by allergy12 | Dec 23, 2018 | Build Confidence-Beat Anxiety, For Teens & Kids, Living With Allergies, My Allergy Story
Over the last 6 months I was unsure where I have been taking the blog and podcast. It got to the point where I was falling out of love with it.
The purpose and driving force behind Eat Allergy Safe has always been that allergies aren’t about missing out, they are about doing things differently. Since starting the blog in 2015 and the podcast in 2016, I have found there are SO many inspirational allergy bloggers and people out there.
Unfortunately, these inspirational people can often get drowned out by a few negative vocal voices and newspaper stories. (I have definitely felt pressure from these negative voices and haven’t always known how to respond…) The fear mongering encourages others to believe they are victims and that the world owes them something because they have a food allergy. I believe this is wrong and destructive and does not allow each person to find their innate strengths.
Food allergy deaths have become popular topics for newspaper articles. Although the frequency of allergies being in the news is great for awareness, they serve also to fuel fear, anxiety and stress about living with allergies everyday. They have forced people to pay attention out of fear. This serves an initial purpose, but I believe only in the short term. If allergy education and awareness is to be a long term plan, we can’t go at it from fear because that just builds resentment. Not to mention, being an allergy sufferer I don’t want to depress myself by reading about a death that could have so easily have been me. For my own mental well being, I want to take action.
Through learning about my allergy I know I feel more in control of my life and ability to manage on a day to day basis. The more knowledge I have acquire I find I can understand more than just my own views, and that gives me perspective on the actions of others and helps me manage my emotional response to negative news articles or opinions.
Things Are Changing…
This said, things are changing on the blog and podcast. As some of you may have noticed if you follow me on social media, I’ve been posting very sporadically. This is going to continue and I have made the decision to log out of many of the accounts. I have an auto-poster app that I will use to share blog posts, but I will no longer be active on the accounts. This is for my own well being and also because I have come to dislike some of the bad human traits that social media encourages in general. (I’ve found over the last year that negative and angry posts get the most interaction and are promoted the most by social platforms – that is not what I want to promote at Eat Allergy Safe and it is not what Eat Allergy Safe is about.)
Instead I encourage you to comment on a blog post or, even better, send me an email through the contact form! I want to encourage actual communication rather than the fleeting comments or ‘likes’ on social media that we often make and forget so quickly.
Proactive, not Reactive: Information & Education
Content in 2019 is going to be focused on information and education about all aspects of living with food allergies so that we can make informed decisions.
If you are an allergy parent, your time will come when allergies won’t be a big part of your life. That is good and the natural order of things, but your allergy child will always have allergies. Allergies won’t go away, and the best protection you can give them is to arm your child with knowledge and confidence so they can own their allergy.
I will look for your input over 2019. What information do you wish you could find? What practical information do you want? What are you curious about? The science and psychology of allergies? or food manufacturing?
I want the content to be proactive rather than reactive, so that living with allergies is proactive rather than reactive.
What do you think?
Leave a comment below or send me an email, I’d love to hear from you.
by allergy12 | Sep 14, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
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Q: Our daughter was recently diagnosed with a nut allergy. My wife and I are used to eating a lot of nuts in our diet. We of course want to keep our daughter safe but wanted to find out could we keep nuts in our home or should get rid of them all? What should we do?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
by allergy12 | Sep 7, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
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Q: When you do an elimination diet is there a “delay” in your stomach getting better? It took me over a month off the foods for my joint pain to subside, but I am still getting stomach aches nearly every day, usually right after I eat. But it doesn’t seem to matter much what I eat that I can tell, it happens after every meal of a reasonable size. I’ve been totally free of intolerant foods since early September…does it just take a while for the stomach to heal or am I missing something?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
by allergy12 | Aug 31, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
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Q: My son is allergic to all nuts, sesame and egg. We don’t eat “may contains” and we don’t have his allergens in the house. Is it wrong that I really miss eating eggs and nuts but I feel guilty whenever I do? Even if he is not around?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
by allergy12 | Aug 28, 2018 | Dinner, Recipes
I have long been fascinated by pizza, from trying to make it to watching the Pizza Show by Vice. Growing up my Mum would buy pizza bases and let my brother and I choose our toppings. One of the dinner time rules was we had to eat with a knife and fork, this included our pizza apart from the very last two slices. Unfortunately for me, I could never finish a whole pizza. Watching my brother, I was very jealous as he ate with his hands.
Over the last few years I have developed more intolerances and allergies which has somewhat diminished my ability to eat pizza. Put together gluten free, dairy free, corn starch free, nut free, paleo and keto there doesn’t seem to be much left on the list of ingredients you can use. This is when this recipe came into being, partly because I was hungry, bored, and a bit fed up. I wanted comfort food but didn’t want a stomach ache.
With no cauliflower in the shops I used whatever I could find. This is recipe is incredibly simple, tastes great hot and cold, really versatile and you don’t need tomato or cheese for it to taste great.
Broccoli and Sweet Potato No Dough Pizza Base (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, Legume Free, Paleo, Keto)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
Makes: 2 bases
Ingredients
- 220g florettes of broccoli, wizzed in blender
- 400g sweet potato, peeled and grated
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp oil
- Pinch of sea salt
Method
- Preheat oven to 180C (fan oven). Line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper and rub a little oil over it.
- In a microwave safe bowl mix the sweet potato and broccoli, cover and put in the microwave for 7 minutes on high.
