Peanut Consumption in Infancy Lowers Peanut Allergy

NIH | MARCH 11, 2015

A food allergy occurs when the immune system reacts to a harmless food as if it were a threat. Symptoms can range from upset stomach and diarrhea, to hives and itching, to tightening of the throat and trouble breathing. Peanuts are one of the most common foods that cause allergic reactions.

Peanut butter. Image credit: Gene.arboit/Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Clinical guidelines previously recommended that infants at high risk for allergy avoid allergenic foods, such as peanuts. Studies showed, however, that food elimination doesn’t prevent the development of food allergies.

A research team of King’s College London followed more than 600 infants beginning at 4 to 11 months of age. All were considered at high risk of developing peanut allergy because they already had egg allergy and/or severe eczema, an allergic skin disorder.

The infants were randomly assigned to either avoid peanut entirely or to regularly eat at least 6 grams of peanut protein per week.

The researchers tested the participants for peanut allergy at age 5. They found that peanut allergy was present in 17.2% of children who had avoided peanuts, but in only 3.2% of the children who had consumed peanuts. This represented an 81% reduction of peanut allergy in children who regularly ate peanut products beginning in infancy.

The researchers will continue to follow the children to determine if protection against peanut allergy remains once children stop consuming peanut products.

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