kola nut...

[Jessica]

DH bought some supplements and one of them has kola nut in it. He's returning them because he didn't realize they had caffeine (and the person at the store didn't either, obviously, since dh told them he had to avoid caffeine due to high BP) but it got me wondering. As I was researching it said that kola nut is often used in drinks for flavoring. Not most cola brands but some of them. Makes me wonder if it's something that would have to be disclosed. I looked at a few sites and some say it's a seed, some say it's a fruit, and some say it's a nut. None really have any good information about nut allergies and kola nut.

[Macabre]

Interesting. I do know DS has had a kola tea, but he has outgrown all treenuts we've tested for.

[nameless]

kola nut is a drupe --- that one that isn't a true nut, but is really a fruit w/ a hard and large seed.  Like ---- almonds are drupes. The almond that is eaten is the seed. Before being processed it has a thin green endocarp (the fruit!) around it.  Think like a peach --- where the pit is the seed and the endocarp is the fruit.  Some drupe-nuts have a thin endocarp and some have a thick endocarp so it's deceiving. Shea is also a drupe.

Adrienne

[Jessica]

Thanks for the info. So if dd has tested positive to almonds she should avoid this.

[CMdeux]

No, not necessarily.

At least, no more than, say, a cow's milk allergy means that one shouldn't be breastfed on human breastmilk.

There's a matter of cross-reactivity and similarity in endocarp proteins at play-- I have no idea just how closely related kola and almond are... but it seems highly unlikely to me that there is much cross-reactivity.

That also assumes that the derivative is even protein-based to start with.

KWIM?

Is the "kola nut" actually the ENDOCARP?  Or the drupe?  This is the difference between, say, eating a peach versus an almond.