My carnivore husband was just diagnosed with Alpha Gal Syndrome. Help.

October 26, 2022 5:03 PM

What the title says. My husband was a head-to-tail butcher and loves beef and pork. This diagnosis is incredibly depressing, in addition to other medical issues. There is not much talk here recently about alpha gal, so just wondering if folk here have insights, hacks, or anything that have come to light since 2019. Thank you in advance. DX was recent, just trying to wrap my head around things.
posted by soleilMia to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

I don't have any of the immune info, but Fossil Farms, the place I get my game, out of NJ, specifically has an Alpha-gal section, which might help him think about alternatives.
posted by cobaltnine at 5:52 PM on October 26, 2022 [4 favorites]

This may be common knowledge these days, but it wasn’t back when my mom got diagnosed: it can go away after a few years on its own. My mom had alpha-gal for several years following a tick bite, but then it mysteriously went away. So I guess that means you might cautiously expose yourself to mammalian meat every once in a while to find out? Mostly my mom realized when she *didn’t* get a reaction after eating something that had touched beef.
posted by alligatorpear at 6:05 PM on October 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

I have no firsthand experience with it, but people are now breeding pigs that don’t produce alpha-gal.
posted by fedward at 6:20 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

More about the alpha-gal-free pork: link. It’s unclear to me if they are still providing free samples, and it’s not commercially available yet, but if your husband wants pork, he could email [e-mail] and see if they will send him some.
posted by alligatorpear at 6:39 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

A friend of mine was diagnosed with Alpha gal about 7 years ago, following a tick bite and reaction to a hamburger. He was likewise very depressed about the new dietary limitations but did find that after some time (maybe a year or two?) he was again able to eat meat without issue. So, it may not be a forever thing for your husband.
posted by Jemstar at 9:27 PM on October 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

It can go away. I'd recommend strictly avoiding mammalian meats and associated products (eg. Gelatine), trying to avoid further tick bites, and seeking advice from an allergist/immunologist.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 2:01 AM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

Has he tried ostrich meat? It tastes like red meat, but is alpha gal free since it’s poultry.
posted by music for skeletons at 1:50 PM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Hi, just wanted to thank everyone for their responses. In follow-up:

We have signed up for the alpha gal free pork from Revivacor. They are still sending free sample shipments, approximately 6-ish months out.

I belong to the subReddit and most of the FB groups. Some taken with a grain of salt.

Ostrich and emu meat are f^ckin delicious! Kismet!

We have an appointment with the Dr. Platts-Miller team at UVA at the end of January. They discovered alpha gal syndrome.

We had been hoping dearly he didn't have the dairy issue, but it appears to be a thing. Vegan cheese is filled with lies.

We also have a friend who had AGS and went into remission. He's also the kind of person who merely eats to live, so it really wasn't a big deal to him.

We are researching SAAT (acupuncture therapy).

Finally - thanks again for the comments! People are like, well, you can just eat chicken and fish! But it's So. Much. More. Than. That. :)
posted by soleilMia at 8:14 AM on December 16, 2022