peanuts

[Layla]

why is it your not allowed them in pregnancy??

Is it only if there is a history of nut allergys in the family?

I have been craving peanut butter realy bad the past few days and i have to admit, i have been eating it when the craving gets that strong.

Im sure i ate it during my first pregnancy, i never heard anything about you not being allowed it back then, and she is fine, no nut allergys

xx

 

[mommy]

Hey there,

My doctor has given me very little food advice but the one thing she did suggest I eat was light peanut butter. Noone I have spoken to has suggested you should avoid peanuts. I have been wondering, as you have been, as I have read a number of concerns on this site about eating peanuts.

At my breastfeeding class the nurse was asked if, while breastfeeding, we should avoid peanuts. She said no, unless you are craving them all the time-everything in moderation. I can only presume the same would be true of peanuts.

I would really like more info here as well although I eat peanuts very seldom and it would likely be a little late to stop now.

 

As far as I knew and what my m/w told me is that if you have history of nut alergies, excema or asthma in the famly - try not to eat them.

I still eat peanuts in food - I'm not too worried over it. I have very mild asthma and had excema as a child, but I can't avoid peanuts in everything. I don't tend to eat them on their own, but I won't say no if offered as they don't affect me with my asthma or excema, and they have never effected anyone in my family or Mark's.

So I guess unless they effect you or anyone in the close family don't worry. Oh, and all other nuts are absolutely fine, it's just peanuts they worry about.

Sorry rambled a bit there!

Hope that helps xx

 

[Jessika]

I was told the reason we are supposed to avoid peanuts is that little one may be allergic - if they had a reaction in the womb there is not a great deal anyone can do. Not to put a downer on your nut cravings but reactions can be lethal in some cases.

I say just be careful and everything in moderation!

Happy pregnancies!!!

(sorry if i made you sad i didnt mean to )

 

[Layla]

i have mild asthma and some excema.

my son has asthma but it only comes out when the weather changes, he also has excema.

I have been eating peanuts on and off since the start so i think if there was going to be a reaction it would have happend by now.

so basicly, i am going to give in to my cravings and have some peanut butter, i will just make sure i dont have to much


thanks guys
xx

 

[Sarah W Baby Belly]

I am avoiding peanut butter myself but I am thinking of going to a health food shop and picking up some cashew nut butter. bit pricey, but yummy!

I hope they still do it!

 

[Rosieroo]

I had 4 pieces of peanut butter on toast today, I had a really big craving.

I might eat it once a fortnight at most. I've stuck to not eating all the other things we aren't supposed to eat though.

 

[-Cat-]

My pregnancy books, midwife, anti-natal classes etc have all said to avoid peanuts during pregnancy and breast feeding as it has now been linked to children developing nut allergies. In the same way that too much wheat grain can cause gluten intollerance in adults and introducing cows milk too young can cause dairy intollerances.

At the end of the day when you think about how delicate a newborn or small childs digestive system is, if your feeding it something that they body has difficulty digesting naturally there is ever possibility that the body could develop a reaction to it.

In the west we have soaring rates of cancers and allergies like asthma and ezcema and people taking anti-depressives and I dont believe that its a co-incidence that we also eat huge amounts of convenience foods, very little fresh food and we continue to pump our bodies with toxins and food that our bodies cant digest properly.

Nut allergies can prove fatal, and I know other people with different food allergies and intolerances and I know how difficult thay find it to eat suitable foods, and even just to eat in a restaurant. So personnaly I wount be taking the risk. When you are your childs sole previder of food I think its important that you give that child the best start to life as possible as your diet decisions can affect that child for life.

Im not trying to lecture, each to there own, I just think its an important thing worth considering as diet and nutrition affect our lives in such a major way.

 

[Rosieroo]

Point taken.

I'll stick to the Bovril spread in future

 

[Skidoo]

Well, I'm still eating peanut butter. I don't crave it, but I do love it and it's a good complete protein if you have a glass of milk with it. But there is no-one in my family or his with any asthma, ecxema (sp?), or allergies so I think I'm safe.

