Nuts...why are they so bad

I'm 59 and have a nut allergy, have done forever. When I was at school, people laughed because it was so rare, but yeah every man and his dog seems to have it now!

err NO! No one’s fault you’re allergic

Only Wild Strawberries are native to Britain. whilst commercially grown garden Strawberry is a result of crossbreeding two species brought from the Americas.

It was only for a very short period of time that women were advised to avoid nuts in pregnancy (1998-2008), so women were not avoiding them for generations up until the early 2000s.

I’m simply intrigued as to why every single time I’ve flown EasyJet (Paris-Belfast-Paris) there is always someone with a “severe nut allergy” and never on any other airline. I am a frequent flyer and use many airlines. On Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Garuda, and Air Vietnam they even give you peanuts when you board, and in your breakfast. Obviously I respect the EasyJet announcement and now expect it (I can last a couple of hours without nuts 😜 ) But why the geographical difference? Any answers from you scientists out there?

Peanuts are a more common part of the diet maybe? So people are exposed from a young age and even in utero so less likely to be allergic. In Israel a popular snack is Bamba which are a bit like a wotsit but made of peanuts and often given to babies during weaning. Israel has low rates of peanut allergies and it's thought to be because of Bamba (they are also delicious)

Louder, please. I’m sure that the hallowed “protect the NHS” lockdowns caused much more harm than good, weakening children’s immune systems being one of many ways. There may be fireworks when the lockdown generation grows up, and not only because of this.

I agree with this. Although, I introduced peanuts to both kidd at 6 months. Youngest has a life threatening peanut allergy. Go figure.

It’s also supposed to be to do with the fact that we are much cleaner now and kids don’t play in the dirt so their immune system doesn’t learn to distinguish between good and bad bacteria and their gut microbiome isn’t so robust leading to more allergies and an overactive immune system.

You can’t be allergic the first time you have something as your body hasn’t produced the antibodies yet to cause the allergic reaction.

No idea, but I had to cater to nut, egg and gluten allergies at one of my kids birthday parties one year.

My son suddenly had a bad reaction to cashews aged 16..we had managed to get that far with him being able to eat peanuts etc no problem. At first it was only cashews but he had an anaphylactic shock when eating pistachio because we didn't know they are almost identical to cashews so now he won't go near any nuts at all (he used to love a mr tom bar)

I avoided nuts in my first pregnancy due to advice at the time and he's the only one with a nut allergy which is annoying

DD is allergic to walnuts. Not so severe she’d die but she gets a rash around her mouth. It started randomly about 2 years ago when she was 12, no prior issues and she’s fine with all other nuts. It’s interesting because my Gran has the exact same issue with them and the mouth rash. She didn’t start with it until her 70s. She had to go see a private specialist because she couldn’t figure out what was causing it and the NHS were fobbing her off. She’d been eating walnuts before bed after reading it helped with sleep. I guess that one is genetic?

We also didn’t have anyone with severe allergies at school that I was aware of. Certainly didn’t have a nut policy as I think all schools do now. All I know is that level of allergy must be terrifying. I try not to eat nuts in public because I don’t want to be inadvertently responsible for someone’s death.

I don’t remember many people eating nuts when I was a dc in the 80s tbh but i know people allergic to cats/dogs.

It’s interesting that some dc develop an allergy later in life.

I didn't eat nuts during pregnancy and my baby was allergic to peanuts (diagnosed at 6 months). I did however eat plenty of dairy and celery and introduced those early and he was allergic to those too.
Likewise my mum didn't avoid anything in pregnancy and I was weaned at 3 months and I was allergic to so many things as a child - dairy, citrus, fish. We had animals at home and I was allergic to those too.

People should follow the current advice of course but there's no point being smug about it. It doesnt work for everybody.

@Bitsostuff where would MNs be without smug posters?!

that’ll be FODMAP issues; as well age we start to loose the ability to digest certain things due to lower enzymes and changing gut microbiome

As did my sister (according to government advice when it changed) and her son has a severe allergy.

My mother in law is 70… and allergic to nuts.

I didn't know kids with allergies growing up. But I did know kids with constantly streaming noses, terrible eczema and constant stomach ache. Which is exactly how my son reacts if he has anything with dairy or soy in it. Expect lots of those poor kids had allergies and just didn't know it.

Off topic but I work with a young woman who has life threatening anaphylaxis to peanuts. she sometimes has to have her heart restarted in hospital when her epi pens don’t cut it.
she doesn’t fly often unless she can minimise risks and trust the airline to accommodate her but without fail she is always met with other passengers kicking off when they do the ‘no peanut’ announcement on flights. one even threatened to open a bag, despite the fact that his own flight would be grounded and his holiday ruined, that’s without the fact that he could literally kill her!

I know someone in his 60s who is coeliac. He wasn't diagnosed for years - as a child he was just unwell and had to put up with it.

I was told to avoid nuts while breastfeeding, back in the early 2000s. I had to take a long haul flight at that time and the only snacks the airline provided were peanuts! I told them I couldn't eat peanuts and they said well, that's all there is.