What I don't understand is when someone is allergic to peanuts, a legume, they have to avoid tree nuts like the plague. But they don't have to worry about other legumes like beans or peas. Even if the facility doesn't process peanuts in the same factory as, say, cashews, they still shouldn't eat them.

curtisuxor wrote:What I don't understand is when someone is allergic to peanuts, a legume, they have to avoid tree nuts like the plague. But they don't have to worry about other legumes like beans or peas. Even if the facility doesn't process peanuts in the same factory as, say, cashews, they still shouldn't eat them.

Being a peanut-allergic person myself, a lot of those things like the cashews and a lot of candies are made in the same facility and/or on the same equipment as things made with peanuts. (Example: I can't eat M&M's because they use the same mixing equipment for the regular AND peanut/peanut butter M&M's). It all depends on the particular persons sensitivity. And they slap that stupid "may contain peanuts" label on EVERYTHING nowadays to avoid lawsuits. -____-
Some people may read the label and not be worried, while others have to avoid those things for the rest of forever. (Halloween is a nightmare for people like me-no pun intended).

Usually people with peanut allergies are sensative to tree nuts for some reason. Not being a doctor, I can't tell you exactly why that happens, because as you said-peanuts are legumes and not nuts. I myself have intolerance's to certain tree nuts. Maybe it's a similar protein between peanuts and tree nuts?
You're also right about the peas and beans thing. No idea why that doesn't affect people. It might also be a protein thing. :shrug:

I will say this; I'm an older example of someone with a peanut allergy, but I've had it since I was an infant. But kids nowadays have the allergy coming out the wazoo. I'm curious to know what is causing the increase.

If anyone has any peanut allergy related questions, feel free to ask me! C:

It's definitely surprising. I don't remember ever knowing someone with a peanut allergy my entire young life until the last few years, where I'm informed that in my child's preschool class, two students have peanut allergies and one has an orange allergy, and also my son's cousin-in-law has a peanut allergy, too.

I don't think it's one of those "people today and their overreactions!" things at all, but it's definitely concerning and strange. Why is this popping up more?

People die every day from peanut allergy

Just don't have those toxic vaccines forced on your child and they won't get those allergies, nor ADD, dyslesxia, etc.

The problem with the country today is that really big deals like peanut allergies are always getting overblown!!!

{rant inserted, workday can commence}

chretist wrote:Just don't have those toxic vaccines forced on your child and they won't get those allergies, nor ADD, dyslesxia, etc.

I hope you're being sarcastic. If you're not, you're not doing any kind of responsible search into real, actual studies.

chretist wrote:Just don't have those toxic vaccines forced on your child and they won't get those allergies, nor ADD, dyslesxia, etc.

Nope, they'll just get those smallpox, polio, diphtheria, rubella, etc.

chretist wrote:Just don't have those toxic vaccines forced on your child and they won't get those allergies, nor ADD, dyslesxia, etc.

Okay.. I was born in 1968 and I'm still dyslexic and have ADD so I kinda doubt its all the current vaccines for that one. For some of us, it just runs in the family.

However.. I've seen a few studies that say that if you have a family that is predisposed to autism or severe learning disabilities then the current vaccination schedule may not be the best bet. Some folks just space them out a bit more to keep an eye on things if they already have a family history but for most families.. vaccines should be just fine.

That said.. my family does have that history of Learning Disabilities and my nephew is autistic and we have food allergies as well. The worst one is my son's allergy to milk.. that is a huge problem since people don't listen and think he's lactose intolerant so he gets fed things by well meaning folks that still have whey or say they are lactose free and he get so sick and really mean. (my son's temper is always the first sign he ate the wrong thing.)

