How to Live a Positive Life with Food Allergies?
Are you someone who believes that life is a balance and that there’s always a silver lining to every dark cloud you’re encountering? If your answer is yes, then we can safely say that we have the same perspective in life. Food allergies are no exception to this. Believe it or not, there are positive effects of having a food allergy. However, it’s up to each person to choose how these affect their lives.
Here are some positive aspects of life for people with food allergies:
Choosing Supportive Friends
Most children with food allergies are taught to surround themselves with people who understand them and their condition. These children tend to choose friends that they can rely on and share their struggles with. Studies also show that most teens with food allergies easily connect to other teens with similar conditions and are more active in the food allergy community.
Appreciating the Small Things in Life
Having a food allergy may drain a person’s energy, especially if their reactions are becoming more frequent and interrupt their daily routine. To cope, they often try to find or create positive things in their life. We read a story about a teen who makes fun of her allergy and jokes about it with friends and family. Sharing a laugh about it, helped her to release her frustrations.
Find creative outlets
If you don’t have an outlet for your frustrations from having a food allergy, it may create future problems. A creative outlet can help release some of that negative energy. Most people with food allergies enjoy engaging in activities such as Music, Photography or Art.
Self-advocacy
Parents are the best advocates for their children with food allergies. Their main aim is to keep their children safe and healthy. Their next important objective is to teach them about making more informed choices when buying food . In addition to this, the children also need to self administer their medication. Products that our company provides, such as the EpiPen School Case and Insulated EpiPen bags – can make life easier for these children.
Owning the condition
Self-acceptance is the very first step to make your food allergy journey easy and safe, and who doesn’t want that? Many food allergy sufferers have learned to manage their condition and now volunteer to help others who have been recently diagnosed. One article from Science Daily, shows that self-acceptance may be the key to a happier life and many people without food allergies may struggle with that.
Diligence / Research Prowess
The reality is, not many of us are fond of reading and researching. Grocery shopping and reading the labels on everything can be tedious and time consuming. Having a family member with an allergy, forces some parents to make informed food choices, to keep their child healthy. Most families read articles, or product labels. Some even join online communities to discuss up to date information from others in the same situation. After all, knowledge is power. The more equipped and educated we are, the more we can help manage these conditions.
Choosing Healthier Foods
We keep our loved ones safe from food allergy reactions by educating them to be mindful of what to eat and what not to eat. One of the easiest ways to do this is to prepare your own food at home. This way, we know what’s in the food and how it was prepared. When children are first diagnosed, their parents would be role modelling this from the beginning. They would also be taught to choose fresh ingredients and to stay away from pre packaged or processed foods.
Responsibility
Self discipline is another aspect that people with food allergies are familiar with. There are several areas where this is required. Learning to manage and treat the condition includes; reading food labels, preparing your own food and being knowledgeable in using an EpiPen or an asthma puffer in some cases. Owning and wearing an EpiPen Holder Belt at all times, can assist you in helping others who may be having a reaction. These things can teach you to be more responsible for managing your own condition as well as helping others.
Parents have a vital role in how our loved ones with food allergies view their condition. Some people might feel that there’s more negatives than positives or some might see it the other way around. It’s up to each individual to turn it into a positive experience. As the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.