10 reasons to be cheerful about allergies

It can be too easy to slip into a ‘why me?’ mentality and obsess over what you now cannot do, and jealousy of your friends creeps in. They can eat what they want, drink what they want, wear the make-up they want and go wherever they want without a moment’s thought.

Anyone who has any allergies will understand the heartache of having an allergic attack. At first you don’t quite know what’s happening, then when you do pin it down to real allergies, get diagnosed and begin your new life avoiding one, more or many foods and/or substances it can feel very lonely, isolating and depressing.

Be positive – it is what you have to live with

But hang on a minute. Over the last few years I have begun to view my allergies in a very different way. At the moment I can’t change them. They are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, but I can embrace them. Learn to live with them, challenge my boundaries and experiment with new and exciting allergy free foods.

Here are just a few very good reasons you should be proud to be different:

1. Simple pleasures! – Finding a new allergy free treat that actually tastes delicious is always a high point for me. Or discovering a really good recipe that you can make, without your allergens.
2. Sometimes, just sometimes, you get a better deal – Ever been out for a big dinner, or a wedding and you’re completely stuffed? The puddings come out and your waist band strains in anticipation, all you really want is a light fruit salad at this point. Stay with me here all you chocolate lovers. There is an element here of my convincing myself I wouldn’t rather have the cheesecake or chocolate profiteroles, but often I get a fruit salad to surpass all others with the star shaped one (is it a star fruit?), papaya, melon, pomegranate, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, I could go on… and it’s just right. I savour my perfect pudding with a smug grin while others look on with pudding envy saying, “Oh I wish I could have that!” Perfect! Thank you chef! And sometimes you get the really special chef who will steam pears in something delicious but allergen free and really go the extra mile.
3. It keeps you slim! – Most of the time this one rings true. If I’m feeling particularly wifey and bake lots of cakes it can very quickly go wrong as I generally have to eat them all up before they reach the tin, they are such a treat. Luckily for me I’m quite a lazy bones at times, especially when tired or rushed, so snacking on naughty things is out. I can’t eat biscuits in meetings, or grab food on the run easily. I can’t often eat puddings when out for dinner, and always have to go for the simple option without sauce etc. Sometimes, hell yeah this really bugs me, but most of the time, I’m so used to it I can happily abstain and my figure stays trim.
4. I’ve learnt to cook! – Memories of sitting on the horrible lino floor of an old flat we rented with a tub of rice cakes in my lap, sobbing at the loss of all that was nice in my life, are now a distant memory. I have had to learn to cook, and now I love it. It has made me really appreciate good, simple, organic ingredients, and cooking from fresh can be fun, and always tastes better.
5. You’re special! – Your body is doing something quite amazing when it reacts to trigger foods. No, we don’t know why, and we can’t stop it happening, but nature is quite fascinating. Rather inconvenient at times I agree, but something sparks up a reaction where your body is trying to fight for its life. Remember that it could be worse. There is always someone out there worse off than you and you can choose to rise above the negative feelings and realise you are just you. With careful planning living with allergies is no problem at all. A bit of a pain sometimes, but not a problem. Honest!
6. You are less likely to get a brain tumour! – You think I’m joking right? Scientists from the University of Illinois, Chicago, say they found evidence of a link between low glioma risk and allergies: the more allergies a person has, the lower the chance he or she will get that type of tumour later. They don’t know why, it may be due to allergy sufferers having a hyper active immune system, things are just flowing out of the body instead of building up and causing problems in later life. Well, shall I list my allergies? All nuts, dairy, soya, kidney beans, celery, tomatoes, latex, dust, nickel, animal fur, mould, grass etc.
7. Meet some interesting new people – I have met some amazing new people through exploring my life with allergies and have learnt loads from them. I believe everything happens for reason so don’t question it, just get on with life, grab it, enjoy it, and live it. And embrace all those interesting people along the way.
8. Fuel a passion and learn to blog – for me it has given me inspiration to begin blogging, initially just for me and to store all the research and hints and tips I was finding but my blog, whatallergy.com has grown into a huge behemoth with raving mad allergy fans who comment and share and join in to support one another. If you can use this experience to help others who are the beginning of their allergy journey not only are you doing something positive but it makes you feel good too and makes you feel stronger, more in control.
9. Avoiding processed foods is a good thing – if you have one allergy it’s hard enough. If you have multiple allergies like me the chances are you can’t eat ANY processed foods. This may seem unfair but our bodies are not built to digest all this man made over processed stuff that we don’t even know what they are. Ever read the ingredients list and thought, eh? What’s that? Treat your body as a temple and eat good, simple, basic and tasty nutritious proper food and you will feel healthier all round. The more I discover about how white sugar is made, hydrolised this and hydrogenated that I just know it’s bad to eat this stuff. Choose a better, healthier diet and you’ll find avoiding allergens, reactions, inflammation and pain so much easier.
10. Who wants to be normal, boring and run of the mill? I celebrate my freaky weirdness, my eccentricities. I love my life. This is of course partly because I have no choice, I do envy my dairy and gluten guzzling friends but this is my life and I have to be proud and live it to the best of my ability. If that means I have to get up earlier to make a packed lunch, refuse the works Indian meal out, meet for drinks and not for food and explore entertainment that doesn’t involve food then that’s cool with me. Love me, love my allergies!

Most importantly though, don’t let allergies define you. Don’t let them rule your life. They are just a thing you have to cope with and should not take over everything. Try not to drone on about it to everyone but instead rise above it, live with it but keep allergies in their place. Except when meeting other allergy freek friends and then, and only then, may the moaning and groaning commence. Allergy friends understand and sometimes it’s OK to unburden your woes to a friend who understands, one who has the same fears, challenges and allergies as you. But remember that they are not just Debbie with coeliac disease and Tanya with a milk allergy, or Sandra with a peanut allergic son. Who are they? What are their hopes and dreams? What do they enjoy doing? Then go out there into the world and challenge yourselves to make the most of every minute. But maybe without the nuts and milk…

That’s all I can think of right now but TEN positives in a sometimes painful and dangerous world isn’t bad. Allergies are cool! Allergies are sexy! See the positives in any situation and it doesn’t seem quite so bleak. So I command you to embrace your allergies. Take care, stay safe and keep smiling.

And remember, one of the best things about having allergies is the Allergy Show – www.allergyshow.co.uk.