In all seriousness, (and I have no scientific data to back this up by the way) I suspect that children are naturally sensitive to lots of things, and become desensitized to them through small exposure over a long period of time, the same way we build up immunity to diseases. With today's greater awareness of reactions to substances, the tendency is the instant we notice a child is sensitive to something, we immediately isolate them from that substance permanently, so they never build up a tolerance. A mild sensitivity may grow into a full-blown life-threatening allergy. I have seen studies showing a similar phenomenon with disease resistance, i.e., kids who's parents sanitize every surface, keep them away from anyone sick, and generally isolate them from any exposure to pathogens tend to have less developed immune systems.

RWoodward wrote:I have seen studies showing a similar phenomenon with disease resistance, i.e., kids who's parents sanitize every surface, keep them away from anyone sick, and generally isolate them from any exposure to pathogens tend to have less developed immune systems.

This is true. Homes that are too dirty or too clean are not ideal. Homes that are fairly clean, but not antiseptic, and homes with pets (dogs confer more benefits than cats) are a good environment for your child to become exposed to the world without being left at the cruel mercy of nature.

This isn't random internet guy saying this. This is science. Real studies.

I pondered this question many times before and deduced 3 probable causes below.

1. Peanut industry may have changed how we process, package, or transport peanuts.

2. All the chemicals we use everywhere are making our kids sick.

3. All the medicines and vaccines are making our kids weaker.

Anyone that says hogwash has definitely not seen an anaphylactic reaction - now that is plain ignorance!!!

There is a new therapy where they give the allergic individual a tiny particle of peanut, and work it up to a whole peanut, every day. If they eat it every day, they no longer react to peanuts, but they have to keep up the exposure.

RWoodward wrote:In all seriousness, (and I have no scientific data to back this up by the way) I suspect that children are naturally sensitive to lots of things, and become desensitized to them through small exposure over a long period of time, the same way we build up immunity to diseases. With today's greater awareness of reactions to substances, the tendency is the instant we notice a child is sensitive to something, we immediately isolate them from that substance permanently, so they never build up a tolerance. A mild sensitivity may grow into a full-blown life-threatening allergy. I have seen studies showing a similar phenomenon with disease resistance, i.e., kids who's parents sanitize every surface, keep them away from anyone sick, and generally isolate them from any exposure to pathogens tend to have less developed immune systems.

I always feel worse for those kids who are allergic to the sun. Now THAT is some serious S#%t. Reminds me of that movie with Nicole Kidman (drawing a blank on the title) where the kids have to have the curtains drawn before entering a room. But I guess peanuts can be pretty dangerous, too. Unless it's the Charles Shulz kind, that is.

I hadn't really thought much about peanut allergies until one day, maybe 20 years ago, a coworker had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital. He'd inadvertently eaten something with peanuts in it, and seeing what happened to him was sobering. His entire face was swollen, his eyes were like tiny slits, and just looking at him was painful. Living with a sensitivity like that has to be really difficult.

aradiakali wrote:There is a new therapy where they give the allergic individual a tiny particle of peanut, and work it up to a whole peanut, every day. If they eat it every day, they no longer react to peanuts, but they have to keep up the exposure.

The only thing about that kind of exposure therapy is that extremely allergic people-like myself- aren't even eligible for it. I'm also not eligible for allergy shots for the peanut allergy because just the injection would throw me into anaphalyxis.

I'm stuck with the allergy for life. :/

meh, most of what I've read has led me to a few conclusions

1.) kids immune systems are, in a sense, bored. Since they aren't fighting off small pox and scarlet fever they start reacting to normal stuff, and peanut protein is something they glob onto. So let your relatively healthy kid be dirty, play in dirt, get colds, whatever so that their immune system can be busy.

2.) allergies are too often over diagnosed and over treated. The tests are anything but precise unless you do a blinded food challenge, and blinded food challenges are expensive so no one does them. There is no evidence that your kid will go into anaphylaxis and die because the kid across the table has a snickers- they actually did a study where they tried to induce a reaction in kids from being around peanuts and absolutely nothing happened. Allergies are dependent on the level of exposure, and peanut isn't an airborne allergen (and even if it was we're talking hay fever and perhaps asthma attacks here kiddos). Exposure to trace amounts may help desentize kids, so being 110% peanut free with a mild to moderately allergic kid is probably overkill.

