Research going back 30 years suggests boiling peanuts might lessen the intensity of peanut allergies.
Most of the research has been in chemistry labs – testing the effect of different cooking methods on the allergens in peanuts – with mice.
In a year-long experiment with children, South Australian researchers found that boiling peanuts for up to 12 hours may be an effective cure for most young people with allergies.
A clinical trial at Flinders University and South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) found up to 80 per cent of children with a peanut allergy became desensitised to eating peanuts.
The trial
The clinical trial involved 70 peanut-allergic children (aged six to 18 years) to consume peanuts boiled for 12 hours for 12 weeks, two-hour boiled peanuts for 20 weeks, and roasted peanuts for 20 weeks.
The idea was to build tolerance to the point that the participants could consume 12 roasted peanuts without allergic reactions.
This multi-step process is known as oral immunotherapy.
The results were promising – 56 of the 70 participants (80 per cent) became desensitised to the target dose of peanuts.
Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 43 participants (61 per cent) – only three children withdrew from the trial as a result, demonstrating a favourable safety profile.
What this means is the treatment may induce an uncomfortable reaction but, in the main, not a dangerous one.
What the researchers say
Flinders University College of Medicine and Public Health Associate Professor Tim Chataway is senior author.
He said that heat affects the protein structure and allergic properties of peanuts, meaning they were less likely to cause a severe allergic reaction.
“Small and increasing doses of boiled nuts were first given to children to partially desensitise them, and when they showed no signs of an allergic reaction, increasing doses of roasted peanuts were then provided to increase their tolerance in the next stage of treatment,” Dr Chataway said.
SAHMRI Associate Professor Luke Grzeskowiak is the lead author. He said up to 3 per cent of children in Western countries have peanut allergies.
Dr Grzeskowiak said the clinical trial “could help develop a novel treatment pathway to reduce the risk of accidental peanut exposure”.
He said the treatment could “significantly improve quality of life for peanut allergic children and their carers”.
“Our clinical trial shows promising early signs in demonstrating that boiling peanuts may provide a safe and effective method for treating peanut-allergic children with sequential doses of boiled and roasted peanuts over an extended period of time,” Dr Grzeskowiak said.
Oral immunotherapy doesn’t work for everyone, he said, so researchers are seeking to better understand how these treatments work.
Where did the idea come from?
In Westernised countries, peanuts are routinely dry-roasted. They have higher rates of allergy than in Korea, China and Israel where peanuts are boiled, pickled or fried.
Previous studies show that extensive heating alters the allergens in foods such as milk and egg.
Research shows that children with milk and egg allergies can tolerate these foods when they are extensively heated; see here and here.
Some people with milk or egg allergies who frequently eat these foods when heated outgrow their allergies.
In a previous study, four children with peanut allergies ate boiled peanuts in increasing amounts every day for some months. After months of this exposure, some of the children (not all) were able to eat raw peanuts.
Researchers urge that people shouldn’t adopt this boiled peanut strategy at home. The new findings need to be replicated in a larger trial.
This trial was funded by Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation.
