Healthy Food Choices for Nut Allergies

Nut allergies can be annoying and sometimes fatal. Learn some tips on choosing and avoiding certain nuts in this video.

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Read the food labels
Notify others of your allergy
Try making your own food

About this Author

Alice Merritt is currently the Campus Dietitian at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She has a masters degree from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in public health with a concentration on nutrition. Alice has worked as a registered dietician for four years, and believes that helping people reach their nutritional goals will lead to a long and healthy life.

ALICE MERRITT: Now I'm going to talk to you about nut allergies. Nut allergies, especially peanuts, are one of the most common food allergies and can be life-threatening. If you are allergic to nuts, you can't just avoid eating nuts in general. You really need to investigate food labels. A lot of foods have hidden sources of nuts, especially peanuts, and it's important to look on the nutrition label because it'll often say: this product was produced in the same manufacturer as nuts; this product could be cross-contaminated with peanuts. And so, you really want to make sure you become a very good label reader. If you have a severe peanut allergy or nut allergy, you want to make sure that you make other people around you aware of this allergy. In case you do become exposed, they know what to do to help you in the event that it becomes life-threatening. Important things to remember about nut allergies is there are specific foods, especially Asian foods, African foods, sauces, some baked goods. You really need to investigate the label and try to avoid things that may have been cross-contaminated in the same factory. Also, if you have a severe nut allergy, it may be important for you to make your own foods and bring them, pack them--go to school, pack lunches to go to work, if you have that severe of a food allergy. Always make sure that you have a Epinephrine pin with you and those around you know about your food allergy and can help you in the case of an emergency. These are important things to know about nut allergies.

Healthy Food Choices for Nut Allergies Video

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