Comments on: Fenugreek and Legume Sensitivity

By: fleickly

fleickly — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:30:38 +0000

This certainly is an ‘adverse reaction’ to legumes, I am not so sure that it qualifies as a typical or type I, IgE mediated reaction. As you know, many foods can cause reactions, some are truly allergic and others work through different mechanisms. Testing helps with determining the mechanism, however the history of what is going on helps when we try to fit the situation into a type of reaction. Your reaction has many similarities to what we see in children- food-induced enteropathies. There is an earlier posting on FPIES. My practice is fully pediatric. You may want to see either a gastroenterologist for this. The therapies for food allergy- food reactions is full avoidance.
Thank you for the interesting question.
FEL

By: Joan Munson

Joan Munson — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:51:13 +0000

Hi – I am a 68 year old woman who has been becoming more and more sensitive to legumes over the years until just last year it (the sensitivity) jumped to peanuts. The response is a lot of gas and gastrointestinal discomfort (lower bowel, colic like with bleeding in the stool) stopping only when the offending food is out of my system. Do you have any info for me? My doctor is skeptical…

By: fleickly

fleickly — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 11:50:37 +0000

Sensitization does not occur in every child, only those who had the genetic predisposition to go on to develop allergy. With a family history (daughter #1) that puts the next child at an increased risk for allergy. I think agents like this have been around for some time. As we try to find out why there are so many kids with food allergy especially peanut allergy (legume) we should be asking about supplements like this. Thanks for commenting.
Warmest Regards,
Fred Leickly

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:52:50 +0000

Wow! I have a severe dairy allergic child who first showed signs of her allergy after early formula supplementation. With my second I was eager to avoid all formula supplementation and would have considered fenugreek if my supply was low. I’m glad it’s something I never had to pursue.

By: Camille

Camille — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:41:25 +0000

Thank you. She is 7 months old and reacted to milk based formula with hives and lethargy. She was skin tested for other allergens due to this first reaction. She has only eaten a few vegetables, but not peas, beans etc…She was tested for formula, dairy, soy, wheat, egg, peanuts and a few of her veggies as additional controls. The only positives on this test were the formula, dairy and peanuts. Thank you for this information. Enjoy your day.

By: fleickly

fleickly — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:20:54 +0000

Great question- only that is frequently asked and I am sure you have heard many different thoughts on this. The recommendation depends on the situation. Why were the other legumes tests performed? If the history was only for peanut- that is what I would have only tested for, noting that the value of the allergy test is as good as the story that supports it. If other legumes, peas, beans, soy etc had been eaten without any reactions then I would not have tested for these items. The best test in allergy is the challenge- if the other legumes had been ingested without a problem the test perhaps should not have been done and the result may not be clinically relevent. Now if there is a story that is suspicious for reactions to the other legumes then the tes has relevance.
Back in the 1980′s allergists recommended food family avoidance. In the 1990′s and beyond, that recommendation has fallen by the wayside. Foods of the same families share many common proteins and we see in some children positive results. As the science of food allergy has grown and the experience with food challenges has expanded, many of the previously taught ideas and recommendations have changed.
So back to the beginning- what was the story? Why were the other legumes tested? What have you seen when these were eaten? Did you suspect a problem?
I have seen a few children who have had clinical reactions to a variety of legumes and positive tests to verify that they were allergy mediated.
Without being too long, I hope this helps,

By: Camille

Camille — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:53:19 +0000

If my daughter is allergic to peanuts should she stay away from garbanzo beans and other legumes? He allergy is diagnosed through a prick test.