Peanut Allergies – How To Identify, Treat, And Prevent Them

What Are Peanut Allergies?

Peanut allergies occur when a person’s body has an adverse reaction peanuts or peanut-containing products. A person’s immune system tries to fight off the peanut as it does not recognize it as a substance that is not harmful. The scary thing about peanut allergies is that it is the most common cause of life-threatening allergic reactions in the United States. This is a very serious and dangerous allergy and should be treated carefully. Those who suffer from peanut allergies need to vigilante with the types of foods that they eat.

Symptoms of Peanut Allergies

Symptoms range from moderate to severe, but either way should be treated immediately. A person can suffer from itching, swelling, nausea or abdominal cramps. However, it can get worse than that, much worse. Many who have peanut allergies have shortness of breath, wheezing and can loss consciousness (anaphylaxis). You can also develop hives over your body. Usually, symptoms occur within just a few minutes of exposure to peanuts, but there have been cases where it took hours. If a person does suffer from the most serious of symptoms, anaphylaxis, they require immediate attention. They will have difficulty breathing, their blood pressure will drop and could have seizures.

Foods to Avoid

The problem is in the food that we eat. There are many foods out there that are made with peanuts or cooked in peanut oil. Labels now have to state if a product contains or can contain nuts even if there are not any nuts readily seen in the food. Peanut allergies are so severe, the FDA requires food and restaurant companies to state if a food has nuts in them. Obvious foods to avoid are peanut butter, granola bars, cookies, other types of nuts and energy bars. But take a closer look at some of the other foods a person who has peanut allergies might come in contact with. There are some sauces and salad dressings that are made from crushed nuts. Many baked goods have nuts in them including cookies, cakes, marzipan. Check potato chips or salty food packages to see if the food was made in peanut oil.

Treatment of Peanut Allergies

Depending on the severity of the symptoms, a person can have either an antihistamine (Benadryl) or an emergency injection of epinephrine. Those who know they suffer an extreme case of peanut allergies should carry epinephrine with them at all times. But the only way to not suffer from peanut allergies is to avoid peanuts and all the potential harmful foods as well. If a person thinks they suffer from a peanut allergy, they should see a doctor or allergist who can perform a battery of tests to tell what specific substances a person is allergic to including if they have peanut allergies.

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