author of Feeding Eden

Food Allergies and Alcohol Don’t Mix

Belonging to a food allergy and asthma support group offers parents of younger children windows into the future as well as moorings in the present. My fellow support group members have allergic babies all the way to teenage and young adults. Unsurprisingly, a common issue for Food Allergic Teenagers is Drinking.

Drinking alcohol can be problematic for food allergic teenagers for several reasons: Drinking can impair judgement and judgement is one of the only weapons our children have to keep themselves safe. Food-allergic teens must have the good sense to abstain from allergens, to keep their medicine nearby and to use follow their medical protocol should they have an accidental allergic reaction.
Another BIG problem: Alcohol ingestion may complicate a person's allergic tolerance. In fact, there are several types of allergies to alcohol. For more on that, I wrote about Allergies and Alcohol in the Huffington Post last year: Throw It Back Or Throw It Up: How Will The Allergy Generation Handle Their Drink?
Evidently, wine makers share my concerns and thanks to a Danish study there is an "allergy-Free" wine in development. But "allergy free" or not, too much wine won't help my son stay safe when he's out in the world without us. So here's what I'm thinking: It's been a long winter. And I do enjoy the warming comfort of a drink at the end of day with dinner. But I'm also going to strive to be a role model for alcoholic moderation for both my children and we will all benefit.