Care During Pregnancy

If you have no past experiences relating to nut allergies, eating peanuts as well as peanut butter during pregnancy is considered safe and could even be advantageous for your unborn child. Peanuts are one of the major sources of protein and folate which are both very vital during your pregnancy. Peanuts are cholesterol free which make them a good choice of food in general.

Incase you have allergies to nuts, it is logical to stay away from nut related products every time and not only during pregnancy or nursing. In addition, if your family has a history of other allergies like atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis or asthma you will need a check up from a medical doctor who is well versed with food allergies. This medical practitioner would assist in establishing whether your unborn child could be impacted by the consumption of peanut butter during pregnancy.

Majority of women who consume peanut butter during pregnancy or plain peanuts for that matter, are sure to get children who do not have any allergies. This exposure is not known to enhance the risk. In various medical journals, there are implications that those expectant women who consume peanuts in the third trimester have a greater likelihood of getting babies’ who have peanut allergies. The risk is increased if there is a history of allergies that runs in a family.

I advocate for the limiting of peanut ingestion during the 3rd trimester as well when breastfeeding. This is especially so when your family has a history relating to allergies. Limiting intake is not necessarily going to protect the unborn children from getting allergies, however it is advisable. Normally, it is just peanuts that need to be eluded by certain women. Different nuts like Brazil, walnuts, cashew nuts hazelnuts are safe to eat. If you make up your mind to keep away from peanuts during the period of pregnancy and nursing, you should avoid peanuts (also called groundnuts or monkey nuts) as well as other products which contain peanuts. Such as:

• Peanut Butter

• Breads, ice cream, certain salad dressing, biscuits, muesli, cakes and cereals- constantly go through the product labels carefully and find out what ingredients are contained within a product.

• Restaurant dishes – you need to inquire whether peanuts have been used or to be safe just order basic meals that have no concealed ingredients.

Peanut butter happens to be a good protein source. Incase you have no personal peanut allergy, I advice you to not to be too concerned about your baby developing allergies related to the consumption of peanut butter during pregnancy. Even though you and a member of your family could have an allergy to peanuts, this hardly means that your baby will have allergic reaction as a result of eating peanut butter during pregnancy.