May Contain Sample

May Contain Sample Version

Issue 001 Summer 2015 UK

Always be confident to speak up for yourself, and ask if it contains nuts.

Surround yourself with people who understand how severe your allergy is.

Have you eaten nuts today?

Photography DA N I E L K ELLY Model Y U ST I NA ALEX SA N DRAV NA Make up E L LI E M AY

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D A T I N G

01 Ok I’ll be honest, kissing boys while having a nut allergy is not one of my favourite topics. However it is a very important issue to cover and will undoubtedly affect you in some part of your life. Before getting into a long-term relationship, one of the scariest things about dating boys for me was kissing them.

Eventually when faced with the situation of being in a room with a boy and having your lips linger around each others, I had to say it. I didn’t want to die over not being brave enough to mutter a few pathetic syllables that would in turn save my life! When it happened for the first time, when I first asked a boy “Have you eaten nuts today?”, I made sure I was careful.

I prepared the boy for the question.

While talking to each other before the inevitable moment, I brought up that I had a nut allergy, carefully slipping it into the conversation and alerting her to the fact that if he had eaten nuts and subsequently kissed me, I could be in BIG trouble. After bringing up the subject, I carried on delving deeper into the topic and talking about previous situations with boys and how I had to ask them whether they had eaten nuts or not. Un-romantic I know. However, the boy responded with “Don’t worry, I haven’t eaten nuts”, in a

jokey and kind way. I’ve managed to subtly ask this boy whether he eaten nuts or not without even asking. I won’t go on to explain the rest of the story because it’s long winded, but the moral is that if you can just about pluck up the confidence to tell your partner that you have a nut allergy, then it won’t seem so hard talking about the problems and issues that come with it. Uncomfortable for me to say as it is, after that first time, it does get easier Now, although most of your value of life is to ask a girl or guy whether they’ve eaten nuts before you kiss them, of course many of you, will forget and not want to bring it up or are happy to risk it.

Luckily for me, I’ve never had any serious incidents in this field, but believe me if you’re careless enough, you probably will eventually. There will always come a time when you find yourself kissing someone and you’ve suddenly thought during or

The fact that we have to make the decision whether to embarrass ourselves or protect our lives is a horrible one to make for a teen. afterwards “Crap! What if they ate nuts and now I have a reaction”. It’s happened to me and will probably happen to you. What I’ve done in these situations is just simply tried to be as careful as I can afterwards. Usually I’ll go and find my epipen and keep it on me (just in case). Then, if anything bad happens, you can be safe and content that you have your medicine with you. I, personally, also take a bit of solace in simply telling a friend what’s happened. So, going back to my personal experiences, I have been with my boyfriend now for nearly two years and my allergy has never ever been a problem. When we first got together, we became friends and I told her that I had a nut allergy, and then when we progressed, he has the knowledge to be careful and considerate around me. Since being together for nearly two years, I still ask

him whether he eaten nuts or touched them before we kiss, but now it’s not so bad because I feel a lot more confident and I know that she is very aware of my allergy.

Kissing a partner for the first time or even the thousandth time can still be a scary experience for us N.A.S’s.

The fact that we have to make the decision whether to embarrass ourselves or protect our lives is a horrible one to make for a teen. I hope that this little insight into my experiences with the subject has brought you a bit of comfort and might help you in your experiences. And remember, everything that’s mentioned in this post and in my blog is just my opinion. I’m not telling you what to do, I’m just telling you what makes me comfortable, about my past experiences and my personal advice and thoughts.

Asking the dreaded question?

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I went travelling around Europe with my university friends last year, however it does come with its challenges when asking the waiter if the meal contained nuts. We started our journey in Italy; lucky for me one of my best friends is half Italian and spoke fluent Italian, saving me effort to learn the language to ask them if it contained nuts.

translated message ‘Does this meal contain nuts?’ they agreed the meal didn’t contain nuts, however 20 minutes later I had come out with a red rash all across my chest.

In this situation, do not panic. I took one tablet and 20 minutes later the rash calmed down. My friends were very good in this situation and knew exactly what they should do if the allergic reaction got worse.

Asking the question became more and more difficult as we traveled further into Europe, when we arrived at countries like Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia and Germany. I brought my iPhone along with me on the journey, a decision my parents didn’t agree with at the time. The iPhone became the best piece of kit I brought on my travels; I downloaded a translation app that translated the text into every language you could think of. I used it in restaurants to ask the waiter if the meals contain nuts, it worked great and a majority of the time they understood.

