I don’t understand, peanuts are legumes, yet are considered a nut when it comes to allergies. To make it more confusing, what’s the actual difference between a nut and a seed? Pine nuts are a high nut allergen but sunflower seeds aren’t. Then there’s the coconut, which isn’t a nut at all, but I cant bring in coconut products to daughters class because they call it a nut?
In: Biology
I hate to make your day harder, but tomatoes are actually fruit. We as humans just make names for things first and ask questions later.
It is a lot easier for people to classify foods based on similar tastes and textures. Peanuts often get classified as nuts because when you consider how it eats, the experience is nothing like eating a serving of chickpeas. Because of that, peanuts and tree nuts are often processed in the same places and, with the severity of nut allergies, are a high risk for cross contamination. Most people with a peanut allergy or with a tree nut allergy will not eat the other simply out of fear.
Peanuts are considered legumes on a scientific level and some people who are allergic to them are also allergic to other legumes, especially soybeans.
As for seeds, allergies to seeds are more rare. Pinenuts, which are seeds, seem to be a rising allergy, but when you compare where it comes from to where a sunflower seed comes from, the plants are wildly different and so an allergy to both wouldnt be common. While nuts all scientifically similar, almost everything has a seed. Some seeds are edible, some seeds are poisonous (peach pits!) and scientifically they vary.
On to coconut. By loose definition a coconut is a nut, but it is also a seed and a fruit! In terms of allergens, it’s not similar enough to tree nuts to be an actual allergen. Your daughters school probably doesnt allow it because people who are nut free can be weird about coconut. Some people wont eat it out of fear that it will cause a reaction, others dont care. In a school setting it’s always better to be safe than sorry, so even if it might not be a danger, theres no need to take the chance.
People allergic to peanuts are not actually commonly also allergic to tree nuts. What they are commonly allergic to are other legumes such as peas, beans, soybean, etc. But factories that make baked goods will often utilize both peanuts and tree nuts so there can be cross contamination on food items.
Being allergic to tree nuts happen to also be a common allergy though and so schools that are concerned with allergies either due to having a child with documented allergies in a class or just due to blanket bans on the common food allergies will ban both tree nuts and peanuts.
The proteins in peanuts and tree nuts are very similar, which what people have an allergic reaction to.
Legumes come in a pod- peas, lentils, peanuts, chickpeas
Fruit have seeds- tomatoes, apples, avocados.
Seeds are within the fruit (though fruit can very dry like a coconut husk)- linseed, poppy seeds, coconuts
Also bear in mind that most people aren’t born allergic to peanuts. If everyone had early exposure then then only a tiny fraction of people that actually develop the allergy would develop it. In countries like Isreal they have tiny numbers of people wiht peanut allergies since a common snack for young children is peanut based.
[https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/01/10/peanut-allergy-early-exposure-is-key-to-prevention/](https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2017/01/10/peanut-allergy-early-exposure-is-key-to-prevention/)
it’s just cross contamination in food factories.
whether or not different types are of the same family, and actually have similar allergens, they are all processed together in the same place.
Even weirder, pink peppercorns are considered to be in the same family as tree nuts. You get to learn that the hard way at Chinese restaurants.
Great, now ELI5, why people can be allergic to Almonds, but not allergic to Peaches, Plums, Cherries, Apricots and the other members of prunus, when they are different cultivars of the same species.
I have nothing to say other than: [“This again?”](https://youtu.be/6SxjBWJPf78?t=3)
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Thank you.
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