Nut and Peanut Allergy Diet
Thu Feb 24, 7:00 PM ET
KidsHealth.org
When your child is allergic to nuts or peanuts, any food - even a Valentine's Day (news - web sites) chocolate or the hot dog you serve at your Memorial Day picnic - needs to undergo an exhaustive ingredient analysis. And, as any parent who has a child with a nut or peanut allergy knows, Halloween can be an absolute nightmare.
But you don't have to be a chemist to know which foods are OK and which ones could cause a potentially dangerous allergic reaction in your child. Reading labels and just knowing what the hidden ingredients are can go a long way toward keeping your child safe.
What Is a Nut and Peanut Allergy?
About 1.5 million adults and children in the United States have an allergy to peanuts, and 50% of these people also are allergic to nuts or tree nuts. There's no typical age of diagnosis, although research indicates that the median age of first exposure is 14 months. And although many children outgrow allergies to milk, soy, and eggs, those with allergies to peanuts and nuts rarely outgrow their reactions.
Although peanuts aren't true nuts but legumes (in the same family as peas and lentils), the reaction in people allergic to them is similar to the reaction in people who are allergic to tree nuts, such as walnuts, cashews, and pecans.
An allergic reaction is when the immune system mistakenly believes that a harmless substance, in this case a nut or peanut, is harmful. It creates specific antibodies to that food to protect your body. The next time you eat that food, your immune system releases huge amounts of chemicals and histamines to protect your body, triggering an allergic reaction.
Signs and Symptoms
You may not even recognize an allergic reaction, depending on the severity, the age of the child, and previous exposure to the allergen. The first signs of a reaction could be a runny nose, a skin rash all over the body, or a tingly tongue. Symptoms can quickly become more serious - including difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat or other parts of the body, rapid drop in blood pressure, and dizziness or unconsciousness. Other possible symptoms include hives, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. Symptoms usually appear within a few seconds to 2 hours after ingesting or being exposed to the allergen.
A sudden, potentially severe allergic reaction, called anaphylaxis, can involve various systems in the body (such as the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and cardiovascular system) and can be fatal. Anaphylaxis can cause a person's blood pressure to drop, airways to narrow, and tongue to swell, resulting in serious breathing difficulty, loss of consciousness and, in some cases, even death.
Treating a Nut or Peanut Allergy
Unfortunately, there's no cure for food allergies; the only way to help kids who have them is to stay away from the foods that will cause a reaction.
If your child has been diagnosed with a nut or peanut allergy, learn everything you can about what to watch out for and the type of reaction your child will have if you come into contact with a nut or peanut (or nut and peanut ingredients in other foods).
In case of an emergency, doctors recommend that adults and children 12 years and older who have a nut or peanut allergy keep a shot of epinephrine with them in an easy-to-carry container that looks like a pen (also called an EpiPen). If a nut- or peanut-allergic person accidentally eats nuts or peanuts and has an anaphylactic reaction, a shot of epinephrine can be given to help counteract it. Your child's doctor can give you instructions on how to use and store the epinephrine injection pen; it's essential that you familiarize yourself with the procedure.
If your child is 12 years or older, make sure he or she keeps the pen readily available at all times. If the child is younger than 12, talk to the school nurse and your child's teacher about keeping one on hand in case of an emergency. Also make sure that epinephrine pens are available at your home, as well as at the homes of friends and family members. Your child's doctor may also encourage your child to wear a medical alert bracelet. It's also a good idea to carry an over-the-counter antihistamine, which can help alleviate allergy symptoms in some people. But antihistamines should be used in addition to the EpiPen and not as a replacement for the shot.
Kids who have had to take an epinephrine shot should go immediately to a medical facility or hospital emergency department, where additional treatment can be given if needed. Up to one third of anaphylactic reactions can have a second wave of symptoms several hours following the initial attack, so the child might need to be observed in a clinic or hospital for 4 to 8 hours following the reaction.
Feeding a Child With a Nut or Peanut Allergy
Doctors advise parents to keep their children away from foods linked to severe allergies - such as eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and nuts - until they're 2. The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) recommends that children not eat eggs before age 2 or any sort of nuts or fish until age 3.
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