Can boiled peanuts help cure peanut allergies?

Because heat can affect the structure and immunoreactivity of peanuts, researchers recently tested whether a therapy using sequential doses of boiled peanuts followed by roasted peanuts may help children overcome peanut allergies. Their open label, phase 2, single arm clinical trial, which is published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy, generated promising results.

For the trial, 70 children aged 6–18 years old with peanut allergies received 12-hour boiled peanuts for 12 weeks, 2-hour boiled peanuts for 20 weeks, and roasted peanuts for 20 weeks, to a target maintenance dose of 12 roasted peanuts daily.

Fifty-six of the 70 (80%) participants became desensitized to peanuts. Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 43 (61%) participants, 3 of whom withdrew from the trial.

"Oral immunotherapy using boiled followed by roasted peanuts represents a pragmatic approach that appears effective in inducing desensitization and is associated with a favourable safety profile," the authors wrote.