Study Finds that Eating Nuts During Pregnancy Lowers Baby’s Allergy Risks

There isn't much that I crave during pregnancy. Many of my friends have had strange cravings and food that they send their husbands out for late at night. I haven't had anything like that with any of my pregnancies, just small cravings that come and go pretty quickly.


My "craving of the week" as I like to call it has been boiled peanuts. I grew up in the south where we used to stop on the side just to pick up a plastic bag filled of those soggy, salty peanuts. Here in New York City, we have nothing as such, so I've had to make the best of it and try to make my own. Mine aren't as good as the professionals down south, but they've helped alleviate some of the craving. Little did I know this salty little craving of the week might actually be helping aid in my unborn child's allergy risk later on in his life. A new study from the Journal of the American Medical Association says that women who regularly eat peanuts or tree nuts while pregnant will have children who are at a lower risk of having nut allergies.

While I don't crave boiled peanuts regularly, we do keep a lot of peanut and tree nut products in our house and we eat those on a regular basis. Thankfully, I have no prior family history of any nut allergies, so my doctor has seen it safe for me to consume peanuts and tree nuts during my pregnancy. Prior research indicated that consuming a lot of nuts during pregnancy might possibly heighten the risk that my children have a nut allergy. But according to this new study, that is not the case.

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The study, published on Monday, said that the pregnant women who ate five or more servings of peanuts or tree nuts per week seemed to have the strongest effect on their child's allergy risk. I don't know if I consume that many servings, but it's nice to know that some consumption could help with my children's risk, even if it is slightly.

Although I have no family history of nut allergies, I am still very cautious of introducing my children to nuts. I didn't introduce my oldest daughter to peanuts until she was three and my youngest hasn't had any nuts and we will probably withhold her from having any until at least the age of two. While some pediatricians and research says that it might be better to introduce them to nuts earlier in life, I feel more comfortable waiting.

I might be uncomfortable giving my children nuts at an early age, but this study helps me gain more confidence in eating them during my pregnancy.

Will this new study have you eating more nuts?
-By Lauren Jimeson

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