This is just a mini rave about our friend and colleague, Ruth Holroyd’s, excellent allergy blog, What Allergy? I am sure that many of you will already know or follow Ruth – but if you don’t, you should! Around 80,000 people do read her blog every month, so if you don’t, you are missing out!
Ruth ‘enjoys’ a multiplicity of allergies and intolerances – she is anaphylactic to nuts, dairy, celery and coriander and severely intolerant to soya, tomato and wheat and a whole clutch of other herbs. Her reactions include severe eczema and potentially life threatening asthma attacks. But she walks, travels, eats out, goes on holiday, is a judge for all of our awards (including our beer sessions) – and writes a monthly diary piece for FoodsMatter.
And as well as all of that she is involved in a number of allergy groups and is an extremely active blogger averaging at least a blog every second day and frequently more than that. But the point about my mini rave is that her blogs are a positive treasure trove of useful advice, information and experience on absolutely every aspect of food related allergy. Moreover, she says it like it is, giving those of us who are lucky enough not to have any, or many, allergies a far better understanding of what it is like to have to live with skin which may, and does, erupt at any moment for no apparent reason and never to be able to even taste a thimbleful of any food without having checked and double checked what might be in it.
To give you some idea of the scope of subjects that she covers just look at a few of the posts highlighted on the home page of the blog for August:
• Hazelnuts and country walks – nut allergy alert, especially for children
• Wheat, soya, rye, barley and corn in your filter coffee!
• Beware of Spanish Romesco sauce – contains nuts and wheat!
• Itchy palms or soles of feet – is this a sign of an allergy?
• Emerade adrenaline auto injectors are in stock
• Wheat allergy and the wheat harvest – house bound!
• Five aluminium and paraben free natural deodorants
• Allergens in the bedroom: How to control them
• Can you be allergic to loom bands? Contain latex!
And for a post which really tells it how it is, try ‘Is scratching eczema, psoriasis and prurigo a form of self harm?’
WOW Michelle – I am positively glowing with pride. Thanks so much for the shout out. I am going on holiday next week but my fingers will be itching to blog. Not sure I can go a whole week without doing a blog. I just love it and the ideas just come into my head all the time. People said I’d get bored and dry up after a few years of blogging but they were wrong. 5 years on and still loving it. ;o) If I can just help a few people not feel so alone, and help them find information etc. then my job is done.
Well, you just keep at it Ruth – you are dong a fine job!!!