Talk to me about nuts

MissRdotS · August 2013

I have been trying to stay away from Dr. G (aka: google).
However yesterday my mom called and told me she had been reading several things online that say as a pregnant woman, I shouldn't be eating "trigger" nuts. Apparently peanuts and almonds are two of the most highly allergic nuts, and I can be doing something to the baby or the baby's tolerance bc I'm eating peanut butter or almond butter at least 5 days a week with my apple.
Have you ladies heard about this? I started googling but got very conflicting information. I have an appointment tomorrow so I'll ask what my OB thinks then, but I'm curious as to what you all think?
So, ladies, tell me how you feel about nuts? Are you eating them? Are you avoiding them?
TIA.

sugarland726 · August 2013

I have read that both eating a lot of peanut butter and eating no peanut butter will cause peanut allergies. So how's that for conflicting? I will say that in my pregnancy with DD, I ate peanut butter twice a day, every single day, and she is not allergic. In fact, she loves it. That is no guarantee of the same thing for my next fetus, or for your fetus.

purplepenguin2011 · August 2013

My dad and sister are both allergic to nuts, and so i was a little worried that genetically it could happen. There are just so many things that they tell you to do and not do and there are always new studies coming out. I guess ultimately my feeling is that they don't know what causes it, so I wouldn't drastically alter your life. If you want to eat nuts do it. Just make sure the first time you give your child nuts you watch them...but really that should be any new foods. People can be allergic to pretty much anything. You can still get through life with a nut allergy.

twobluelines · August 2013

I heard they recommend avoiding it is the family has a history or is prone to allergies. But this is something I have heard more ib the uk than in north America

juliasmama2010 · August 2013

I've never heard this. I'm addicted to pb&j and will continue to eat it. Sounds like a load of garbage to me

wedbliss5 · August 2013

I'm with @sugarland726 - I've heard both. I've also heard the same about introducing these allergens to babies as well. I *think* the opinion to avoid them until 1 to 2 yrs is being questioned more and more, stating that this avoidance might be leading to more allergies. I am not avoiding anything because of allergy concerns, however allergies don't really run in either family. I can understand it more if there is a reason to believe LO could be allergic.

citybeach · August 2013

I have a severe peanut allergy (anaphylactic when I was younger), and my mom never ate peanut butter while pregnant with me. I am the only one in my extended family with any nut allergy. I have been advised by my allergist my future children are not more likely to have this allergy, just because I do.

As I get older my allergy is less severe and I have had some desensitization treatments which were effective (they are some studies being carried out regarding fighting nut allergies with very promising results so far).

Although nut allergies seem to be much more prevalent these days there is no clear cut evidence as to why.

I would not be afraid to eat any nut substances, especially if you enjoy them

p.s I am a big fan of other nuts, nut pastes and nut products just not peanuts.

MissRdotS · August 2013

sugarland726 said:
I have read that both eating a lot of peanut butter and eating no peanut butter will cause peanut allergies. So how's that for conflicting? I will say that in my pregnancy with DD, I ate peanut butter twice a day, every single day, and she is not allergic. In fact, she loves it. That is no guarantee of the same thing for my next fetus, or for your fetus.

This is what google was telling me too! I guess I'll see what my OB has to say

bethughknee · August 2013

I hadn't heard of this but I try to take scare tactic pregnancy "rules" with a grain of salt. Although my nausea is all but gone and most of my food aversions finally seem to have subsided, I still can't really stand cooked meats. I rely on Greek yogurt, almonds and peanut butter to get enough protein.

moosebaby2011 · August 2013

I've read that pregnant women should avoid highly allergenic foods. I have also read that pregnant women should be sure to eat highly allergenic foods. I take everything with a grain of salt.

I ate a lot of peanut butter and a lot of almonds when pregnant with DS. He is not allergic to peanuts, but he did break out in hives when he ate bread that contained tree nuts. My DH is tree nut intolerant (he vomits within minutes of eating tree nuts - especially almonds) so I suspect that DS's reaction had far more to do with genetics than anything that I did or did not eat while I was pregnant.

MissRdotS · August 2013

twobluelines said:
I heard they recommend avoiding it is the family has a history or is prone to allergies. But this is something I have heard more ib the uk than in north America

My dad's mom's brother's daughter and daughter's daughter are allergic to walnuts and pecans, but that is like so far down the family tree that I don't even know if we should take that into consideration? DH's family has no nut allergies.