When I arrived in Budapest, I translated the text however they saw this as a joke. It read ‘If this meal contain nuts, I would die. I can’t eat nuts’ This caused quite a scene and the waiters found it hilarious and started showing the other staff. I on the other hand didn’t see the funny side when it’s your life your talking about. Maybe now I understand that it was very upfront and to the point, but I feel that people need to take your allergy seriously, especially when your eating foreign food.

During my 21 days traveling around Europe I had one allergic reaction in Prague. I followed the same steps as I did in every other restaurant, and showed them the

When eating out in restaurants, always ask whether it contains nuts. You find that a lot of countries cook using oil that contains some type of nuts, this could catch you out if you don’t ask.

The Art of Living with an Allergy

The fact that we have to make the decision whether to embarrass ourselves or protect our lives is a horrible one to make for a teen. experience the culture over there, however with my nut allergy I feel like it is stopping me. Many of their dishes contain traces of nuts, due to the cooking methods and oils used. They would also not understand if I were to tell them I have a severe nut allergy. The cons over shadow the pros and make me feel like this trip will never happen unless I stayed in a more expensive, up market hotel arrangement. Nevertheless, there is still loads of chocolate I can eat, my friends always presume that I can not eat chocolate. There is a range of chocolate I can eat like Galaxy, Yorkie, Maltesers, Aero and KitKat. That’s enough chocolate to keep anyone happy.

Having a nut allergy has not stopped me from living my life. Last year I moved to Amsterdam, Holland, where I was offered a work placement. I jumped at the opportunity when I found out that I was accepted. I found that living in Europe everyone speaks English as it is a main part of their school curriculum alongside their native language, Dutch. Everyone in Amsterdam speak very good English and completely understood what I was saying when I mentioned about my nut allergy.

Amsterdam are very big on celebrating birthdays so at least once a month there will be cake and sweets, which most of the time I turn down just in case it contained nuts. I feel slightly guilty as it feels like I am not participating with everyone else enjoying the food on offer, but it is not worth taking the risk.

I was very fortunate during my stay in Amsterdam to be taken out to a very expensive sushi restaurant in the museum square by the Creative Director. I find that the more expensive restaurant you eat at, there is more precautions taken to ensure the meal does not contain nuts. Whereas if you go somewhere cheaper they usually do not take the allergy as serious as you would hope they would. It is best to have people around you that understand the seriousness of your allergy, as my friends a lot of time helped me translate to the waiter about how serious my allergy is. If you feel that the restaurant is not taking your allergy serious, I would walk out and don’t bother eating there.

Finally I have been very lucky that I have never had to use the Epi-pen, however I have been very cautious with what I eat and always check the label. I have known friends with allergies to take the risk and eat food that may contain nuts. This is not a risk worth taking and will catch you out one day when you least expect it. If there is one piece of valuable advice I could give to fellow allergy suffers is always to be confident to speak up for yourself and ask if it contain nuts, and surround yourself with people who understand how severe your allergy is. Do not let your allergy take control of your life; make sure it does not stop you from doing the things you want to do.

Live your life!

Don’t be scared to ask a member of staff what’s in your drink. Always let the people around you know about your nut allergy, it could save your life one day.

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The list of drinks you should avoid at all cost on a night out with your friends.

Beer

Whisky

+ Harp Lager (possible traces of peanut)

+ Cooley Eblana Irish Whiskey Liqueur

+ Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Nut Brown Ale

(almond and peanut)

+ Monteith’s Golden Lager (cashew)

+ Glayva Scotch Whiskey Liqueur (almond)

+ Phillips Dirty Squirrel (hazelnut) + Rogue Hazelnut Brown Nectar (hazelnut) + Short’s Pistachio Cream Ale (pistachio) + Short’s Über Goober Oatmeal Stout (peanut) + Stubs Old Crow Hazelnut Porter (hazelnut) + Willoughby Peanut Butter Cup Coffee Porter

Champagne + Rapazzini Sparkling Almond Champagne + Trader Joe’s California Almond Champagne + Wilson Creek Almond Champagne

Vodka

Wine

+ NutLiquor Peanut Butter Vodka

+ Cooper’s Hawk Almond Sparkling Wine

+ Old School Peanut Butter Flavoured Vodka

+ Dunham Peanut Riesling Wine

+ Van Gogh Peanut Butter and Jelly Vodka Brandy

+ Amaretto (almond) + Ratafia (almond)

+ HSB Chinese Pine Nut Wine + JFJ Almond Flavoured California Sparkling Wine + McGinn’s Pistachio Delight Wine + Messina Hof Sparkling Almond Wine + Mr. P’s Cashew Genuine Cashew Wine + Samson Oro Hazelnut Dessert Wine + Stone Temple Wine Acaxú Cashew Wine + Volcano Macadamia Nut Honey Wine

Gin + Beefeater (almond) + Bombay Sapphire (almond)