Allergic to Nuts but Want to Eat Nuts? Here’s the Good News!

We have written a lot on this blog about all the health benefits of eating nuts. That might make people who can’t eat nuts wish they could. Well, maybe they can! . . .

An intriguing new study wanted to see if an allergy to a nut meant you really had to avoid all nuts. The study included 109 people who had tested positive to a nut allergy in a skin prick test and/or blood test. They were then classified into one of 3 groups. The first group was made up of people had tested positive for nut allergies and had actually developed symptoms when they ate nuts. The second group had tested positive for nut allergies but had never eaten nuts. The third group had never eaten nuts because the people in it believed they had a nut allergy, though they had never actually been tested.

The next part of the study seems risky: the oral food challenge. The participants were given nuts that they had tested positive for but had never had symptoms from.

Unexpectedly, overall, 86% of them had no allergic reaction after eating the nuts. In the group that had actually experienced symptoms before, 76% had no symptoms when given a nut that had not specifically caused a symptom in the past. 91% of people who had avoided nuts because they had tested positive before had no symptoms. None of the people who avoided nuts because of a perceived or feared allergy had any symptoms when they ate nuts.

Of all the nuts, the least likely nut to cause an allergic reaction was the very healthy almond, which caused no allergic reactions in any of the 3 groups.

The lead researcher of the study said, “Too often, people are told they’re allergic to tree nuts based on a blood or skin prick test. They take the results at face value and stop eating all tree nuts when they might not actually be allergic.” This important study suggests that a positive nut allergy test to some nuts may not be a prohibition against eating all nuts, even though that’s the advice that’s often given. Some nuts may be healthy and safe even for people who have tested positive and experienced allergic reactions to other nuts.

Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 2017;doi:10.1016/j.anai.2017.02.010

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For more on healthy eating, see Linda’s newest book, The All-New Vegetarian Passport: a comprehensive health book and cookbook all in one.

The Natural Path is intended for educational purposes only and is in no way intended for self-diagnosis or self-treatment. For health problems, consult a qualified health practitioner for a comprehensive program.