Allergies
19 Best Allergy Blogs of 2012
The world can be a dangerous place for individuals with severe allergies. Thanks to these creative bloggers, the world can be a safer place for everyone with peanut, gluten, and countless other allergies.
Filled with solutions to school cafeteria challenges, recipes with savvy substitutions, and tips for traveling and eating safely, these allergy blogs take the cake – landing them among Healthline’s Best Allergy Blogs of 2012.
The Nut-Free Mom
Jenny Kales, the Nut-Free Mom, has turned lemons into lemonade with her fabulous allergy blog. Mother to two daughters, one of whom has a life-threatening nut allergy, Jenny has built the go-to site for parents of children with nut allergies. Packed with recipes, travel advice, creative solutions for ridding the house of nuts, and contests for readers, Nut-Free Mom makes raising kids with allergies fun!
Nut-Free Mom is the model for nut-free sites on the web. As if managing the blog weren’t enough, Jenny also serves as Associate Editor of Allergic Living Magazine. Write on, Nut-Free Mom!
No Gluten, No Problem
An inspiration to gluten-free gurus everywhere, Pete Bronski has crafted a stellar blog for active, foodie, gluten-free-doesn’t-mean-tasteless devotees. Everything gluten-free – from thorough and honest product evaluations to 50-mile mountain treks supporting the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness – finds a home on this blog.
More than happy to do the taste-testing for you, No Gluten, No Problem offers a talented blend of lifestyle pieces, advocacy, recipes, and commentary to keep the blog fresh and unique. Join them, whether it be for the home-brewed beer or the ultramarathon training!
Gluten Hates Me
Witty and endearing, April Marlow has no delusions about her relationship with gluten: they just plain hate each other. Thankfully, gluten-free readers everywhere can benefit from this fall-out, whether through the opportunity to commiserate about the difficulties of beginning a gluten-free life or the chance to partake in recipe tweaking and the hunt for great gluten-free products.
Gluten Hates Me is fun, helpful, and a welcome respite from the world of gluten. And in case you get tempted to snag cookies off the shelf, you can carry a canvas bag to remind yourself that gluten hates you, too!
Itchy Little World
In a world of eczema, asthma, and allergies, what is a parent to do? Superstar mom Jennifer has decided on her course of action: search, plan, and share until the itches, sneezes, and wheezes end. Luckily for her son – and perhaps for you – she has already unearthed a goldmine of strategies for managing multiple health conditions in kids.
Itchy Little World compiles information on the three health concerns nearest to Jennifer’s heart, and shares her growing body of knowledge with readers. Join her as she discovers tips that just may be the answer to your own allergies (or eczema, or asthma!).
The Allergist Mom
The Allergist Mom is, in this case, actually an allergist. Dr. Sarah Boudreau-Romano has a personal motivation for her blogging endeavors: 3 of her 4 children suffer from life-threatening food allergies. What is a mom (even an allergist mom!) to do when multiple kids have multiple allergies?
Full of encouragement and heartfelt stories of the difficulties of avoiding mistakes, The Allergist Mom is a haven for people wondering how to cope. Dr. Sarah’s genuine understanding of the struggles parents and their children experience offers a comforting notion: even allergist mothers have it tough!
OneSpot Allergy
OneSpot Allergy, brainchild of legal expert Elizabeth Goldenberg, is a godsend to those trying to navigate the world of brand claims, product labels, and allergy-related news. No stranger to the world of parenting an allergic child, this allergy guru has made her analysis of allergen alerts and policy issues available to the masses.
Take advantage of updates about great allergy-free services and learn about important advocacy and allergy awareness issues; when in doubt about a product’s purported allergen-free claims or the latest in EpiPen technology, look no further than OneSpot Allergy.
Allergic to Air
Although not quite Allergic to Air, per se, this stay-at-home mom helps families dealing with multiple food allergies find the bright side of life, reminding them of the little joys in life even when things are tough (and dangerous!). Avoiding everything from eggs and soy to peanuts, corn, wheat, and milk, this Super Mom brings creativity to your computer screen.
Filled with clever recipes for kids, savvy ingredient substitutions, and clever answers to daily problems facing parents of allergic kids, this talented blogger makes you believe that she could even handle being Allergic to Air!
Lexie's Kitchen
Lexie’s Kitchen blog is a foodie’s delight - period. Preparing wholesome foods to help heal her son’s body and mind (literally, since he copes with speech and motor delays in addition to food allergies), Lexie has launched a site to help other mothers do the same.
Avoiding gluten, casein, dairy, eggs, corn, and excess sweeteners or preservatives, Lexie whips up delectable recipes with magazine-worthy photos. Paired with food-related product reviews and expert tips only a wonder mom could invent, Lexie’s Kitchen invites you in to sit down and reap the benefits of her hard work.
Allergy Foodie
Anu Rao, foodie mom and allergy expert (by way of raising a son allergic to not one, but all eight of the most common food allergens), brings her nutrition background to bear on the most common issues concerning parents of allergy-ridden kids: “What the heck do I feed them? How do I keep them safe?”
With Allergy Foodie in your parenting arsenal, however, you will worry a little less and enjoy a little more. Look no further for a blog that makes cooking for multiple-allergy kids just that much easier – watermelon pancakes, Indian-inspired fudge, and all!
Cybele Pascal
Cybele Pascal not only has kids with multiple food allergies, she and her husband also require special allergy-free recipes. In her initial quest to rid the kitchen of the top eight food allergens, Cybele reinvented cooking as we know it. Creating cookbooks that are safe for just about everyone, Cybele reinvented the menu for individuals with food allergies.
