"Why going to Shows is Vital for Students"

The Allergy Show – London Olympia – 16 to 18 June 2006

The Allergy Show (www.allergyshow.co.uk) was founded by Jonathan Shaw (who has a history of family allergy) in 2004. The concept, providing a platform to increase awareness to allergy, food intolerance, eczema, sensitive skin, asthma and hayfever, for both consumers and healthcare professional was met with great enthusiasm and its growing success has meant that the show was and will be repeated yearly.

The Third Allergy Show, sponsored by Allergy Magazine (www.allergymagazine.com/), Allergy UK (www.allergyuk.org/), the National Eczema Society (www.eczema.org/) and Asthma UK (www.asthma.org.uk/), was organised over 3 days starting on 16 June. I myself only attended it on its last day and was amazed by the impressive volume of information available under one roof. Over a hundred exhibitors gathered at the Olympia to present their products. Specialists in hypoallergenic skincare rubbed shoulders with organic food and clothing distributors, various organisations such as the sponsors quoted above (Allergy Magazine, offering discounted subscriptions and back issues) and many more.

The Show highlights included the possibility to take various tests such as: an allergy test, a skin test or a free water hardness test. Visitors could benefit from a free consultation from a complementary practitioner, get a free organic makeover, taste various free-from foods and sample various cosmetics and products. A trained asthma nurse was available to give advice and it was also possible to consult specialists and dieticians to give advice on preventing a baby’s eczema to turn into a full-fledged food allergy. I was given a fantastic goodie bag which included several samples such as the very lovely Free Enjoy chocolates, beauty and household products and a fantastic nasal spray for hayfever sufferers. I happened that day to be afflicted by an annoying bout of hayfever and after squirting some of that powder called Nasaleze in my nose, the symptoms soon faded away. The Food Allergy and Intolerance Specialist Group part of the British Dietetic Association (www.bda.uk.com) also distributed very interesting factsheets on labelling laws, substitutes to potentially allergy-provoking foods, useful websites and lovely recipes.

I would also like to make a special mention to FAIRE (Food Allergy and Intolerance Research and Education, whose website www.fairegroup.org will go live shortly). They will operate as a charitable organisation, working with existing patient support groups and relevant agencies to make available all the information possible and thus – I quote – ‘raise awareness, provide education and advance research of all those affected by food allergies and intolerance’. They will ask permission to reuse the material already written on the subject and will, once this has been granted, make it available to the public. I would also recommend to anybody wanting to find out more about different forms of allergy to check out the website of another charity called Action Against Allergy, based in Twickenham (www.ActionAgainstAllergy.co.uk). For £3 it is possible to buy information packs on candida albicans, asthma, ME, anaphylaxis, chemical and environmental allergies etc. For £15 per year you can become a member, not only supporting this most commendable organisation and receiving a regular newsletter, information about NHS and private doctors and clinics, a talk line and advice on books and papers on the subject of allergy.

Over 45 free seminars from top experts were organised giving visitors the possibility to broaden their knowledge of or shed light on allergy problems of any kind: the lecturers were available at the end of each talk for quick Q&A sessions. The themes ranged from Hidden Food Allergies, Complementary Therapies and their Role in the Treatment of Asthma, Allergies and Research, Minimise Allergens in your Home, Eczema and many more. To me, and even though I do no have children yet, the most enlightening seminar was probably the talk given by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride (who holds degrees in medicine, human nutrition and neurology) entitled Diet and Behaviour in Children. Herself the parent of a child diagnosed with learning disabilities, she focussed on what she called the GAP (Gut and Psychology) syndrome. She explained during her 45-minute talk that the condition of their digestive system and what children eat and drink can have a frightening effect on their development, often leading to major problems such as ADHD, ADD and other similar disabilities, even to depression and schizophrenia in later years. Her talk was inspirational and passionate but never condescending. I subsequently purchased her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Depression, Schizophrenia (Medinform Publishing, ISBN 0954852001) which I will review for the Kevala newsletter.

I also attended a talk given by Todd Donnelly, a qualified nutritionist (who featured on Channel 4 programme Make Me a Million) who founded the Lean Team (www.theleanteam.co.uk), a team of nutritionists and dieticians, offering online advice on healthy eating. His talk focused on keeping a healthy balance in our diet (Lean here stands for Life Energy Attitude Nutrition). It was refreshing to meet a nutritionist who did not believe in banning everything in one’s diet in order to maintain a healthy weight but rather advocated making sensible adjustments to one’s lifestyle and balancing the right foods. He seemed to follow the 80/20 ratio which makes a nice change from what we often read in the media but I was a bit taken aback when he said that ready meals were acceptable (although not on a regular basis): surely the high fat, salt, additives and colourings contents of such foods should make them off limit! The future nutritional therapist in me shuddered at the idea but his talk was nevertheless enthusiastic and dynamic.

The next Allergy Show has been scheduled for 17 to 19 June 2007. You can register on their website for regular updates. I will definitely go back, hopefully for more than one day and wholeheartedly recommend such a show, whether you are a trainee complementary therapist, someone suffering from allergies or living with allergy sufferers or simply curious to know more about allergies in general. It is thought provoking, inspirational and fascinating.

Sandy Beaunay

(Nutritional Therapy and Reflexology student with the Kevala)