General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So, why the rise in peanut allergies anyway? [View all]laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I haven't figured out just WHAT it is yet, but I react sometimes to strawberries, cherries or hazelnuts. Usually only happens if they aren't washed the way *I* would wash them (I wash them very thoroughly) and they aren't from North America. If I wash them (for nuts, if I'm the one who shells them), I'm totally fine and can eat those foods no problem. I think it some kind of pesticide that is used that I react to. I wonder if it's not the same thing for kids and peanuts - especially if there is pesticide residue on the peanuts used in products like peanut butter.
The other theories I subscribe to are the theory where delaying introducing peanuts causes a problem (all my kids were exposed 'early' ie at about a year old to peanuts and other allergens and none have any food allergies at all, despite it running in my family). The other theory is low breastfeeding rates coupled with the hygiene thing. When a mom breastfeeds, the baby gets some of what the mother eats - ask any mother about how babies are sensitive to certain foods she eats. My theory is that when a mother breastfeeds and eats peanut butter, it's like desensitization therapy and the child's immune system gets used to the peanut protein early. Babies that are formula fed and have delayed introduction to peanuts have an immune system that is not at all familiar with the protein and some kids will over react. That's just my theory - although it's not 100%. Even though every single kid I know with peanut allergies was formula fed, my own brother was breastfed and is deathly allergic to fish. Go figure, I was formula fed and I'm not allergic to foods (except for the pesticide link aforementioned) so obviously there's going to be exceptions, but with regards to how the immune system works it makes sense to me. Again, I breastfed all my kids because of our family history of asthma and allergies. They are far less allergic than the rest of us to environmental triggers (though cats seems to be a family wide trigger) and have zero food allergies at all. We're all lactose intolerant though (which I think is just genetics, and isn't 'triggered' by anything like allergies are).