Complete with a substitution guide, awesome recipes, an online shop for allergen-free ingredients and cookbooks, and a can-do attitude, Cybele will be your new best friend in the kitchen – without the top eight allergens.
Learning to Eat Allergy-Free
This busy mom and cookbook writer has a mission: making allergen-free baking doable for the average family. As more and more households have to transform their pantries to avoid gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts, and soy, busy parents everywhere will be thanking their lucky stars that Colette Martin had to do it first.
A whiz in the kitchen, Colette has made Learning to Eat Allergy-Free her guiding mission – and her readers share in the benefits. Follow her blog for scrumptious baked goods magically created without any of the typical ingredients and a healthy dose of advocacy and commentary to boot.
Achoo Allergy Blog
The Achoo Allergy Blog is the allergic family’s guide to allergen-proofing a home. Packed with information on everything from dehumidifiers to allergen-free pillows, the Achoo Allergy Blog focuses primarily on environmental allergens but advocates for an allergy-aware society no matter the allergen.
Founded by and for allergy sufferers, this blog helps sort through allergy-reducing products and offers reviews, commentary, and allergy-related news. No matter your allergy, the Achoo Allergy Blog makes it easier for you to improve your quality of life and keep your family happily allergy-free.
Allergic Child
Dedicated to advocacy, awareness, and incredibly useful information, Allergic Child is a one-stop shop for information on everything from your child’s rights in school (even college!) to learning how to feed and care for a child with food allergies.
Chock full of advice and expert recommendations on summer camp, eating out, joining local allergy-related organizations, and identifying safe foods, Allergic Child will take you every step of the way on the journey of learning to advocate for your child’s health. Check out their newsletter, advice columns, and relevant discussions of allergy news.
The FAAN Blog
The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network’s Blog is a haven for parents learning about food allergies and safety for children with life-threatening potential reactions. At the forefront in advocacy and awareness efforts, The FAAN Blog keeps readers up-to-date on relevant research, legislation, local events, and the spectrum of specialty education allergic families require.
Working to raise awareness and to promote safety and education for allergic individuals, the FAAN Blog makes it easy to stay informed, healthy, and safe. Visit the site to donate or to read their fantastic posts.
Jeanette's Healthy Living Blog
Ain’t no lie, Jeanette has delicious and healthful culinary creations to an art. To up the ante, however, she has also made it a science. At Jeanette’s Healthy Living blog, you can find snazzy recipes that fight cancer and adapt easily to avoid multiple food allergens (such as gluten and casein).
Even though Jeanette’s recipes demonstrate that she’s a nut-lover, she is happy to help you tweak her menus according to your family’s needs and tastes. It won’t take long before you are hooked: scrolling through the recipe index, planning how to purge allergens from your pantry, and much more!
About.com's Allergies Blog
About.com’s Allergies blog, run by allergy expert Dr. Daniel More, is the allergy-sufferer’s personal guide to allergy relief. Perhaps the most comprehensive and scientific of the allergy blogs awarded, Dr. More covers everything from hay fever and antihistamines to occupational asthma and preservative allergies.
Whether you are allergic to dust mites, eggs, pollen, or sunscreen, Dr. More has the news, advice, and answers you need. Find solutions and medical know-how for the entire family’s allergy problems at About.com’s Allergies blog, and rest easy knowing that Dr. More is on your side.
ABC's Allergy Blog
Who knew ABC had an Allergies Blog? Well, you do now, and it isn’t something you will soon forget. Stay up to date on seasonal, environmental, and food allergy research. Learn about your local pollen counts and let ABC alert you to allergy advocacy issues that matter to parents and readers like you.
Better still, ask them your most pressing allergy questions – anything from allergy snippets in pop culture to federal policies for allergy medications under the new health care act – and ABC’s Allergy blog news team will look into the story for you. Talk about service!
Kids With Food Allergies Blog
If you have been searching for an online community focused on parenting kids with food allergies, look no further. The Kids With Food Allergies Foundation makes it their business (literally) to keep you connected with recipes, educational resources, and an active network of parents like you.
Take your pick of over 20 specific allergy forums to get the info and camaraderie you need. From product allergen recalls and alerts to an up-to-date calendar of allergy awareness events and activities, the Kids With Food Allergies Blog offers information and a sense of community you can’t afford to miss.
Food Allergy Mama
Kelly Rudnicki, mother and cookbook-writer extraordinaire, shares not only her best recipes but also her stories of the ups and (sometimes scary!) downs of raising a child with life-threatening food allergies and asthma. Her genuine manner makes for an endearing blog that makes you feel as much a friend as an eager reader in search of a new favorite allergy-free meal.
When she’s not busy cooking with Martha Stewart or writing her latest Food Allergy Mama cookbook, Kelly makes it her job to provide you with heartwarming tales straight from her home to yours. Read. “Like.” Repeat.
The Best Allergy Blogs of 2012
Allergies can be frustrating, confusing, and downright dangerous. With these fabulous bloggers as your guides, however, life can be a little less harrowing. So go ahead, whip up the recipes, drop them a line, ask them a question, and let them know how much you appreciate their hard work.
Without allergy experts and parents who have boldly treaded into the world of allergen-free cooking, where would the rest of us be? Check out the Best Allergy Blogs of 2012 today so that you – and your kids – can begin to breathe easy.