- Uncover and mix to cool the vegetables slightly. Mix in the eggs, oil and salt. Divide the mix in half. Spoon each half onto a baking tray. Use the back of a spoon to smooth the mix into a pizza base shape.
- Put the trays into the oven and bake on the first side for 20 minutes until the edges have gone golden brown. Once done, turn the bases over and cook on the second side for a further 7-10 minutes.
Use these as bases for your favourite pizza toppings or, an antipasti by drizzling with extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil leaves.
For more #freefromsummer recipes check out my lovely friends below:
by allergy12 | Aug 24, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
Q: Can an adult suddenly develop a peanut allergy? Last night it occurred to me it was the second day in a row that while eating peanut butter filled pretzels I developed a horrible tight cough immediately. Although we have epi-pens in the house for my son’s allergies, I’m too scared to try peanut butter again. Is this possible?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
by allergy12 | Aug 17, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
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Q: Looking for some sauce ideas. I can’t have egg, dairy, gluten or high sugar. I’ve been using Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce to throw on meat but it’s too much sodium. Anything I could make or buy?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
by allergy12 | Aug 14, 2018 | Allergen Sneaky Hiding Places
I’ve compiled a handy list of foods containing gluten to help you know where some sneaky gluten invaders that could be lurking.
Use this to help you do your food shopping and avoid being glutened again.
Don’t Get Glutened! List of Foods You Would Never Know Contained Gluten
- Wholegrains (oats are often bulked with wheat or grown in a field next to wheat, spelt, couscous)
- Deli Meats (sliced ham, beef, chicken, salami and other dried meats)
- Burgers and Sausages
- Marinaded Meat, Fish and Vegetables
- Dry Roast Nuts
- Sushi (Barley)
- Crisps (such as Doritos, Cheese and Onion flavour, etc)
- Chips (cross contamination through fryer or coating)
- Mashed Potato
- Soups
- Ground Spices (wheat flour could be used as an anti-caking agent)
- Stock Cubes
- Pickles (malt vinegar, made barley, is often used to pickled eggs or vegetables)
- Salad Dressings (often the thick creamy dressings can use wheat flour as a thickener. Vinegarettes are usually ok, but still check the ingredients label.)
- Dips (Taramasalata and other dips could have wheat flour as a thickening agent)
- Mint Sauce (barley malt vinegar can be used)
- Soy Sauce
- Mustard (such as English mustard can often contain wheat flour)
- Mustard powder (can often contain wheat flour)
- Asfoetida (used in Indian cooking and can often contain wheat flour as a bulking agent)
- Icing Sugar
- Chocolate
- Ice Cream
- Quick Action Yeast
- Baking Powder
- Beer and Ale
- Medicine – Check your calpol, contraceptive pill, vitamins and mineral pills
Have you found gluten or wheat lurking in other products? Leave a comment below and let me know where else we should be aware of.
by allergy12 | Aug 13, 2018 | Free From Business, Podcast
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It’s not very often I get to talk to allergy Mum’s who are coming to the end of their journey. This week I am excited to introduce you to Sarah Chapman blogger and founder of The Allergy Matters Conference (inaugural year October 19th, 2018!!).
Sarah walks me through her journey raising 2 allergy kids, one who has had their allergies since a baby and her daughter who developed allergies as a teenager. She has managed allergies including nuts, dairy, soya and Oral Allergy Syndrome.
We talk about the road of discovery, diagnosis, raising the kids, eating out, being teenagers and now how they are managing their allergies on their own.
Sarah talks about her experiences in hindsight, how to manage the anxiety, the difference between children being diagnosed in the 1990s and children being diagnosed now.
We then go on to talk about the Allergy Matters Conference that Sarah is organising taking place in Runcorn, UK on October 19th 2018. There are a number of speakers including healthcare professionals and allergy organisations who will be there and we get a sneak peak at who will be there!
To book your ticket to the Allergy Matters Conference, click here.
Top 3 Tips For New Allergy Parents
- Know your rights – NICE guidelines
- If things are getting worse, call your allergist and push to get your appointment brought forward
- Understand what food allergies, anaphylaxis, and environmental allergies are and the different types of reactions are
Leave a Review
Thank you to all of you who have sent me feedback! I love hearing your ideas and requests for new episodes or to share your story!
If you have 2 minutes spare, please would you leave a review on iTunes? It helps other allergy parents and allergy sufferers find it because it boosts its search ability in the iTunes directory. Click here to go to iTunes>>
Ask Your Questions
If you have a question about your own allergy journey or from the episode, leave a comment below or if you would like some 1-on-1 help you might be interesting in having some coaching. If so, please send me an email for more information.
by allergy12 | Aug 10, 2018 | Allergy Coaching, Podcast
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Q: My son goes to a private daycare. They had decided to make the room peanut and tree nut free for him… until… another mom complained. Because, obviously, it’s not fair to her child since she wants to send almond milk for her child as his protein. The director asked for a letter from our allergist explaining the need of being nut free. Even after receiving his letter saying my son needs to be in a nut free room, they’ve decided to allow them to send almond milk. Which, ironically, has less protein than the soy, coconut, or Lactaid milk I give my son! I’m ticked! What can I do?
If you want to ask a question, send an email using the contact form here.
If you are interested in having 1-on-1 coaching, find out more on my Allergy Coaching page.
