Do you have to avoid all legumes if you have this allergy?

Hi Shan:
My 4yo son is only allergic to peanuts. Although we all fit under the umbrella called "Peanut Allergy," you'll find as many different sensitivities as you will peanut-allergic individuals. Since I have not yet heard of a life-threatening reaction to peas, I'll be happy to one day validate his negative RAST score if he'd ever eat one. [img]http://client.ibboards.com/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Noreen

Hi! My daughter is peanut allergic and she eats peas, green beans, lentils, lima beans basically everything. She ate these previous to her reaction and never had any type reaction. I don't know what she'd eat if I kept them from her- she asks for bean soup almost everyday. Is this normal for everyone to omit these from the diet? I know they are legumes, but she has never reacted. Our first visit to the allergist is in August,so I'll ask when I get there. I hope not!

Something that you might want to try for a little one being introduced to new foods...Ask your allergist to explain to you how to mix up a little test (water and new food that concerns you) to check for allergy on skin in mouth area.
Also ask allergist about length of time to watch for any reaction and how much of a new food from this family to introduce. It seems to me that (years ago) there was also a certain length of time typically to watch for reaction after first taste.
My son had a few reactions so we did not introduce all of these things.
In our local anaphylaxis support group some of the members are allergic to one of the legumes besides peanut. Two families list chickpea, one lists kidney beans, etc.
No doubt Mary could supply you with a link to a site that covers this topic.

I recently had my son tested for most tree nuts and other legumes ( he's peanut allergic). He tested negative to green beans and soy Beans which are both legumes. My allergist said it would be extremely rare to have a related allergy to peanuts and other legumes. There is a different protein make up even tho they are in the same food group. Like wise he said while it is not unusual to be allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, again the proteins are different and therefore it is not a related allergy. He has eaten Hummus ( chick peas), baked beans and green beans all his life and never had a problem. It is confusing but I would ask your allergist rather than your ped...they really know more. If you ever have a chance to attend a FAN conference I would highly recommend it. You get a lot of information like that that helps to clarify some of these gray areas.

Even though I KNOW that a peanut is a legume..I still am in fear of giving Brady any kind of nut. Does anyone else feel like this? I won't give her Almonds, Wal-Nuts, ect!! Her first ped may have done this to me, because when Brady was first diagnosed she told me not to give Brady any nut to be on the safe side. I found out here and from FAN that a peanut is not really a nut! Tammy

Hi, perhaps you could have Brady tested for tree nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts etc.) Troy was tested for peanuts and for each tree nut separately and he is allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts. Some people are only allergic to peanuts, others like Troy and my brother have more than one allergy. Another reason your doctor might have recommended avoiding all nuts is the risk of cross-contamination between bins of nuts used in manufacturing. Also, sometimes peanuts are used as filler in products that bill themselves as walnut or almond or other nut flavours. Hope this helps. Take care.

Tammy,
My allergist told us to stay away from all nuts as well. The reason had nothing to do about legumes or nuts it was because where there are almonds, cashews, etc. there may also be peanuts. For example in a batch of mixed nuts w/o peanuts a peanut may get in. I give my son almonds ( he always had them before we knew of his pn allergy) if they are ground and not noticed as "nuts". For example, Honey Crunch Corn Flakes. He is three and I don't allow him to have any nuts, because I don't want to give him a mixed signal at this young age. It would be hard for him to determine what is a " good nut" verses a BAD one!
Since I found out how allergic he is to pn I won't give him anything that seems like a common allergy, like shell fish. I woyuld like to have him tested, but he has to have been exposed already to show anything and I don't want to take a chance.

Here is my list of foods in the pea (legume or clover) family: acacia, black-eyed peas, licorice, lima beans, navy beans, peanuts, peas, pinto beans, string beans, tragacanth, gum arabic
My 4-year-old son with pn allergy does NOT eat tree nuts. Why risk developing an allergy to them, too? Nancy