Thursday, May 29, 2008

On Peanut Allergies

One of the allergens that K tested positive for was peanuts. A couple years ago he began overcoming some of his food allergies, so I decided to try peanut butter. He loved the sandwiches and begged for them everyday. About a week into this high consumption of peanut butter sandwiches, he started to get hives. I've read that it's good to rotate the grains that you give your allergic child so as not to redevelop an allergy to them after having grown out of them. So, I figured he redeveloped an allergy to peanuts because he had too many sandwiches in such a short time period.

However, when K tried peanuts, he didn't get hives and even devoured a whole pail of them. I was confused. So you can consume peanuts but not peanut butter? Interesting. Well, I had read that the process of making peanut butter makes peanuts potent and thus a major allergen for some.

At Good Earth, I started to buy him almond butter to replace peanut butter. They have a machine that grinds fresh almonds and peanuts right there in front of you. So now I'm thinking he can probably have ground peanuts as well since they are not processed with heat the way the stuff you buy at the store is. I haven't tried it yet but I'll let you know what happens.

I read a similar experience at:

can'teatpeanutbutterbutOKwithpeanuts

It's not the greatest article. So I'm still searching for similar experiences and the article I read about processed peanuts.

If you have a peanut allergy do not go off our experience. Consult with your doctor before you decide to do anything crazy and go eating a pail full of peanuts.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is crazy about the peanut butter. Tucker had a similar experience. He is very allergic to peanut butter, and his face explodes when he eats it or finds a peanut butter cup to eat (he likes to wear his food on his face). But when he was younger he ate some peanuts and nothing happened. We could never figure it out. Good info.

lucy said...

I wonder if this experience has been documented by a doctor or study. I wonder if there are others who think they are allergic to peanuts and really are only of processed peanuts (butter, oil, etc.)