One day, I was scrolling on Instagram, and I saw a post by @nutfreementality that said, “Remember, the universe put food allergies into your life for a reason”. This post got me thinking: what if we focus on the positives of food allergies, instead of the negatives? And yes, there are positives to having food allergies.
Thankfully, my friends on FARE’s Teen Advisory Group and some of you from Instagram helped me come up with the positives of having food allergies. Keep reading to find out what they are! (Psst! Follow my Instagram to be involved in more projects like this.)
Being a part of the food allergy community:
“One of the best parts is definitely being able to connect with all of y’all [FARE’s Teen Advisory Group] 💙. I’d also say it’s helped me grow as a person – I’ve learned how to be more independent and advocate for myself, which is definitely helpful outside of having food allergies.” – Ally
Cooking:
“Personally my favorite part of allergies is all the cooking I get to do and homemade foods I get to try. I now love cooking and have definitely been exposed to so many types of foods that happen to be safe for me that I know many of my friends have never even heard of! And I feel like that wouldn’t have happened to the same extent if I hadn’t had food allergies.” – Sydney
Cooking and growing as a person:
“My favorite part about having a food allergy is all the amazing food I can cook and all of the new recipes I have learned for my family. I also have tried a lot of new restaurants that I would have probably never have tried if I didn’t have a food allergy. I have also grown as a person – I learned how to educate other people and advocate for myself, and I feel like that is so important to help others deal with food allergies.” – Shae
Learning lots of skills:
“Having food allergies has taught me to be responsible and stand up for myself. I also found one of my passions, which is cooking/baking, because I always have to make recipes allergy-friendly. Overall, allergies have taught me a lot of skills.” – Jacqueline
Learning how to be more aware:
“I think a great part of having a food allergy is learning how to be aware of your surroundings. You go about your business, but you also analyze the scenery around you for possible dangers. With some more fine-tuning, it can help you be more aware of other things, too.” – Logan
Advocating:
“I think that advocating and standing up for yourself are important skills!” – Anonymous
Creative cooking:
“Creativity with cooking and appreciation for food.” – Amanda from @everydayallergenfree
Learning that experiences are more important than food:
“I would say that a positive of food allergies is embracing experiences over actual food. Sometimes hosts will feel bad when I can’t eat something they made for me because of cross-contamination, but I’ve learned that a Thanksgiving Dinner is so much more important than the food at the table.” – Anonymous
My favorite part of having food allergies is being able to have this blog! If I never had food allergies, I would’ve never gotten the experiences that I have of being on the FARE Teen Advisory Group and with this blog. I’m so thankful for all of you reading this who are allowing me to have this experience!
What’s your favorite part of having food allergies? Let me know in the comments!