3.) death from anaphylaxis is waaay less common than most people lead you to think. You're more likely to die from an asthma attack, but for whatever reason no one treats asthma half as serious as peanut allergies.

And none of this is to say there aren't people with super scary allergies out there. Just that for every one of those people you have several people who think they are allergic but would pass a food challenge.

It sucks that they can't experience the joy of eating peanut butter straight from the jar using your fingers while mom's not looking.

Those people are called Vampires, although I here there is a treatment out now that allows them to go out in the sun, but when they do they sparkle. Go figure

Geethatsgr8 wrote:I always feel worse for those kids who are allergic to the sun. Now THAT is some serious S#%t. Reminds me of that movie with Nicole Kidman (drawing a blank on the title) where the kids have to have the curtains drawn before entering a room. But I guess peanuts can be pretty dangerous, too. Unless it's the Charles Shulz kind, that is.

On a more serious note, I work in public schools and the level of protection they put on this allergy is shocking to me. Where I am now they have tables marked as a "peanut free zone" and the school I was in prior to this had a child who was so allergic that no student in his class was allowed to bring anything with peanuts into the building.

let your kids eat dirt. don't wash them in alcohol and give them so many antibiotics. stay away from the dr.practice. try giving your kids water instead of juice. stop feeding your kids carbs and more carbs. stop making your kids eat when there not hungry. skipping or postponing meals meals is actually healthy; but not all meals should be garbage that turn to sugar. and leaves your kid hungry but you think he's full....

The reason these things are "overblown" is because many independent study groups, news agency's, research groups etc. are pointing the fingers of rising allergies at things we see every day like artificial flavors and colors in foods at an early age during immune system development, and in my opinion that can be "overblown" as much as you'd like as long as the evidence is strong.

Good god, am I the only one here who thinks peanut allergies get the same amount of attention as they did four or five years ago? I really don't think it's a terrible thing that my son's school doesn't serve peanut butter, I give him plenty at home.

It's really not as big of a deal as the poll is letting everyone sound off on. Sure, peanut allergies happen, it's good for Day Cares, etc to be aware of it and make sure that the children (all of them) are safe. That means no peanut butter cookies, no shellfish, and being mindful of individual food allergies (all the way up to and including lactose intolerance, etc.).

There's really no reason to fuss about the press it does or doesn't get. If my kid were allergic to peanuts, I might feel differently, but probably not.

I have fish allergies, which may be more annoying than peanuts. I learned the hard way that there are all sorts of things I can't have. Two of the strangest things are multi-vitamins and worcestershire sauce.

Growing up, I never knew anyone with a peanut allergy. And I still don't. I'm not aware of any kids in my daughters school that has one either. Where do all these people with peanut allergies live?

I think the sudden increase in allergies is due to those parents who disinfect and sanitize everything. I never did and still don't do that crap with my daughter and she doesn't have any allergies and she hardly ever gets sick.

We are all missing the real issue here. The people that are allergic to peanuts will never get to have Reese's Peanut Butter cups! This is a travesty!

ROGETRAY wrote:I couldn't possibly imagine a world without the deliciousness of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup;

*SOBS* I KNOWWWWWW.
My fiance is a trooper because he LOVES Reese's and he's given them up completely for me. Not many people will do that, as I've experienced. (apparently people < peanut butter cups).
-___-

fharpster wrote:Those people are called Vampires, although I here there is a treatment out now that allows them to go out in the sun, but when they do they sparkle. Go figure

LOVE your sense of humor - thanks for the chuckle!

purplefeather wrote:I have fish allergies, which may be more annoying than peanuts. I learned the hard way that there are all sorts of things I can't have. Two of the strangest things are multi-vitamins and worcestershire sauce.

