What Causes Nut Allergies?

Nut allergies are fairly common and at times, they may even be life threatening. The fact of the matter is, not all of us that are allergic to nuts and peanuts are going to have a life-threatening reaction because of it. This is because there is a difference between a nut allergy and nut intolerance.

Let's take a look at the two of these and see what causes them to happen in an individual. This will help you to determine which you are dealing with, and what kind of caution you should take in order to avoid this type of food.

The fact of the matter is, nut allergies happen for the same reason, whether we have an intolerance to them or if we are allergic. The body reacts to things that we ingest and at times, it may consider them to be a foreign body that needs to be attacked and destroyed.

There are proteins that are present in nuts and peanuts that will trigger a release of histamine in order to counteract their effect. Even though the protein is not necessarily bad for us, the body considers it to be bad and what we are actually having is a reaction because of the histamine that is being released.

This histamine can cause a number of different problems in our bodies which include respiratory problems, difficulties with the G.I. tract, our skin breaking out and even cardiovascular problems. If you have a severe allergy to nuts, you may end up with something that is known as anaphylaxis. This is a severe reaction to nuts where the airways will swell and blood pressures will drop. You may end up passing out or being unable to breathe and it certainly can be life-threatening if it is not taking care of immediately.

You should discuss these things with your doctor if you have a suspicion that you are dealing with nut allergies. Through a series of allergy testing, they will be able to determine your degree of allergic reaction and what should be done about it. You may just have to carry some histamine with you or perhaps take a little bit of salt under your tongue if you have a minor reaction. If your reaction is major, however, you may be told to carry an autoinjector which will quickly give you the medicine that you need in order to save your life.