MissRdotS · August 2013

moosebaby2011 said:
I've read that pregnant women should avoid highly allergenic foods. I have also read that pregnant women should be sure to eat highly allergenic foods. I take everything with a grain of salt.

I ate a lot of peanut butter and a lot of almonds when pregnant with DS. He is not allergic to peanuts, but he did break out in hives when he ate bread that contained tree nuts. My DH is tree nut intolerant (he vomits within minutes of eating tree nuts - especially almonds) so I suspect that DS's reaction had far more to do with genetics than anything that I did or did not eat while I was pregnant.

Ha thank you! I'm betting more on genetics than what I'm consuming. We must be reading the same things - all this conflicting information that is floating around is so confusing!
Of course, when we do introduce nuts to our LO later on, well be careful, but almond butter is actually pretty good for you and is so full of proteins and good fats that I think I'll keep enjoying it

moosebaby2011 · August 2013

MissRdotS said:

I heard they recommend avoiding it is the family has a history or is prone to allergies. But this is something I have heard more ib the uk than in north America
My dad's mom's brother's daughter and daughter's daughter are allergic to walnuts and pecans, but that is like so far down the family tree that I don't even know if we should take that into consideration? DH's family has no nut allergies.

Your great uncle's child and grandchild have nut allergies? I wouldn't worry about that in the least. Way too far removed.

MissRdotS · August 2013

bethughknee said:
I hadn't heard of this but I try to take scare tactic pregnancy "rules" with a grain of salt. Although my nausea is all but gone and most of my food aversions finally seem to have subsided, I still can't really stand cooked meats. I rely on Greek yogurt, almonds and peanut butter to get enough protein.

Same here with the food aversions still. For a while, toast and PB was all I could get down, and is still one of my main sources for protein!

MissRdotS · August 2013

purplepenguin2011 said:
My dad and sister are both allergic to nuts, and so i was a little worried that genetically it could happen. There are just so many things that they tell you to do and not do and there are always new studies coming out. I guess ultimately my feeling is that they don't know what causes it, so I wouldn't drastically alter your life. If you want to eat nuts do it. Just make sure the first time you give your child nuts you watch them...but really that should be any new foods. People can be allergic to pretty much anything. You can still get through life with a nut allergy.

Yeah I'm not even thinking about introducing yet, thats a ways down the road. My mom just got me worried about consuming nuts at all while PG.

MrsGraham06 · August 2013

I've had to quit eating PB because of this LO, due to nausea more than anything. I've been eating nuts just fine, including peanuts.

My kids all had dairy sensitivities when they were born, but grew out of it by 2 years. I could never remember if I'd had more or less dairy while pregnant (still can't!). This one I've had much more cheese than other forms of dairy, so we'll have to see. It was mostly a problem while breastfeeding, and took time to figure out.

sugarland726 · August 2013

MissRdotS said:

I heard they recommend avoiding it is the family has a history or is prone to allergies. But this is something I have heard more ib the uk than in north America
My dad's mom's brother's daughter and daughter's daughter are allergic to walnuts and pecans, but that is like so far down the family tree that I don't even know if we should take that into consideration? DH's family has no nut allergies.

That is an unnecessarily long way to say "my dad's cousin and her granddaughter are allergic." I thought this was going to be one of those "I am my father's brother" jokes.

salsamommy · August 2013

I've heard also that you shouldn't eat nuts during pregnancy as it may increase the chance of the baby having allergies ... Well I personally think it is a load cow shit!!!!

I ate peanut butter with DS, I ate peanut butter with this LO and I am just fine!!!! I've not had any problems nor has DS ... he LOVES peanut butter cookies!!!

jldubb0626 · August 2013

My OB told me that peanut butter was a good source of protein to have while pregnant. I hadn't heard the other side of the argument before.

I ate PB with DS and he has no allergies. The only people in both our families that have deathly reactions to nuts are 2 of my nephews (my SIL's kids). They are her two oldest and her 2 youngest don't carry the allergy at all.

