Finding Flavor Beyond Meat: Embracing Life With Alpha Gal
Who knew that a walk in the woods would change my entire life
I’ll admit it… I’m a tree hugger. I mean that literally. One of my greatest loves is nature, and left to my own devices I will most likely say “screw it” to the day’s obligations and run off to the woods to spend hours wandering and, yes, hugging trees. I've called several states across the US home, devoting much of my free time to walks and soaking up the unique environments found in each one. The Ozark Mountains, however, hold a particularly special place in my heart. It was there that I learned to truly listen to the land, and as a result, to truly listen to myself. Sitting on a mountaintop in complete silence, and listening to the mountains speaking to me, easing my troubles. Helping me come back to myself. It was also there that my journey with alpha-gal began.
So what on earth is alpha-gal? Despite how the name sounds, it is not a sorority; it is an illness, spread primarily by lone star ticks, that causes people to become allergic to mammal products. Much like how the bite of a deer tick can cause Lyme disease, the bite of a lone star tick can cause alpha-gal. It is sometimes referred to, a bit simplistically, as “red meat allergy”. But this is only part of it. Alpha gal is an allergy to the galactose-α-1,3-galactose sugar that is found in most mammals. As such, alpha-gal can be present in anything derived from mammals, not just meat. It can be found in dairy products, gelatin, lanolin, and anything else derived from mammals.
Somewhere along the line, in all the time I spent running around the Ozarks woods, I got such a tick bite. I began noticing, in late summer 2020, that I was having a bit of trouble swallowing. I didn’t think too much of it, and didn’t see any reason at that point to see a doctor. I was also getting random bouts of nausea, but thought that was just due to the stress of finishing my degree program, along with my husband’s upcoming year-long deployment. By early 2021, I had gotten worse. I had some friends over for a birthday bonfire in January, and we were cooking sausages over the fire. I was taking the tiniest bites imaginable and could barely swallow them, and was nauseous all day the next day. I went to see my family doctor, and a series of tests, along with a CT scan of my abdomen and barium swallow imaging of my throat, showed nothing wrong. By spring, I had lost 30 pounds and could only swallow liquids, and even that I could only swallow tiny sips at a time. I finally went to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor. She suspected I had allergies, and asked me a series of questions. What kind of foods did I eat? Did I ever feel nauseous a few hours after eating? Did the nausea seem random, like it would come and go and was unexplainable? Did I sometimes get itchy all over for what seemed like no reason? I told her that I ate a pretty standard meat-potato-veg diet, and yes I would randomly feel nauseous and itchy, on top of not being able to swallow. She told me she wanted to do a blood test to check for a disease called alpha-gal, because she had been seeing an uptick in patients with the disease, and it would explain my weird symptoms. She did a full panel food allergy blood test, along with a blood test specifically for alpha-gal. I thought there was no way I had a food allergy; I had never had any trouble with food allergies or sensitivities in my entire life. So I was shocked when the alpha-gal test results came back positive.
I stared at the test results in disbelief. Could this weird disease I had never heard of before really be the cause of all the health problems I was having? Alpha gal exists on a sliding scale of severity; some people can have a very mild case that causes minimal symptoms, and some can have a very severe case that causes anaphylactic shock from any contact with mammal products. My test results were in the moderate range. My food allergy panel confirmed the alpha-gal, showing allergies to red meat, lamb, pork, dairy, cheese, lactose, and gelatin.
My doctor instructed me to stop eating all mammal products immediately. Since I didn’t want to waste the meat and dairy I already had in my house, I called my friends over for an alpha-gal party. I cleaned out the fridge, freezer, and pantry from any items I could no longer eat, and let my friends take all the food home. I started eating mostly vegetables and grains, along with chicken and eggs. Within weeks, my throat was feeling better, and my ability to swallow drastically improved. My energy levels were better, and for the first time in months, I wasn’t nauseous anymore. I could not believe how much better I felt.
Throughout my life, I had always thought I would be well suited to being a vegetarian. I am a big animal lover, and cannot even find it in myself to kill a bug that gets into my house. I actually have a little cup contraption I made, so that I can “catch and release” any bugs I find inside. Yet as a professional chef, I saw meat as an essential part of creating a perfect meal. I always said things like “I’d miss bacon too much to be a vegetarian”. When I was told by my doctor I could no longer eat meat or dairy, I worried about all the foods I would miss (especially, yes, how much I would miss being able to eat bacon). Surprisingly, in the 3 years I have been living with alpha-gal, I have never missed bacon. Not even once. I don’t really miss dairy; the only thing I will say I miss is good fresh mozzarella cheese. I definitely do not miss meat at all. In fact, I have stopped eating poultry as well as red meat, just because I no longer have a taste for meat; it actually turns my stomach now. I am so in love with fruits, vegetables, and grains, and the amazing dishes that can be created with them.
While there is no cure for alpha-gal, it can resolve itself in time. The longer someone with alpha-gal goes without another tick bite, the more likely it is that they will no longer have alpha-gal. Often after about 5 years without another infectious tick bite, alpha-gal will have resolved itself and the person will no longer have it. I get my levels checked with a blood test every year, and last year, after my first year without another tick bite, my levels had dropped slightly. If my alpha-gal resolved itself, I would be thrilled. I would no longer have to carry an Epi-pen with me everywhere I go. I wouldn’t have to worry about cross-contamination of food at restaurants, and would be able to go out to eat again. I wouldn’t have to wear a medical ID bracelet every day. But I can honestly say that I will never go back to eating meat again. I am embracing and loving living a vegetarian lifestyle. So for that, alpha-gal, I thank you.