GI reaction to nuts?

[meg-momto2]

i'm sure i'm going to get flamed for this but i have to ask anyways. i've posted a month or so ago about my blood allergy testing showing a slight peanut reaction but my skin test showing no reaction. the blood test was literally just over the cut off for a reaction. my allergist didn't seem to think i had a allergy to peanuts but gave me an epi-pen in case this was an adult onset allergy. she's deals more with environmental allergies and couldn't really do much else for me.

i trialed peanut butter(about 2 tbsp.) and seems to get a stomach ache from it. it starts with a queezy feeling, then bloating and inflammation for a few days while the PB passes. this has happened every time i try it. i thought maybe it was just peanuts so i picked up some almond butter that is not made on shared lines but the same facility to avoid X-contamination as much as possible. same thing happened. stomach felt queezy but i didn't have as much discomfort for the following days. here's the odd part, i've been drinking almond milk for several months with no noticeable reaction. granted i usually only have some in my coffee most days.

has anyone ever had something like this happen? i wonder if it's just the excess oil in the nut butters that are bugging me. i've recently permanently gone GF and i wonder if that has something to do with it.

[sbgrace]

Caleb's primary (and only until his anaphylaxis) reaction to nuts was GI "stuff". I can't explain why you would react to an un-cross contaminated almond butter but not almond milk though. I do think our bodies react to our thoughts/fears in weird ways. So it could be fat, could be you were nervous/anticipating/projecting, could be coincidence, could be cross (I won't feed my son anything in a facility w/nuts), etc. I don't know basically! But I do believe an allergy can cause just GI stuff. It does seem like testing out the excess fat theory might be pretty easy (just eat something with an equivalent non-nut fat proportion like avocado for example).

Side note: gluten free and nut cross is a real mess...you're likely eating a lot of nut contamination right now.

[meg-momto2]

thanks for responding Rachelle. i know nut allergies are really hard to avoid. i do sometimes get a little tummy ache from avocados. i'm trying to think of another high fat food i could try to see if it does the same. maybe i should drink a large cup of the almond milk or not have any for a few days and see if i notice any difference. i put about 2 tbsp. of the milk in my coffee and that's it for the day.

how would i be getting x-contaminated by going GF? would it be from buying GF replacement foods? nearly all my food is made from scratch. i don't by GF replacements except pasta and Pamela's GF bread mix which i eat 1-2 a week. i should look up Pamela's allergy info.

[sbgrace]

Are you purchasing starch flours--where? Are you grinding your own flour or purchasing gluten free flours? If you're grinding your own are your grain sources processed with nuts? We lost all our flours, starches, oils, and all but one grain source to nut contamination. Most were made on lines with nut flours or nuts without any cleaning. I had to look very hard to find uncontaminated grains and oils let alone starches. That said, I suspect peanuts are less in gluten free stuff. It's nuts that are pervasive.

The fat thing--what about butter (if dairy is ok) or ghee?

[JaneS]

Or it could be that your gut is not digesting them fully and not necessarily an allergy reaction.

Nuts contain a lot of digestive enzyme inhibitors unless soaked. If your stomach acid is on the low side, these inhibitors are not going to get neutralized at all.

[mama.rye]

i could be way off base here, but are almonds in a different food family than other tree nuts? my sister is completely anaphylactic to tree nuts, but can have almonds. its weird. someone told me once they are a fruit and not really a tree nut. i would consult google before believing me though.

good luck - i hope you figure it out!

[sbgrace]

Almonds are different (my son is not almond allergic but is allergic to 6 tree nuts). That said, there is so much cross contamination among nuts that you are usually advised to avoid all nuts with a nut allergy. Example: there is a lot of almond, pecan, and other (Hazelnut in some cases) cross contamination in gluten free flours and such. If you have a company that handles almonds they are likely to handle other nuts with the same equipment.

[meg-momto2]

the low stomach acid thought might be right. i'll explore that one a little. according to Pamela's site the bread mix i use is "Wheat Free, Gluten Free, Non-Dairy, Egg Free, Nut Free, Corn Free, Potato Free and Soy Free" but they also make some products with nuts.