Everything You Need to Know About Peanut Allergy
To date, peanut allergy continues to be one of the most common food allergies among American children. It’s also one of the most common triggers of food-related anaphylaxis.
In 2018, a team at Northwestern University led by Dr. Ruchi Gupta released a study stating approximately 1.6 million American children have a peanut allergy. Shortly after, this same team released another study looking at food allergy prevalence among American adults. They found peanut allergy affects 4.5 million adults.
HOW ARE PEANUTS AND TREE NUTS DIFFERENT?
Even though “nut” is part of its name, peanuts are a legume and very different from tree nuts.
From a nutritional standpoint, peanuts and tree nuts are fairly similar. They’re rich in fiber and healthy unsaturated fats and offer several of the same vitamins and minerals—that’s where the similarities end. Like soybeans and lentils, peanuts are actually edible seeds that grow in pods! You can read more about the distinction between peanuts and legumes in this post.
WHY THE SPIKE?
As recent as 2018, it was believed only 15 million Americans had a food allergy. Dr. Gupta’s studies more than doubled that figure and current estimates suggest there are 33 million Americans managing food allergies. Recent data indicates peanut allergy prevalence continues to rise globally, particularly in countries adopting Western diets.
Why the spike? That’s the million-dollar question. Unfortunately, there are no clear answers. There are, however, a few leading theories about why allergies seem to be increasing.
THE LEAP STUDY
This brings us to a watershed report—the LEAP (Learning Early About Peanut) allergy study. This study was released about a decade ago, and turned the leading guidance around food allergen introduction on its head.
In a nutshell (pun intended 🙃), this study showed infants four to six months at high risk of developing a peanut allergy may have a lower risk of developing an allergy if they consumed peanut-containing snacks early and consistently in life.
According to a 2024 study led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a child exposed to peanuts by six months old has a 75 percent reduced risk of developing a peanut allergy by age five and is FOUR TIMES less likely to develop a peanut allergy by age 12. The NIH study found protection lasts no matter how often kids eat peanuts in later childhood. Fascinating!
CAN YOU OUTGROW A PEANUT ALLERGY?
In short, it is possible!
While it’s more common for children allergic to milk, eggs, soy, and wheat to outgrow their allergy, all allergies can be outgrown.
One study found around 20 percent of peanut-allergic children will outgrow their allergy—most likely by age six. After age 10, the chance of outgrowing the allergy is much lower.
IS THERE A CURE FOR PEANUT ALLERGY?
No, but technology has helped us to make great strides in better managing them!
Therapies such as oral immunotherapy (OIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) may help to build up a tolerance to peanuts and reduce the risk of severe reactions. The epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) peanut patch, Viaskin, is in Phase 3 clinical trials, and in 2020, the FDA approved Palforzia to help mitigate peanut allergic reaction risk. Xolair was recently approved to help reduce the severity of allergic reactions in individuals with food allergies, and of course, there’s the Amulet, which we’re working diligently to bring to our peanut-allergic friends and fam!
TEACHING YOUR KIDS ABOUT THEIR PEANUT ALLERGY
I’ve been a nut allergy mama for almost 11 years. The best piece of advice (and encouragement!) I received after my daughter was diagnosed was to be thankful she has a peanut allergy in today’s world. Just a couple of decades ago, there were no federal regulations on food labels, no precedent for how to manage them in schools, and no legislation guiding the development of 504 plans or IEP’s for food-allergic families.
Additionally, because of the surge in peanut allergy, many nut-free alternatives to peanut butter have since hit the market—some of which taste shockingly similar and are delicious! Trust me, we’ve tried most of them: soy nut butter, sunflower butter, pumpkin seed butter, chickpea butter, and more. 😉
I’ll leave you with one pro tip I learned early on: show your food-allergic child what their nut allergens look like both IN the shell and OUTSIDE the shell. When our daughter was little, I spent lots of time showing her exactly what nuts looked like on packages at the store but realized she couldn’t identify many of them (including peanuts!) when they were in the shell, which is just as important.
To all of our friends and followers managing a peanut allergy, know you’re amazing! We look forward to bringing you a product that can make management easier—because after all, food should be a source of fuel, not fear.
Do you have best practices to share for how you manage your peanut allergy? Please share in the comments below!
— Meg & the Amulet Team
This is an updated version of an article originally posted in December 2019.