Daily doses of peanut butter could help children with mild peanut allergies develop a better tolerance, according to a new study published Monday by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Researchers found during a mid-size clinical trial that all of the participants who were given a small daily dose of peanut butter over a several-month period developed a higher tolerance than before the experiment.
NIAID Director Jeanne Marrazzo said in a press statement Monday that the findings from Monday’s report could be “liberating” for children with high-tolerance peanut allergies and “a very safe and accessible form of therapy.”
Researchers studied 73 children between the ages of 4 and 14 who had high-threshold peanut allergies, meaning that they had a high tolerance for peanuts before developing an allergic reaction.
Children who were randomly assigned to test the new treatment strategy began with a 1/8 teaspoon dose of peanut butter daily and gradually increased the dose every eight weeks.
Investigators found that all of the children in the peanut-ingestion group were able to tolerate at least two doses greater than they could at the beginning of the trial, compared to only 21% of those who avoided peanuts entirely.
More than 68% of the peanut-ingestion group achieved sustained unresponsiveness to peanuts, which the study defined as being able to tolerate 9 grams of peanut protein. Only 8.6% of the avoidance group developed this level of natural tolerance.
The study made clear that each increasing dose of peanut butter was conducted with medical professionals present in case the child experienced a severe reaction. Researchers also said that more testing is necessary to determine the efficacy of long-lasting peanut tolerance.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2021 about 6% of all U.S. adults and children had some form of food allergy. According to the group Food Allergy Research and Education, about 6.2 million children and adults have a peanut allergy.
Addressing the rise in food allergies is part of the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, which oversees the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy suggested in 2021 that aluminum in vaccines is responsible for a rise in various allergies.
The Food and Drug Administration in 2020 approved the first oral immunotherapy drug for patients with severe peanut allergies. The drug, Palforzia, is a powder manufactured from peanuts, which can be mixed with food.
Not only is Palforzia expensive, but it is also only approved for patients with low-threshold allergies or little to no tolerance to peanuts.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Children with high-threshold peanut allergies couldn’t participate in previous food allergy treatment trials, leaving them without opportunities to explore treatment options,” said Marrazo.
NIAID estimates that there are approximately 800,000 children in the U.S. who may have a high-threshold peanut allergy for whom the new exposure-therapy treatment may be beneficial.