Alpha-Gal Syndrome

Allergies can make gift giving tricky, and alpha-gal syndrome (aka red meat allergy) brings it to a whole new level.  If your family has food or personal product gift-giving traditions, AGS can put a wrench in your holiday plans.  Sorry Aunt Susan, that meat tray just isn't going to work this year. We get it; gifts are personal, and there aren't many "one size fits all" gift ideas, but we'd like to offer up a few suggestions to help inspire you this holiday season. If you're feeling especially subtle, show this list to somebody responsible for buying gifts for you this year. If you've got something you'd prefer over some of these suggestions, let us know and we'll add it to the list. Side note/obligatory disclaimer: We are not endorsed by any of these products, and the links to them aren't even referral links that give us any sort of kickback. We just want Aunt Susan to stop with the meat trays. Mini Donut Maker You know what always make...

Be it for lactose intolerance, arthritis, weight loss, sodium reduction, inflammation, allergies or other reasons, giving up dairy can make a big difference in overall health. Just remember to get calcium from other sources such as leafy green vegetables, and if you are not getting at least 15 minutes of direct sun on your arms and face a day, vitamin d supplements and your golden. American and European cooking make heavy use of milk products that can make transitioning to a dairy-free lifestyle especially jarring.  People who develop alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), an allergy to all mammal meats, become sensitive enough to have to give up some or all milk products around 50% of the time.  Since this allergy is triggered at any age (usually after a tick bite), the sudden radical diet change can be especially unsettling.  Those who have children who are born with or suddenly develop severe milk allergies have similar struggles.  This list is for people with...

Alpha-Gal Syndrome(AGS) is a potentially life-threatening allergy to the oligosaccharide galactose-alpha 1, 3 galactose (alpha-gal) commonly found in non-human mammal products and sometimes carrageenan .  Because alpha-gal can contaminate any product derived from mammals and no labeling laws exist to aid consumers who need to avoid it, reading labels and searching for a product that can be safely consumed is a real chore.  Thankfully, there are strategies that can help cut down on the amount of time it takes to work through all the brands on the store shelf quickly to find the one that will work! A Note On Tolerance Levels The first thing to be aware of when dealing with reading labels is personal tolerance levels .  Not everyone with alpha-gal syndrome needs to avoid every possible source of it as different types of ingredients have different concentrations.  As a result, the tips here will be of more use to some people than others as we cover strategies f...

Alpha-gal syndrome  (AGS) aka "red meat allergy" is a potentially life-threatening food allergy that can be brought on by tick bites in anyone at any age.  Alpha-gal reactions result from exposure to a carbohydrate rather than a protein, are usually delayed by several hours, and have a variety of symptom presentations, all of which helped to keep the condition hidden from science until its discovery in 2009 .  Unfortunately, this carbohydrate is produced by all mammals, with the exception of old-world primates like humans, making it more than a little difficult to avoid.  It is also found in some species of red algae  (carrageenan).  Even worse, as a carbohydrate is it much tougher than a protein and doesn't easily break down or filter out and can even end up concentrated by some processing techniques. Learning ingredients to avoid is half the battle for someone with AGS, and while many will never need to worry about more than meat , a significan...