There's a problem with the anti-nut campaign that goes beyond creating a society that has gone ‘nutty’! (for those truly allergic, ignore this posting)                                                                                                               Eliminating nuts from our children’s diets removes the potential adverse effect from nut toxins (alphatoxins), but also affects a key component necessary in our diet:  the absorption of phytochemicals.                                                                                                                 These are plant chemicals that offer us natural anti-microbial factors, and are required for the expression of important genes – those responsible for detoxification of environmental toxins (ref).                                                                                                                 So here’s the Catch 22: we stop eating nuts ~ this reduces our dietary fat content ~ we become less able to utilize fat-soluble phytochemicals ~ we lose natural anti-microbial protection ~ AND potential detoxification needs. All because of a little nut wearing a bow tie and top hat.                                                                                                                Removing nuts from our kids’ diets comes with a cost. We need to re-introduce fats to replace those lost from avoiding nuts. Plant-based good fats from seeds like hemp, chia and flax could help.