PrincessSillyPutty · August 2013

We have a niece and nephew with peanut allergies and discussed this with our OB early on. She said as long as DH and I don't have the allergy my consuming PB or almonds does not effect the baby as far as allergies go. So basically if your allergic or you DH is, don't eat it. I don't know if other OB's would agree.

sparrowmomma24 · August 2013

I can understand the theory behind this, but I don't think it's real. I think the reason to avoid giving your children peanuts until after age 2 is simply for communication purposes. A child over the age of 2 can better articulate if something feels wrong.

However, I don't think eating PB while pregnant is an issue. I eat it all the time. My mom did with me as well and I have no peanut allergy. I was told to eat lots of it because my blood sugar occasionally will drop and it helps me.

apickett925 · August 2013

My Aunt is severely allergic to peanuts and so is her middle son. Her oldest and youngest aren't. Obviously she didn't eat peanuts while pregnant

cja06 · August 2013

Like the pp said, there is "research" to back up both claims - eat nuts, don't eat nuts. My oldest has a peanut allergy. We haven't tested our youngest, but just work off the assumption that he does too for now. No one else in our family does. I really don't think they know what causes it. My oldest is just an allergy prone type of child. I had to cut out all dairy when I was breastfeeding though he outgrew that, he always had eczema, he still has seasonal allergies and pet allergies and is likely to be diagnosed with asthma in addition to the peanut allergy. I really don't think I did anything while pregnant to cause it.

waterlily2k2 · August 2013

My OB told me to eat PB on apples and bananas, and anything else I want to help me get some protien. I think it's just fine. I ate pbj's like there was no tomorrow with DS and he's fine. No allergies at all.

Unknown · August 2013

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MissRdotS · August 2013

sugarland726 said:

MissRdotS said:

I heard they recommend avoiding it is the family has a history or is prone to allergies. But this is something I have heard more ib the uk than in north America
My dad's mom's brother's daughter and daughter's daughter are allergic to walnuts and pecans, but that is like so far down the family tree that I don't even know if we should take that into consideration? DH's family has no nut allergies.

That is an unnecessarily long way to say "my dad's cousin and her granddaughter are allergic." I thought this was going to be one of those "I am my father's brother" jokes.

I actually had no idea that's how you said it, so to me it wasn't unnecessary

MissRdotS · August 2013

wilburbud said:
Nuts are what got you on this board to begin with.

Hahahaaaaa sorry.. I was resisting for a while.. and then I had to.

Did I mention I'm extremely horny and unable to do anything about it? That may have been partially to blame or the title

JaneW2 · August 2013

Both sides of my family have lots of allergy issues, DH and I both have all 3 allergic diseases and (milder) food allergies. I've looked into this a lot, because obviously we are at significant risk of having a child with allergies.

Here's what we know from Science: The tendency to develop allergies is partly inherited. Some sort of environmental factors then get involved. Letting your baby crawl around in the dirt might help prevent it, or maybe not. That's all.

No one has any idea what causes a particular person to become allergic to a particular food, drug, animal or plant. Over the past few decades, many doctors have recommended that parents with allergies not give highly allergic foods to babies until later. It's really not clear whether this reduces the risk of becoming allergic, and it might possibly increase it.

For myself, I'm planning to introduce foods one at a time, keep track of what I've introduced when, and pay attention if symptoms appear. Managing my own food allergies are tough enough, I'm not restricting further to protect a baby who isn't even producing immune cells yet!

jaclynwas17 · August 2013

I've been snacking on trail mix and peanuts. I get the daily update emails from babycenter.com (because I'm crazy) and there was one that said "don't eat peanuts". Luckily I had an OB appt that day and when I asked her about she basically said it won't do anything. I think she actually did a sarcastic "What! No!" and then said it won't hurt the baby. Again there's all kinds of conflicting info, but if it was really a big deal, it would've been lumped in the no lunch meat and unpasturized cheese group.

Ladams30 · August 2013

It would be really odd if they didn't allow pregnant women to eat two very high sources of protein. I personally can't eat almonds (allergy) but I eat peanut butter regularly. And by regularly, I mean a couple times a day.

Talk with your OB. My 2 cents are that if you aren't allergic, then you're probably ok. Your child will develop his/her own allergies/intolerances.

TheMrs1009 · August 2013

I ate a ton of almond butter with DS with no issues. He doesn't have a nut allergy.

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