Allergy FAQ

What food allergies do I have?

I am allergic to tree nuts: specifically cashews, pistachios, walnuts, and pecans (as of 2025).

I am not allergic to peanuts, almonds, or hazelnuts. I eat these fairly regularly.

How "bad" is the allergy?

Moderately bad. I experience itchy mouth / throat and some gastrointestinal symptoms (usually nausea and vomiting). Thankfully I have never had an anaphylactic reaction (i.e. can't breathe), although I do carry epinephrine auto-injectors as a precaution.

How sensitive are you? Are traces of nuts ok?

I don't fully know.

I have had reactions to accidentally eating less than 1 nut, so fairly sensitive. However, I don't know the precise lower limit of my sensitivity (there has never been a time where I have knowingly eaten a portion of a nut and not had an allergic reaction). Presumably there is some exposure level at which I would not have a discernible reaction, but whether that is 0.1mg or 100 mg is unclear.

What foods do you avoid because of your allergy?

First and foremost, I avoid actually eating nuts that I am allergic to!

Secondly, I avoid foods where the risk of contamination is high, including:

• Mixed nuts (high chance of containing a nut which I am allergic to)
• Many kinds of Indian food (since cashew butter is a common ingredient)
• Middle Eastern & South Asian desserts (lots of pistachio)
• Many vegan imitation foods which use cashew-based "cheese"
• Any buffet-style food where one or more dishes contain nuts (since people tend to contaminate dishes in a shared setting, e.g. by using the spoon for one dish to scoop out another dish, or touching the spoon to their plate)