Living with Allergies; Practical tips for all the family

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This week is National Allergy Awareness Week and I’m excited to tell you about the new Allergy UK approved book Living with Allergies, written by Emma Amoscato, who also writes Free From Farmhouse.

Gifted disclaimer: this post was written to promote my darling friend Emma’s book, I did receive a free book to review via White Owl Publishers. However, the book in the giveaway was purchased by myself from Amazon 

Oh, and all photos are courtesy of Mel Knibb of Le Coin de Mel

Emma and I met for the first time at the Allergy Blogger Awards back in March 2017, but it feels like we’ve known each other for years. Our lives are different yet our stories are so similar. As we talked about our blogs, and what had inspired us to start writing them, we found ourselves in the company of someone else who truly got it, and that is the warm friendly feeling of non-judgemental safety.

Even back then Emma had written this book, it was still in her head at that point, but she knew she owed it to others to share her knowledge and her passion for living with allergies and not surviving with allergies. An allergy diagnosis does not spell the end of a life but the beginning of a new one. Just as we were handed new lives when Bethany was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and then Coeliac Disease, the attitude needs to be the same; POSITIVE or else the diagnosis will eat you up and swallow you whole.

I see a lot of heightened emotions surrounding allergies on the news, documentaries and social media. It’s virtually impossible not to get emotional about a topic that affects a loved one and can have a negative impact on the immediate family too. Woe betides anyone who comes between me and my children where their diagnosis’ are concerned.

The book Living with Allergies has been written in an all-encompassing approach to allergies. No allergy is worse than the next, we’re all in this together and knowledge is power. The information within is factual, practical and possible to follow with ease. I’ve learnt more in the few hours it took me to read Emma’s book  than I have in the years I’ve been friends with parents of allergy children and adults who’ve lived with allergies all their lives.

I defy anyone to read this book and not learn something new, giving them a wider perspective of the allergy world, it’s intricacies and challenges.

What does the book cover

The question really is what doesn’t the book cover. As the reader I was introduced to the bare facts of each type of recognised allergy, supported by a parent or family members personal experiences. Finally each allergy is summarised by a leading expert in its field. I found it fascinating to hear from those affected by allergies directly and what resonated was the overall sense of positivity, that things do get better plus the general comforting feeling of ‘you are not alone’ very much like the first time I met Emma.

Moving halfway into the book we’re walked through the practicalities of living with allergies; managing them in and out of the home, and preparing for milestones such as nursery and school. This is the go to section of the book for anyone starting out on their allergy journey, it takes the guess work out of what and how to support your loved ones. Personally, I would recommend this chapter be presented to your wider family (such as grandparents, aunts and uncles). Encouraging those around us to educate themselves sensibly, using factual evidence and positive case studies, is a huge part of the battle won. As parents and carers we need as many allies as possible creating a wider community of understanding. The last thing you need, in this often emotionally charged situation, is to have misunderstanding within your own family circle leading to careless comments or even worse dangerous decisions or actions.

The final half of the book looks at young people, teenagers and adults in their own right, followed by the mental health implications, nutrition, food elimination, food reintroduction and prevention.

Okay, so I may have whisked through that last half of the book but I’m going to give away and spoilers here now am I. of course not, I want you to buy Emma’s book for yourself, because she’s my friend, because she worked bloody hard on the book and because it’s the only book out there that covers everything you need to know in one place for a family living with allergies.

I struggled to find all the information I needed […] I wanted to know not only how to deal with things now, but also what their future would look like? […] I couldn’t find a good guide to allergies that covered all the basics in one place and left me feeling informed and inspired. So I decided to write one myself.

Emma Amoscato

Well Emma, you certainly did.

How about travelling when Living with Allergies?

Emma also writes for and is co-founder of Allergy Travels, alongside Allie Bahn, Kortney Kwong Hing and Kyle Dine. Collectively they’ve been to over 70 different countries and managed travelling with allergies successfully, I’ll let them explain here what their website is about;

Whether you’re a first time adventurer or a seasoned one, we are here to help each allergic individual and family launch globe trotting travels with greater allergy knowledge and security before heading off to explore!

Our team has been fortunate enough to safely visit over 70 countries with over 30 food allergies combined! We love to explore and want to bring that same love and enthusiasm to you. Since we know how challenging it can be to live with food allergies on a daily basis, we understand the extra time and effort it takes to plan for a vacation. By creating this site, we hope to alleviate the extra time and stress of planning with allergies by having easily accessible information right at your fingertips!

I’d also like to suggest another excellent post to read by Kate Dowse, you may know her as the Gluten Free Alchemist. Kate’s post, Travelling Gluten Free, is clearly written with a Coeliac in mind but the practical advice regarding research, packing and on the go tips are universally helpful.

Support for those Living with Allergies

Emma has a huge list of top websites, apps, books and blogs to follow in the back of the book but here are a few here, remember, you are not alone and if you ask, the support is there.

Allergy UK | Allergy Adventures | Allergy Wise | Anaphylaxis Campaign

There are also some lovely supporting Facebook Groups out there including Emma’s own community Living With Allergies – Postive and Practical Support Nathalie Newman’s group  Intolerant G – Living positively with allergies & intolerances   and Nina Modak’s group Eat Allergy Safe – gluten free, nut free, dairy free, vegan

Giveaway Time; win a copy of Emma’s bestselling book

Living with Allergies

If you liked this review for Living with Allergies, then scrapbook the love over on Pinterest

I really love to read your comments and feedback and will always comment back. Do drop a line in the comment section if you liked this review, I would love to hear your thoughts, even better, if you take my advice and visit Georgian House for a Vegan and Gluten Free Afternoon Tea then take a picture and do tag me using the hashtag #Glutarama on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to my email list so that you get all my reviews and recipes straight in your mailbox.

If you’ve only just happened across my blog Glutarama, then you may also be interested to know this is not the main topic I write about, the majority of my posts relate to free from recipes and food reviews, as our family are affected by Coeliac Disease, egg, dairy other intolerance’s it keeps me busy in the kitchen, but boy do I have fun experimenting for my family and followers.

Rebecca x

I have shared this post with Lucky Linky by Rachel Bustin and Super Lucky by Di Coke