I tend to associate the soaring numbers of allergies with increased pollution on the one hand and over zealous hygene on the other. I get kind of frustrated with the plethora of microban products, it's in everything now. I think we - and our kids - need a certain amount of dirt to build immunity to disease and stay healthy. Living in an antiseptic bubble just makes us vulnerable to the outside world. I certainly don't mean we should wallow in filth, but is it really necessary to disinfect every surface in the house?

(I'm going to get in trouble now aren't I?)

 

[Layla]

Well, I'm still eating peanut butter. I don't crave it, but I do love it and it's a good complete protein if you have a glass of milk with it. But there is no-one in my family or his with any asthma, ecxema (sp?), or allergies so I think I'm safe.
Living in an antiseptic bubble just makes us vulnerable to the outside world. I certainly don't mean we should wallow in filth, but is it really necessary to disinfect every surface in the house?

(I'm going to get in trouble now aren't I?)

i completely agree with you, im not going to stop living my life because of "what if's" thats like not ever going out in case it rains, or "what if" you get hit by a bus bit extreeme but im trying to make a point!

I checked with my midwife today and she said peanut butter is fine if there are no nut allergys in the family, she also said verything in moderation

 

[Urchin]

I checked with my midwife today and she said peanut butter is fine if there are no nut allergys in the family, she also said verything in moderation

My midwife said the same thing, I have the odd bowl of "crunchy nut cornflakes" but that's it.

If you wanted to worry about everything thing I think you could drive yourself mad, have you seen all the stuff about air-fresheners and cleaning products? You would never clean your house again if you listened to it all!

 

[Rosieroo]

You would never clean your house again if you listened to it all!

Perhaps it's not a bad idea to have a listen......

 

[-Cat-]

sorry I did go off on a bit of a rant there.
When my older brother was born, he was allergic to everything, we had no family history of anything like that, but he was allergic to gluten, dairy and soya to name but a few, and they all brought him out in such sever ezcema that he just screamd all the time and my mum used to have to wash the blood off the walls where he ripped himself to bit. To the point where the hospital said that if at any point my mum couldnt take it anymore they would take him in the for the night to give her a break. He also had asthma, again no history of it in our family. It was a long time getting him over all these allergies, thankfully he is okay now and no longe has any of these problems. But it ment that my mother took preventative measures so that when I was born the same thing didnt happen. i.e when I was weened off breast I went onto goat milk not cows milk as the digestive system can handle this better.

dont mean to scare anyone, but I just find its worth taking a few preventative measures.

 

[littlebump]

I think anyone who has ever known anyone with one of these conditions would naturally be very cautious as you wouldn't want to knowingly inflict this on someone yourself.

The link between eating peanuts in pregnancy and nut allergies in children is a tenuous one as it's so difficult to research ethically. Basically it's BELIEVED that IF an unborn baby has a predisposition to develop a peanut allergy, then that baby may develop that food allergy if you eat peanuts during pregnancy. A baby may be predisposed to getting a peanut allergy if there is a family history of food allergies.

In this case, avoiding peanuts would not be enough - you would have to raise your awareness and avoid all foods which contain peanut oils. And some children aren't just allergice to peanuts - there are lots of other nuts/seeds which can lead to anaphylactic shock.

I've taken a bit of a relaxed approach to peanut-eating which I feel a bit guilty about. Nothing overboard, but if I've fancied peanut butter on toast I've had it. It is a fantastic source of protein, and I think some vegetarians on this site have been advised to keep peanuts in their diet for this reason.

But it's everyone's personal choice. There is so much advice coming out regarding dos and don'ts during pregnancy that it's hard to keep track of it all - sometimes the advice is conflicting, and sometimes it's completely revoked following further research. Frankly the whole thing stresses me out and I'll be happy when baby is born and on solids so that I can concentrate on other things like how many pesticides are on the skins of fruit / vegetables that' I'm about to feed to him/her...... Aaaargh - will we ever be able to relax again?????!!!

Lots of love

'BIG BUMP' XXXXX