Types Of Nut Allergies

For those of us that don't have to deal with nut allergies, we tend to lump them all into one particular category. The fact of the matter is, there are many different types of nut allergies and some of them are even more severe than others. A good example of this is that people that have a peanut allergy do not necessarily have an allergy to tree nuts. The reason why this is the case is because a peanut is a legume but a tree nuts is a type of dried fruit. There is something else, however, that is lurking below the surface which makes these two different types of allergies, very different.

It all has to do with why we have the allergies in the first place. You might be surprised to find out that it is not the nuts that are causing the reaction that you are experiencing but it is your own body. There are certain proteins that are in nuts which may be thought of as being a dangerous substance whenever they enter into our body. If our body thinks of them in this way, it releases a massive amount of histamine in order to attack the protein and to remove it. The reaction we are experiencing is because of the histamine and not because of the nut itself. There are different types of proteins that exist in peanuts than exists in tree nuts. That is why many people who are allergic to one are not necessarily allergic to the other.

You may also be dealing with a type of intolerance to nuts and not actually have an allergy at all. Nut intolerance is inconvenient but it is not necessarily going to be something that is life-threatening to you. If you tend to have a reaction whenever you are around nuts or if you eat them, you should make sure to discuss it with your doctor in order to see which of these problems you are experiencing. If you're having mild reactions as a result of the nut allergy, it could suddenly become much worse and even turn into anaphylaxis, a condition where your airways may swell shut.

The only way for you to really tell what type of nut allergy you were experiencing is by having an allergy test. Through one of these tests, your doctor will quickly be able to determine where the problem lies and then you will know what you need to do in order to avoid problems in the future.