Talking Allergies

Hey all,

I have a peanut allergy, carry an epi-pen and all that noise.

I recently bought some african herbal tea that's billed as "Rooibos Tea." When I found out that Rooibos is a member of the legume family, I decided not to try any. (Peanuts are a legume).

But here's the weird part -- I tried to do some research regarding it, and found out that Rooibos is actually considered an ANTI-ALLERGEN, whatever that means, and that it's part of a reccomded diet for hyper-allergic infants.

I also couldn't find any advice for peanut-allergic people to stay away from Rooibos.

Does anyone know what the deal is?

PS
I wish I could go to an allergist for this one, but embarrasingly enough, I don't have one at the moment... I'm too old for my old guy, because he was at a Children's Hospital, and I haven't gone looking for a new guy in the last 2 years or so.

Hi, I drink rooibos tea, and I'm okay with licorice tea as well---I'm glad I tried both before I found out it that these teas are from a leguminous plant because I would have been hesitant otherwise. I'm among the PA people who need to avoid legumes---I've reacted to most that I've tried including peas, lima beans, soybeans. I used to eat green beans on occasion, but the last time I tried them they bothered my throat a little.

I would bet that rooibos tea would be more likely to be safe for people who can't eat legumes if the tea is made from the leaves/bark rather than from the seed pod. But I don't really know--I haven't discussed this with my doctor.

Lisa raises a very good point. Do you react to other legumes? So far, peanut is the only legume I react to, so I can eat other kinds.

I think I might have started to react to rooibos tea and licorice tea . . . . I started getting small hives. Since they are legumes, I'm being cautious. I stopped drinking both teas altogether for awhile, but I recently started drinking licorice again on the rare occasion.

I have reacted to legumes. I ate them for twenty years, they were kidney, lima, baked and I recently eliminated green about a year or so ago. I sat to eat a bowl of chili for dinner with my boy friend (hubby now ). I took a bit and felt as if I just ate peanuts but in a mild kinda way. It was just enough to know I ate something bad. A couple months later, give or take, I took the kids for an allergy test for peanuts (they were strictly forbidden from consuming PB) I asked the allergist why I felt this way and he said I'm lucky I'm not dead and that he told my mom I wasn't suppose to eat peanuts (I was a little mad upon hearing this, mom denies it was clarified). I have stripped them from my diet and feel I poisoned myself for 20 years never knowing any different until I started reacting in a scary kinda way. God forbid I have a child with a peanut allergy, beans would not be in his diet, whether he reacts or not. My own feeling is is I feel it has lowered my tolerance to react to the smallest amount of peanut protein making the next allergic reaction even more deadly.

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Peanut Allergy Survivor