Nuts During Pregnancy

Question: "My husband is extremely allergic to nuts. He could die if he ingested them and has severe reactions if they even touch his skin. Our concern is that our baby might inherit the same allergy. Should I be careful and not eat nuts during my pregnancy?"

With your husband having such a serious allergy, it’s no wonder you’re concerned your baby could inherit it. While there’s no evidence that a specific allergy (say, to peanuts or milk or shellfish) can be passed directly from parent to child, it is true that the tendency to develop allergies has a pretty strong genetic component. Studies have found that when one parent has allergies like hay fever or allergic asthma, his or her children also have allergies about 50 percent of the time (again, not necessarily the same ones). If both parents suffer from allergies, that number rises to 75 percent.

So does that mean you have to abstain from nuts during your pregnancy? What about peanuts, which are technically a legume but still highly allergenic? Well, the jury’s still out on food allergies and pregnancy — there’s no conclusive evidence to suggest thatyour little peanut will begin to react badly to a particular food (or become “sensitized”) because you ate it while you were pregnant or nursing. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) used to recommend that pregnant and breastfeeding women avoid eating peanuts or foods containing peanut products if they, the baby’s father, or other children in the nuclear family suffer from allergic conditions (allergic asthma, hay fever and eczema). But because there is so little research on food allergies and pregnancy, they withdrew this recommendation in 2008. So even though you might’ve heard otherwise from an older relative, most doctors will not advise you to avoid certain foods during pregnancy to prevent food allergies (though every doctor advocates a healthy pregnancy diet — and there are foods to avoid during pregnancy for reasons unrelated to causing allergies in children).

If you plan on nursing, keep in mind that the AAP doesn’t recommend restricting your breastfeeding diet either (unless, of course, your child has already developed a milk allergy). The AAP also no longer recommends delaying introducing certain solid foods because of the potential for allergic reactions. Moms used to wait a few years to feed their eager eaters dairy, eggs, seafood and nut products, but you should be able to offer up anything (that doesn’t require teeth and isn’t a choking hazard, that is) when your baby starts solids. In fact, the AAP actually now recommends introducing peanuts to babies earlier to preventallergies.

Still, talk about what’s safe to serve your baby with your pediatrician before you dish it out. Of course, if you suspect that your child has a food sensitivity (thanks to dear old dad), you can have him or her tested at any time by an allergist.

Here’s to a happy, healthy baby,