Worchestershire sauce (the real stuff) is made with anchovy paste.

hippie1981 wrote:Growing up, I never knew anyone with a peanut allergy. And I still don't. I'm not aware of any kids in my daughters school that has one either. Where do all these people with peanut allergies live?

... The midwest. Or at least one or two do. My son had one or two in his daycare about a year or so ago.

I was concerned, but after reading the comments I'm leaning towards "Hogwash".

brentabrown wrote:The problem with the country today is that really big deals like peanut allergies are always getting overblown!!!

{rant inserted, workday can commence}

Having a child with a serious peanut allergy has been very scary for him and our family. And more and more children and even some adults are suddenly getting food allergies. It is not overblown. This is something that needs to be looked at very closely.

RWoodward wrote:In all seriousness, (and I have no scientific data to back this up by the way) I suspect that children are naturally sensitive to lots of things, and become desensitized to them through small exposure over a long period of time, the same way we build up immunity to diseases. With today's greater awareness of reactions to substances, the tendency is the instant we notice a child is sensitive to something, we immediately isolate them from that substance permanently, so they never build up a tolerance. A mild sensitivity may grow into a full-blown life-threatening allergy. I have seen studies showing a similar phenomenon with disease resistance, i.e., kids who's parents sanitize every surface, keep them away from anyone sick, and generally isolate them from any exposure to pathogens tend to have less developed immune systems.

The first time my son had something with a peanut (one teaspon of pad thai), his eyes and lips and tongue swelled up and he started vomiting and then wretching. We gave him three tsp of benedryl. You can't blame us for isolating him from peanuts. We like him to stay alive.

ChronoSquall14 wrote:This is true. Homes that are too dirty or too clean are not ideal. Homes that are fairly clean, but not antiseptic, and homes with pets (dogs confer more benefits than cats) are a good environment for your child to become exposed to the world without being left at the cruel mercy of nature.

This isn't random internet guy saying this. This is science. Real studies.

We're not ultra clean and my son still got food allergies.

aradiakali wrote:There is a new therapy where they give the allergic individual a tiny particle of peanut, and work it up to a whole peanut, every day. If they eat it every day, they no longer react to peanuts, but they have to keep up the exposure.

Wish that treatment would work. But even a tiny amount causes a terrible reaction.

labyrinthia wrote:meh, most of what I've read has led me to a few conclusions

1.) kids immune systems are, in a sense, bored. Since they aren't fighting off small pox and scarlet fever they start reacting to normal stuff, and peanut protein is something they glob onto. So let your relatively healthy kid be dirty, play in dirt, get colds, whatever so that their immune system can be busy.

2.) allergies are too often over diagnosed and over treated. The tests are anything but precise unless you do a blinded food challenge, and blinded food challenges are expensive so no one does them. There is no evidence that your kid will go into anaphylaxis and die because the kid across the table has a snickers- they actually did a study where they tried to induce a reaction in kids from being around peanuts and absolutely nothing happened. Allergies are dependent on the level of exposure, and peanut isn't an airborne allergen (and even if it was we're talking hay fever and perhaps asthma attacks here kiddos). Exposure to trace amounts may help desentize kids, so being 110% peanut free with a mild to moderately allergic kid is probably overkill.

3.) death from anaphylaxis is waaay less common than most people lead you to think. You're more likely to die from an asthma attack, but for whatever reason no one treats asthma half as serious as peanut allergies.

And none of this is to say there aren't people with super scary allergies out there. Just that for every one of those people you have several people who think they are allergic but would pass a food challenge.

What do you base this information on?

hippie1981 wrote:Growing up, I never knew anyone with a peanut allergy. And I still don't. I'm not aware of any kids in my daughters school that has one either. Where do all these people with peanut allergies live?

I think the sudden increase in allergies is due to those parents who disinfect and sanitize everything. I never did and still don't do that crap with my daughter and she doesn't have any allergies and she hardly ever gets sick.

Hey my kid has peanut allergy and if you visited us at our house, you'd realize we're not that clean!