Aw, Nuts

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In a study based on 62,000 Danish mothers, the children of those who atepeanuts and tree nuts while pregnant were less likely to develop asthma or allergies than the kids whose mothers shunned nuts.

The results support the recent withdrawal of recommendations that pregnant women should avoid nuts because they might raise a child's risk for allergies to the nuts themselves and for other hypersensitivities like asthma, according to the U.S. and Danish researchers.

"There's some mixed data out there and this current study is showing that maybe there might be a benefit to your child in having less asthma later on if you continue to just eat the way you're still eating and not avoid (nuts)," said Dr. Todd Mahr, a pediatric allergist at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin, who was not involved in the study.

In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics rescinded its recommendation that women should avoid eating peanuts while pregnant to prevent a possible food allergy, and the UK's health agency did the same in 2010.

There is little research implicating even peanuts, specifically, eaten by a pregnant mother and her child's risk for peanut allergy - much less a wider range of sensitivities. Yet the fear continues to lead many expectant mothers to steer clear of nuts.

The article has many other findings listed, as well as information about what these numbers mean.  For example, the focus was on nuts so there may be other foods that aren't turning up in the results.

Being a mother is a difficult job, no question.  Trying to filter medical information in this overload would be daunting.  It's upsetting to know that tribal knowledge is steering women in the wrong direction.  More research should give more facts to use to make sure mothers can make good decisions and eat well during pregnancy.