I have been wanting to do a review of the Living Without magazine for a while now, as it is an important part of my life with IBS. Living Without is published bi-monthly by Belvoir Media Group LLC and is a fantastic resource for people who are living with food allergies and intolerances.
At the beginning of this year, I was pretty much at the end of my rope – I had diarrhea and cramps all the time, my bloating was painful, I was exhausted and very discouraged with the help I was getting (or not getting ) from my physician and naturopath. I discovered the Living Without magazine on the shelf of a shop that I didn’t normally go into, and was intrigued by its tag line: “The magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities.”.
Inside this issue was an article written by Rory Jones titled: FODMAP: Road Map for IBS. Rory included a small ‘cheat sheet’ listing of foods to avoid and foods to enjoy. I had nothing to lose at this point so decided to give it a try. It was my hallelujah moment – within a week my symptoms eased off and I felt hugely better.
This article literally changed my life. I now really look forward to the Living Without magazine arriving at my door.
Every issue contains a variety of articles on a wide range of IBS related issues. Asthma, infertility, and backpacking have been just a few of the topics covered this year. I particularly enjoy reading the Research Round Up Department and always get a laugh out of We’ve Got Issues (irreverent solutions to your real life allergy drama), written by April Peveteaux.
Living Without is one of the few magazines that I actually am interested in the advertising! The new products that are being made available to folks with Celiac, IBS, Food intolerances and allergies are a ray of sunshine, and I’m appreciative of this place to see what’s new to the market.
And the recipes!! In the April/May issue Lisa Stander Horel authored a fabulous article on baking Big, Fat, Soft Cookies that was so exciting to me. I plan on using her Vanilla Soft Cookies as a base for my Christmas baking experiments this year. With a dairy, egg and FODMAP intolerance, my baking options are slim – but Lisa’s ideas have given me something to work with.
If I have one concern about the magazine is that the latest issue doesn’t have the tag ‘the magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities ‘ on it, but has replaced it with ‘gluten-free living at it’s best’. I hope it’s not going to focus on just the gluten free aspect of food issues, as I find there are a large collection of publications dedicated to this area already. The rest of us, with wider ranging issues, really can benefit from a magazine that includes us too….
If you can’t find Living Without on the news stands, check out their website Living Without . Hopefully you will find this resource as fantastically helpful as I have!