I do tend to feel better overall when I am eating healthier foods.

Thanks. The argument I was mostly trying to make was what Tboroson was saying about vegetarians/people who consume their diet very conscientiously are more attuned to food allergies. To me, the Standard American Diet just isn't very varied.

I think that as someone said, if you are a vegetarian who eats a lot of the common allergens, like soy, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, wheat, corn (as if we all don't), and eggs and you eat a lot of processed foods and don't rotate your foods that you will probably be more at risk. But not all vegetarians eat that way. It just depends.