A big NEJM trial found eating extra eggs and peanuts while pregnant and breastfeeding didn't lower babies' egg or peanut allergy rates.

Here's a well-designed trial with a clear, if surprising, answer. Healio reports on PrEggNut, a randomized controlled trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine that enrolled 2,137 pregnant women in four Australian cities. About half were assigned to eat at least six eggs and 60 peanuts a week from before 23 weeks of pregnancy through four months of breastfeeding; the rest ate no more than three eggs and 30 peanuts a week. At age 1, 7.8% of babies in the high egg-and-peanut group had an egg or peanut allergy, similar to the 8.4% in the standard-diet group. Counting only confirmed immune-type allergies, the figures were 5.6% and 6.8%, again comparable. "We were surprised with the trial findings as we had expected that the mothers eating higher amounts of eggs and peanuts during pregnancy and breastfeeding would have reduced egg and peanut allergies in their babies," said lead researcher Debra J. Palmer. Now the caveats a careful reader should weigh. Only 64% to 67% of the high-intake group met their targets, and some women in the standard group were already eating plenty of peanuts, so the two diets ended up closer together than planned. About 83% of participants were white, all from Australian cities. Palmer's takeaway is that clinicians "can reassure pregnant women that they do not need to eat high amounts" of these foods to lower their baby's risk. If you're expecting, eat the balanced diet your doctor recommends, and ask your pediatrician when and how to introduce allergens to your baby.