Walnut Allergy Information

Walnuts are nutritious and delicious and sadly often cause allergy symptoms. Walnuts are a type of tree nut - like Cashews, Brazil and Hazel nuts. An allergy to one of these types of nut often means that all other tree nuts need to be avoided because the walnut proteins that trigger the reaction are similar to other nut proteins.

It might be possible to eat peanuts, however, since they are very different to tree nuts and an allergy to peanuts depends on different proteins and has no connection to Walnuts at all.

The symptoms of a nut allergy may be confined to the mouth with tingling and or itching sensations in and around the mouth. This is often called Oral Allergy Syndrome. More serious symptoms are vomiting, hives and diarrhea. The most serious type of allergic reaction involves difficulty in breathing, is called anaphylactic shock and requires emergency treatment.

The treatment options of nut allergy are limited. Symptoms are controlled with anti-histamines from natural sources such as vitamin C and Quercetin or from standard pharmacy preparations recommended by your Doctor.

Otherwise we simply have to avoid eating walnuts and foods which may include them or other nuts. This can be very difficult and involve much study of food labels and long phone calls to food companies. Such diligence is essential if we want to avoid unpleasant or possibly dangerous reactions.

Another approach which may be worthwhile if the allergy reaction is severe is to completely redesign your diet so that you can be certain that you are eating good nutritious food free of nuts and from nut oil! Home cooking may be the safest course of action, even if it means spending more time in the kitchen.

If you are unsure of whether you are allergic to walnuts then an allergy test is the answer. An allergist will probably arrange a skin prick test in which small amounts of test solutions are scratched into the skin of your arm or back. This sounds painful but I've seen lots of people go through such allergy testing and it does not seem to hurt. Another option is to have a small amount of blood drawn and forwarded to an allergy laboratory where it is given a R.A.S.T. test in which a whole panel of possible allergies may be screened from one sample of blood.

Either way gives you a firm starting point from which to design a suitable diet and with which to control your allergy symptoms.