“God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt.” I heard this old adage a lot in my childhood, usually from my Pa, who would take us shooting, take us fishing, and make us weed his gorgeous garden. What is a little dirt and sunshine to a child except slow exposure to potentially harmful things that, in moderation, are totally fine?
Sounds a little bit like vaccines to me. They are a lot like my late grandfather’s take on dirt: A little bit doesn’t hurt you and might just make you stronger. But the same people who have been telling us for years that exposing an infant to up to six vaccines at once is totally fine have also warned that peanuts are most certainly not. I’m here to tell you it’s okay to eat the peanuts. And science is finally catching up.
TRUMP TAKES AIM AT CHILDHOOD VACCINES IN PRESS EVENT ON TYLENOL AND AUTISM
Without using any statistical evidence, for decades, the medical community put the fear of God in pregnant mothers that if they ate peanuts in any form while pregnant, their baby would develop a severe allergy to them. I once had a friend whose OBGYN told her not to even eat Reese’s peanut butter cups when pregnant. We’re now learning it’s okay. And not only is it okay, but it could be good for infants, too.
When a mother has nuts while pregnant, babies are more likely to tolerate those foods themselves. The New York Times reported six years ago that eating nuts while pregnant could increase a child’s IQ. Plus, nuts are a nutrient-dense source of fiber, magnesium, and other great vitamins required to help pregnant mothers.
For a decade, allergies in U.S. children shot up because of the anti-scientific doctrine the American Academy of Pediatrics was pushing, advising “pregnant and lactating women to avoid eating peanuts and parents to avoid feeding them to children under 3,” as New York Times opinion columnist Pamela Paul explained.
Some doctors bravely pushed back, noting it “violated a basic principle of immunology known as immune tolerance: the body’s natural way of accepting foreign molecules present early in life. It was like the dirt theory, whereby newborns exposed to dirt, dander, and germs may then have lower allergy and asthma risks.”
The guidance was updated, and now we have the results.
As Gabrielle M. Etzel reported for the Washington Examiner, “Peanut allergies have dropped significantly in children within only a few years of the National Institutes of Health updating its guidance to say that exposing infants to peanuts can decrease allergy risk.”
Let the record show my grandpa was right. He’s likely smiling down from heaven saying, “I told you so,” right now. A pregnant woman is perfectly fine to eat some peanuts. And we finally have proof that your baby is okay to eat peanut products too.
“Researchers found that peanut allergies in children ages 0 to 3 declined by more than 27% after guidance for high-risk kids was first issued in 2015 and by more than 40% after the recommendations were expanded in 2017,” per the Associated Press.
RFK JR. MAHA FOOD REGULATIONS HAVE BIPARTISAN APPEAL, NEW POLL FINDS
But the AAP and other medical groups don’t like to be told they are wrong, and they rarely issue an apology when they are. The AAP is also wrong on “gender-affirming care,” and it made a complete about-face when it changed its rule on screens not due to scientific data, but to cultural change and public consumption of media on mobile devices.
It’s time for women to go back to informed consent, trusting their gut, and questioning their doctors as they see fit.
Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator and speaker who resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their four children. She is an advocate for women’s rights, school choice, and smaller government.
