Peanuts - to eat to not to eat?

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EmCB

17/05/2009 at 05:11

Hi all,

The midwife and all the advice I've read agree that, as I have asthma and eczema I should avoid eating peanuts during my pregnancy and breastfeeding afterwards. So far I've avoided them but I really wanted to hear other people's opinions. My hubby is worried, as am I, that avoiding them completely will mean that our baby has no tolerance to them and that may cause an allergy. On the other hand, they do say to avoid peanuts because they can increase the risk of an allergy if one of the parents has asthma or eczema. I'm so conflicted over this one, I can totally see why I need to cut out runny egg, prawns, brie and liver, but I can't help thinking maybe abstaining from eating peanuts/peanut butter is just setting my lo up for a massive problem if they ever eat these foods later in life. Arg! I'd love to hear some opinions, especially from mums who've got asthma or eczema and maybe didn't avoid peanuts...

Em 12+6

If the other EmilyB reads this, can I have my username back please?

Team_Blue_aka_doublebubble Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 05:51

It looks like they are going to change the advice as they now think that by avoiding peanuts they increase the chance of baby becoming allergic as there has been a significant increase in the amount of children who have peanut allergy since mothers have been advised to cut them out.

With my first (twin) pg i cut them out

(I have asthma im allergic to dogs/cats/pollen/trees/dust mites the list goes on lol dh has eczema and family are allergic to all sorts.)

anyway they have really bad eczema possible asthma and allergies so when i fell again i thought peanuts cant do any harm and that baby doesnt have any problems, now i know that it is probably coincidental but in my head it makes sense to get baby used to peanuts in the womb so with this pg im eating peanuts again.

xxDBXx

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LoobyLou_no3 Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 06:17

Hi Em

I'm glad you brought this up.

I have exczema and hubby has asthma/hayfever. When I was pregnant with ds in 2000 when I mentioned these conditions the midwife told me to avoid peanuts. So I did although I must admit I had a few if we went for a chinese or they were in the bombay mix at the indian. I then breastfed for two years to reduce the risk or asthma, excema and allergies and had no peanuts at all.

I gave up breastfeeding a few months after my son ended up in the high dependancy unit after suffering a massive asthma attack (19 months), he had no symptoms of asthma beforehand, no chest infections or wheezing and the doctor said it was just one of those things. He also had quite bad exzema no hayfever though. Just before his third birthday he had a pistachio nut and went into anaphylactic shock.

My sil fell pregnant 18 months after me. She and partner didn't have excema, but she suffered from asthma and hayfever. She avoided all nuts after knowing what we had gone through but didn't breastfeed. Her daughter has excema, hayfever, asthma, nut allergy and fruit allergy.

We are both pregnant again now. I have been told to avoid all nuts whilst pregnant and breastfeeding by the midwife due to having a son with anaphylaxis. SIL has been told by her daughters dietry paediatrician not to exclude anything from her diet because her body would need to build an intolerance to it to pass onto the baby!?!?

I think what I am trying to say is that medically people do not know what causes nut allergies but you are higher risk if you suffer with allergies yourself. I have had a few nuts during my pregnancy and sil has them everyday. Only time will tell what will happen. Although having a son with a nut allergy I won't be giving the new baby nuts anyway.

Not sure this has helped :roll:

Kirsten
26+5 x x

a_thistle

17/05/2009 at 06:37

Hi,

I had been thinking about posting on this topic too.

I have asthma and allergies and my OH has excema and allergies too (same list of allergies as doublebubble!).

I have tried to avoid peanuts so far although I discovered after eating a chocolate cereal bar that it had peanuts in too. :roll: Thought it tasted unusual.

I have been worried by the changing advice though, if those without allergies are now being advised to eat peanuts, does it make sense for us to completely avoid them ?? I haven't avoided any other kind of nuts.

Peanuts are not my favourite anyway, but I haven't been using groundnut oil in stir fries or cooked a couple of recipes i normally do that include peanut butter.

It is annoying but I suppose the bottom line is that there is maybe no conclusive evidence yet. I certainly haven't read about any big trials or studies. I did hear about the work being done helping kids allergic to peanuts build a tolerance by giving them tiny amounts and buildig it up over time.

As Loobylou said, there is general advice not to give children nuts till they are older anyway.

If anyone ever gets an answer on this I will be very interested too - don't think I have helped at all! oops.

[Modified by: thistle on May 17, 2009 11:51 AM]

Ames123

17/05/2009 at 06:49

If I were you I would be concerned too, esp as I've read reports from other countries, who have spent much more on research, say NOT to avoid them....I have had peanut butter on toast every day in my (first ) pregnancy as I have no allergies neither does DH. I then have developed a bit of exzema and asked GP if I should stop eating nuts, he said no and that it's just hormonal changes.

Have you checked out medical journals and publications at all? They will often give you a much more up to date picture than a MW (unless she's one who constantly updates her knowledge base - but also she is duty bound to give you the latest government Dept of Health guidelines!) and you can make an informed decision.
Ames x
37+5

angelpup08 Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 07:10

I have asthma, eczema, allergies to dust, pollen, latex etc etc and have not been told to avoid nuts during my pregnancy. I dont eat a huge amount of them though. Theres so much conflicting advice I think you have to decide for yourself. Only 1 of my children (12 and 9) has mild eczema, and neiter has asthma or allergies xx C - 34 weeks

Eyemunique Gold member

17/05/2009 at 07:17

I was reading in pregnancy and birth magazine this month that the fsa recomend now that you don't avoid nuts.

xxx

EmCB

17/05/2009 at 07:34

Thanks everyone.

