I’ve long held the view that the rising levels of peanut allergy are probably due to underlying contaminants in the peanuts, or alternatively, disturbances of the immune system from other causes (possibly antibiotic or vaccination effects).
2 things support the peanut contamination view;
1) One of my clients has immediate anaphylaxis to peanuts, yet absolutely no reaction to organic peanuts. There are only 2 peanut species in the world, with a constituent profile almost exactly the same, so it’s doubtful the type of nut per se is to blame. While organic peanuts have no pesticides or herbicides, non-organic peanuts may be exposed to over 20 pesticides/herbicides during growth & production, and the types used differ between countries.
2) A recent journal article proposed the link between glyphosate Herbicide (Roundup) and coeliac disease, showing a strong correlation between the use of glyphosate and increasing levels of coeliac disease. As is well known, coeliac disease falls under the autoimmune spectrum, suggesting that this herbicide may be involved in immune dysregulation and thus, may be the culprit rather than gluten per se. If one herbicide may imbalance immunity, then it’s a reasonable supposition that other herbicide/pesticide residue on foods may be causative of other immune over-reactions (anaphylaxis to peanuts). Here’s the journal link http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Glyphosate%2C+pathways+to+modern+diseases
If I pursued a PhD, this is precisely the subject I’d choose; imagine if the whole peanut allergy thing could be resolved by tighter control of food contaminants such as pesticides or herbicides!
As for the vaccination effects on immunity, there’s rising evidence that vaccination adjuvants, especially aluminium, may be involved in the rising levels of autoimmunity worldwide. The syndrome is called ASIA (Autoimmune Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants) and is receiving increasing acceptance in the scientific/medical community. Here’s a couple of journal articles;
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23576057
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22235057
NOTE; I don’t suggest anyone with a peanut allergy tries organic peanuts to test this theory; more research in the area is needed before actual recommendations should be made. Additionally, I make no comment on the relevance of vaccination.
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