Groundnuts give me diarrhoea
With an allergy, even small amounts of the implicated food will cause symptoms which increase with severity the more one eats the food.
What you need to know:
Sometimes, diarrhoea may occur because of failure to digest some contents of the eaten food, including those in groundnuts.
I get diarrhoea whenever I eat groundnuts. Sometimes, when I go to the toilet I only pass gas and my anus becomes itchy. What can I do to stop this?
Annitae
Dear Annitae,
Groundnuts are nutritious and unless they cause serious health problems, they should be part of any adult’s diet. Diarrhoea, much as we may dislike it, is one way the body protects itself from invading germs and detected toxic substances by flushing them out.
Allergies occur when we react to harmless substances, including foods which the body may try to flush out through diarrhoea. Allergy to groundnuts may lead to diarrhoea, abdominal pain, bloating and other allergy symptoms such as an itchy skin rash. Allergy to groundnuts is more common in children, but as one grows older and the digestive system matures, one tends to outgrow the allergy though it may recur. It is also true that one may have other food allergies only to develop groundnut allergies later in life.
With an allergy, even small amounts of the implicated food will cause symptoms which increase with severity the more one eats the food. Avoiding the food completely will help in most cases.
Sometimes, diarrhoea may occur because of failure to digest some contents of the eaten food, including those in groundnuts. The so-called food intolerance will also lead to diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating without the associated itchy skin. However, groundnut intolerance is less common than an allergy which in your case could be the reason your anus itches when you take them.
Groundnuts much as they are called nuts are actually legumes and therefore have indigestible carbohydrates that can cause gas if a lot is eaten.
Many times, groundnuts have aspergillus flavus, a fungus that produces an aflatoxin which can also cause diarrhoea. Worse still, if the diseased nuts are consumed in large quantities for a long time, one risks getting cancer of the liver.
Your problem requires investigating so that if it is an allergy, the implicated food has to be abandoned but if it is an intolerance, smaller amounts can be taken.
