Nut Allergies: Symptoms, Precautions, and Prevention

Within allergies, one of the most common is that produced by nuts. Can you be allergic to nuts in general or just to some of them? Do all allergies have similar symptoms? Is it possible to cure allergies to nuts? We will try to clear these doubts.

What nuts can give allergies

In most cases the allergy occurs to one or a few nuts. It is exaggerated to reject all of them because they do not belong to the same botanical family and do not share the same allergen.

You do not have an allergy to a specific food but to some molecule, to some allergen that can be found in other foods, in pollens or in latex.

The immune reaction to a nut is one of the most common food allergies. The incidence varies depending on age, hereditary or environmental factors (due to greater exposure during childhood, for example). It is estimated that allergy to any dried fruit affects one in 100 people.

almonds and walnuts are the foods that most often cause problems in Spain. In France and the United States it is peanut (although it is not a dry fruit, but a legume).

Cashew and pistachio belong to the same botanical family and have “cross reactivity”. Those who are allergic to nuts can also be allergic to hazelnuts and almonds. People who react to chestnuts often react to bananas, avocados, and latex. There are people allergic to both hazelnut and birch pollen (this causes reactions between March and May).

Aside from allergies, spoiled nuts can contain toxin-producing molds. Those that do not look or smell good should be rejected.

Symptoms of a nut allergy

Frequently symptoms are intense and immediate. They can appear at the first contact with food during childhood or after years of having consumed it without problems.

The signs of a nut allergy They can range from itching in the mouth or the whole body, with sneezing, runny nose and tearing, vomiting, abdominal cramps or diarrhea, to more intense symptoms of angioedema and even anaphylactic shock (which can be fatal if not acted on time).

The first symptoms can appear within seconds or up to two hours after eating the food. In most cases they stay there, but in some they get worse and even difficulty breathing may appear. In this case it is important to go to the emergency room as soon as possible.

If you have ever had a reaction, you should take precautionary measures consulting with the allergist the possibility of carrying self-injectable adrenaline, and that relatives and caregivers have training to administer it.

It may also be recommended that the allergic person wear, in a bracelet, bracelet or identification tagwith clear and clearly visible lettering, its quality of allergy and to what specific food it is.

Can this allergy be prevented and treated?

In the case of atopic children (with a family history of allergy and a tendency to suffer from eczema, asthma, rhinitis or other allergy symptoms), it is advisable to delay the introduction of nuts in their diet. In addition, the portions must be moderate and not too frequent.

After the appearance of symptoms, to make a correct diagnosis it is necessary to perform a skin test with extracts of dried fruits and determine the presence of IgE antibodies in the blood.

Once the allergy has been declared, the only possibility is to exclude the offending food. However, recent studies show that 20% of allergic children can stop being so over the years. That is why it is convenient to do periodic tests to check if the sensitivity has disappeared.

Precautions if you have a nut allergy

you have to lend special attention to hidden ingredients. Nuts are inadvertently found in baked goods (cakes, seed breads, and other baked goods). Sometimes they are in the form of a “mystery ingredient”, such as “hydrolyzed vegetable protein”, included in some cereals.

It’s getting easier to find nuts in sauces (barbecue, pesto, English sauces or «satay», based on peanuts, widely used in Asian restaurants), as well as in breakfast cerealcrackers and ice cream.

If you are allergic, you should avoid the causative nuts even among the ingredients of the cosmetics and hygiene products. They are capable of causing reactions upon contact with the skin.