What Nuts Contribute to Asthma?

Asthma can be triggered by allergens in the environment. For people with tree nut allergies, triggers can include common nuts like almonds, walnuts, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans and pistachios. It is the protein in tree nuts that can act as an allergen and induce a response like asthma.

Exposure

• Eating only trace amounts of tree nut protein can provoke an allergic reaction like asthma. Because nut allergy sufferers may be highly sensitive, they need to avoid food prepared around nuts and even steer clear of skin care products with nut components.

Asthma Attack

• An asthma attack is characterized by a sudden bronchospasm, a constriction of the airway muscles. People with nut allergies are at risk of experiencing asthma attacks.

Anaphylactic Shock

• Individuals with asthma and nut allergies are also more likely to have a life-threatening anaphylactic response to nuts. Anaphylactic shock is an acute, full-body allergic reaction that can fatally compromise breathing and heart function.

Treatment

• The only way to preventing allergic responses like asthma is to avoid tree nuts completely. Severe reactions like anaphylactic shock can be reversed with an emergency dose of epinephrine, a synthetic form of adrenaline.

Peanuts

• Peanuts are not tree nuts, but legumes. However, it has been speculated that peanuts contribute to the development of childhood asthma. A recent Dutch study showed that pregnant women who regularly consumed peanuts increased their baby's risk of developing asthma by 50 percent.