I'm kind of annoyed - it's OK for the FSA to say now that we shouldn't avoid them, but I have been doing and I can't turn back the clock! Arg! I'm not going to from now on, I shall go back to having peanut butter on crumpets and all that! Just looked though a leaflet I was given at my scan appointment last Wednesday that says I should avoid nuts, nice!

If the other EmilyB reads this, can I have my username back please?

a_thistle

17/05/2009 at 07:53

just googled and found a few links....

It is the Daily mail but does refererence sources!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-482750/Pregnant-women-told-eat-peanuts-protect-babies-allergies.html

and the BE page:

http://www.babyexpert.com/Pregnancy/Peanuts-and-pregnancy/v1

new government FSA advice...

http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2008/dec/peanut08

makes it sound like only those with a history of actual peanut allergy should be avoiding them if I am reading it right.

meh.

a_thistle

17/05/2009 at 07:58

Here is the committee on toxicity review that the government has based recommendations on.

http://cot.food.gov.uk/pdfs/cotstatement200807peanut.pdf

I think I am having a nice spicy peanut stir fry later this week.

All the documentation that midwives are handing out still has the advice about avoiding peanuts in it, which I suppose is adding to the confusion.

_Minnie09_ Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 08:21

I'm glad you posted this as I have been wondering the same thing.

I don't have any allergies etc but my husband used to suffer from Asthma and he has a mild allergy to nuts.

I have been avoiding peanuts so far until I can speak to my Dr about it, but by the sounds of it there is conflicting advice and they don't really know!

Thanks for posting those links Thistle - I'm going to have a read.

Love NN xxx

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Edited: 18/01/2011 at 05:15

Monkey_Nuts Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 08:41

Oooh, that's interesting.

My DH has excema and asthma so I've been avoiding nuts too - might relax a little about it now.

B xx

Rosapenny

17/05/2009 at 08:54

I was chatting to my midwife about this as well, I have mild asthma but it runs in my family and she told me only avoid eating nuts of any kind unless you or the father have a known allergy to nuts.

RED_DRESS

17/05/2009 at 11:31

I am quite badly asthmatic and therefore, have decided to avoid peanuts. However, I am not being so strict as to avoid anything with peanut oil or traces etc...I see it as a compromise...plus I don't eat them very often anyway

To be honest I don't think there is enough research out there either way. xxx

moony

17/05/2009 at 11:34

theyre fine to eat. x

josephs_mummy Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 11:44

Very intresting! Up to now i have been avoiding peanuts, but now i think i will relax! i have teenage asmtha and have been told it may come back with pg but DH has no allergies so chicken Satay here i come!!!

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Roppa77

17/05/2009 at 12:17

Well I'm very interested in this too. I have asthma and hayfever and hubby has no allergies. I avoided peanuts with my son who is now, almost 12. He has a severe nut and egg allergy and also hayfever, asthma so avoiding completely did me no favours. I have to admit I'm still avoiding everything I shouldn't be eating as I'm too frightened to do the opposite..

Kirsty xxx
25+2

Mummy_M

17/05/2009 at 12:35

This is a very interesting topic! I suffer from mild asthma, hayfever and occasional eczema and have been advised by midwife to avoid peanuts, which I did for the first few months of my pregnancy. I then did some research myself and came across the same articles that Thistle posted the links to, which basically state that the Committee on Toxicity has conducted new research and the general consensus seems to be that avoiding peanuts does not necessarily lower the risk of your baby developing a nut allergy.

From what I can see though the Government appear to be sitting on the fence on this one at the moment! They are saying that they may change the guidance in the future when the new evidence has been fully reviewed, but in the meantime expectant mothers should continue to avoid peanuts where there is a family history of asthma or eczema.

So what to do??? :roll: Well for now I have decided to continue to avoid them, but am eating a variety of other nuts (brazil nuts and pistachios in particular, yum!). However I am swaying towards eating them, as more and more evidence seems to be suggesting that avoiding them completely may not actually be a good thing. I guess it is a personal choice for everyone, but I would be interested to see if any of you other ladies with allergies yourselves who have so far been avoiding peanuts will be continuing to do so?

Caroline xxx
20+3

a_thistle

17/05/2009 at 13:07

Yeah I basically avoided them up to now as everything seems so inconclusive - but is it a bigger risk to eat a little, or to cut peanuts out? :\?

I googled this all a while ago after reading the news stories about changing advice but I am leaning towards having a little now. I probably only eat peanutty stuff maybe once every few weeks, but do use the oil a lot when cooking normally.

miss_moolay2 Platinum member

17/05/2009 at 13:09

i avoided them completly when pregnant with Lola but im much more relaxed this time around and if i crave something then i have it. I went to bingo a couple of months ago and really wanted some nuts so had a pack of dry roasted and they tasted soo good!!
Like so many other people have said avoiding this that and the other may be doing more harm than good. The only thing i have restrained myself from in both pregnancies and that is alcohol and although im not a big drinker i do miss my glass of asti with my sunday lunch!!

Lauren
29+5 xxx

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