Are Cashews Worse Allergens than Peanuts?

Peanuts are known to cause bad allergies. But do you know that cashew nuts can cause severe allergic reactions especially in children? According to the study conducted by the British researchers cashews allergic reactions are more severe than peanuts.

The research study was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Andrew T. Clark of Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge. Almost 141 children detected with cashew or peanut allergies were studied. Children with cashew allergy were 8 times more prone to suffer from wheezing as compared to children with peanut allergy. Their chances to develop severe cardiovascular symptoms were 14 times higher than the other group of children.

About 10 children with cashew allergy were found to have severe allergic reactions like extreme difficulty in breathing or loss of consciousness, where as such severity was found in only 1 child with peanut allergy. These research findings were published in the latest issue of Journal Allergy.

Tree nuts like walnuts and cashews are known to activate severe allergic reactions. But according to the Clark’s research team cashew allergies are more dangerous than peanut allergies among children. Various studies show that cashew allergies are becoming more and more common as the consumption of the cashews has increased.

Various Sources of Cashews:

Beside eating cashews as a whole this tree nut is also found to be used in a large variety of desserts, chocolates, candies, etc. Cashews are one of the key ingredients in Pesto sauce preparation. Other important source are cereals, dressings, sauces, granola bars and also in lotions and shampoos.

Precautions from Cashew Allergy:

Usually people detected with cashew allergy are asked to avoid all types of tree nuts and peanuts as a precautionary step. In case of severe allergic reactions people are asked to use self injectable prescribed epinephrine.

The research finding of Clark’s team suggest that cashew allergic children are more prone to severe allergic reactions.