Am I going to kill my allergic friend?

May 29, 2011 7:30 AM

[allergy filter] Is lotus seed a nut? Are people allergic to it?

I just cooked something with lotus seed for a friend who's allergic to nuts. Now the GF reminded me that lotus seed might be a nut, even thought it resembles more of a legume to me.

Is my friend going to die if she eats it?

Thanks!

posted by TheGoodBlood to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Everyone's allergies are different, so the only way to know is to ask your friend. However, if her nut allergy is serious enough to be potentially fatal, I'd err on the side of caution and not give it to her.
posted by decathecting at 8:17 AM on May 29, 2011

It's impossible to say, even if the lotus seed is classified as a nut (I have no idea). Some people are allergic to some tree nuts (pecans, walnuts) but not to peanuts; others may be allergic to both ground nuts and (all) tree nuts.
posted by rtha at 9:11 AM on May 29, 2011

The peanut is a legume too. They don't seem that related to lotus, but I'm not a plant-science-talking lady.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 9:32 AM on May 29, 2011

Well, according to some Internet site, one of the words for a lotus seed is hasu. I searched for hasu allergy and found that one of the ways to say you are allergic to peanuts is "L'daya hasesseeya tuje haful hasu deni." So maybe? Or maybe that isn't a very good translation.

On the other hand, "lotus seed allergy" only turns up five results on Google, so maybe you won't kill your friend.
posted by aniola at 10:22 AM on May 29, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks fro trying, guys. She didn't die.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 10:51 AM on May 29, 2011 [1 favorite]