The Best Approach to Deal with Food Allergies in Your Home

Food allergy rates in the world have exploded over the past thirty years. This significant public health issue is a chronic condition involving an abnormal reaction to a normally harmless substance called an allergen.

It is estimated that approximately 10% of adults and 7% of children are allergic to some food.

Physical effects of food allergies and others

Allergens are found in foods, pollens, house dust, animal hair, mold, and some medicines. The body’s reaction can be mild to extreme and include:

•         Itchy, watering eyes
•         Stuffy or sneezing nose
•         Swollen mouth
•         Vomiting
•         Rashes such as hives
•         Headaches
•         Wheeze or cough

The most common causes of food allergies are tree nuts, soy, peanuts, shellfish, wheat, and eggs. Doctors say that these increased rates of allergies are likely to continue: Alarmingly, there is no exact reason as to why.

Advice on how to protect your family from food allergies

When patients get the diagnosis, it can be overwhelming for themselves and their families. Especially when it comes to decisions like how often they are supposed to visit their doctor, will their child outgrow the allergies?

Many mothers are beginning to embrace nutrition and appreciate the role of food in health. Most parents do not realize and are not prepared for the social, emotional, and physical impact of food allergies on a family.

How to support an allergy-friendly life for your family?

When a family member like your child gets diagnosed with a food allergy, it is natural to have an overwhelming fear, wondering how you will keep them safe. Different needs are depending on the type of allergy your child has.

In such cases, it is advised to consult a renowned pediatrician.

But still, as a homemaker, you can do the following things to take care of them on your own:

Focus on is what they can control

Sharpen your skills on how to manage the food allergies in your family best.

Some practices include meal prepping and batch cooking to help with a load of cooking at home from scratch, especially when a family member is admitted to a hospital. You have to keep carrying food during visiting hours.

Travel with home-cooked meals to prevent allergic reactions

Another important thing is learning how to travel with food allergies. The more you do those things, the more confident you become in dealing with the negative impacts of the chronic condition.

Although it will not always be seamless, and sometimes things won't turn out the way you want, you will understand how to create an allergy-friendly environment for your kids over time.

As a family, you can still engage in activities that you used to do before the diagnosis; it only means that the path will change, and as a mother, you need to think creatively to get there but not letting fear take over all the time.

Remain positive if you have food allergies

The biggest thing to do is to shift your mindset and perception of how you approach food allergies. For example, if you are traveling, you can decide not to eat out but cook all your meals from scratch at home, to eat on the road.

The more you embrace home-cooked meals as a family, dining together will be more about the experience, and you find that you are not missing eating out at restaurants.

Furthermore, it is way cheaper to eat at home. Although you have to avoid the food allergens strictly, you can still create a positive mindset about how you dealt with their existence in your family.

Grocery shop with food allergens in mind

Before you go to the market, get your family involved in the process of meal planning and grocery shopping. This practice is a great way to get your kids excited about upcoming meals.

When shopping, visit your local farmers market to get healthy produce to cook the meals at home for your family.

Do not go shopping when you are in a rush; it will take you a little longer to get the specific food items because you will be reading labels most of the time.

You should also check the labels at least once when you get home and before you eat or cook the food. Also, cooking together helps to give your family members a sense of ownership of the diet plan.

Do you know what the best antihistamine for food allergies is?