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Peanuts - to eat or not to eat??

When pregnant with Bronwyn I never ate peanuts as I was advised not to. However, in the space of 6 months the advice appears to have changed. I have given up my peanut butter on toast for breakfast and am not eating peanuts, however other people's opinions are quite irritating!!

People keep telling me to ignore the advice and to eat what I want, afterall they did! When I also point out that they drank and smoked too, they just shrug at me! Apparently it didn't do their kids any harm!!

What does anyone else think? I will still avoid peanuts as i have seen the problems allergies can cause!

Replies

  • Hi caroline, I never ate peanuts whilst I was pregnant with Jake. I avoid giving him things still now with nuts in. He did have excemea (not sure of spelling, sorry) bad as a baby. When I said to family that I wasn't eating nuts etc because of pregancy they thought that there wasn't a problem with it as they ate everything. Guess it's reported more these days with allegies?
    I would avoid again if we have another baby.
    lol. xx
  • I ate them now and again, not in excess.
  • Should have added neither chid has nut allergies etc.
  • I never realy had a thing for nuts anyway so it didnt bother me but like you say the advice from when you and i were preggers has changed now.

    I dont recall drinking except the odd blue wkd a week before riley was born.
  • Caroline,

    I ate peanuts with Jack as I used to eat them a lot not just every now and then so the midwife said I'd be ok to continue and he is fine. Doesn't suffer with Asthma or hayfever, doesn't have any food allergies. With Charlotte I didn't eat them as I had more or less stopped having nuts by then so just didn't bother.

    I think that if you are concerned about how something will affect your unborn baby the best thing to do is leave it out. Afterall it's only 9 months.
  • I know i spoke to you on msn, but thought it would be rude not to reply here!

    I ate a few peanuts with Jessica, but only because i knew there was no history of allergies in the family.
    If you have any sort of allergies or are worried, i would stay clear of them for nine months xx
  • I used to love m and m peanuts before getting pregnant with Hollie, but tried to avoid nuts during pregnancy. I did eat a few though and so far she is fine. I should also still be avoiding them due to breastfeeding but i do have the occassional peanut butter sandwich. There is no nut allergy, asthma or excema history in mine or Ian's family.

    You should ignore people who tell you to ignore the advice and do what you feel comfortable with. After all it is your baby so you should do what you feel is best. xx
  • Oh dear think I am guilty of saying this Minxy!
  • I brought this one up when I first fell pregnant as the advice changed very soon after I was told to avoid them.

    I read an article on this topic some time ago and gist was this: the UK is the only EU country to advise not eating peanuts because of the risk of allergies. The UK is the only EU country with a peanut allergy problem. Countries where groundnut oil (peanut oil) is routinely used as a cooking oil and a major part of the diet, there is no such thing as peanut allergy. The conclusion drawn was that it can encourage allergies if you are not exposed to something, in a similar way that most vaccines contain a tiny amount of the disease you are trying to build up immunity to.

    I believe that advice now is that if you have history of food allergies in the family avoid peanuts, but if you don't then there is no reason why you can't eat them.

    The issue I had with this one is it is easy to say 'don't drink alcohol' as we all know it can have an adverse reaction whereas there is no risk with not drinking. With peanuts there appears to be a risk if you avoid them as much as if you eat them so it is very hard to know what to for the best. Personally, I feel that if there are no apparent risk factors, a little of what you fancy won't do any harm. Moderation in all things, as they say.
  • Hi Caroline, i thought the advice was only to avoid if you had allergy, asthma or eczema history? I ate nuts in all of my pregnancies I must admit, my boys have had v.slight eczema but no nut allergies. Im interested in your reply Nicolette, as did we have nut allergies here 20yrs ago I wonder?
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