Anyone hear of this allergy?? Its got a very appropriate name! I’ve been doing this since the 80s, and this is new to me
Anyone hear of this allergy?? Its got a very appropriate name! I’ve been doing this since the 80s, and this is new to me
by Vendetta2112
25 Comments
abstract_lemons
Oh yeah, alpha gal is a whole current thing. Thanks Ticks!
FYI, it’s a tick related illness. Do a google search for “ alpha gal Martha’s Vineyard”
It fucked up the whole season on the island
Hulu_n_SnuSnu
Yep. The lone-star tick can cause this allergy. A friend of mine had this, he was lucky in that he was one of the people who got over it.
s0m30n3e1s3
It’s a red meat allergy, commonly from tick bites. First officially reported in 2002. Discovered because some people were allergic to a weirdly specific form of chemotherapy and researchers wanted to know why.
Definitely real and not all that uncommon. However, if I had allergies this severe, I would not be eating out.
Simorie
It was first detected in the U.S. a little over twenty years ago, and is associated with tick bites. Fun fact: the trigger appears in mammals *except* humans.
Tatworth
A friend contracted it. All of a sudden he couldn’t eat any mammal meat.
orecchiette_
Alpha-gal is a thing, however I am not sure why is gluten and magnesium stearate on the list of meat by-products linked to it. They are not connected at all, and there is a separate list of other allergens for this person.
I think accomodating a person who has both alpha-gal syndrome AND avoids gluten AND nuts sounds extremely difficult to achieve in restaurant setting.
BraileDildo8inches
Yes this is real it makes you allergic to red meat*
Practical-Cook5042
This is both weirdly specific and weirdly not specific.
What’s weird is they say they have a nut and seed allergy. All nuts? All seeds? So no cumin, no celery seed, no anise, etc? That seems weird to me.
As someone with food allergies and a relative who died via cross contamination at a restaurant… This person should bring their own food and not make it everyone else’s problem. Honestly people with this severe of allergies don’t usually feel safe eating something they didn’t prepare.
mmmmmarty
Comes from tick bites, specifically the Lone Star tick. It is very real and people get very sick. It’s named for Galctose-alpha-1,3-galactose, the exotic molecule that starts the immune response.
I have one coworker and one supervisor who have it, and picked it up locally.
My dermatologist’s entire family has it after hiking near the VA state line for a long weekend.
WakingOwl1
I have a friend whose husband has Alpha-gal. Radio Lab did a great episode about it.
UltraHawk_DnB
yea that’s sadly a real allergy, and then top it off with gluten and nuts? damn. still, can eat quite a few things. she writes magnesium, but vegetables seem to be ok? lots of directions you can take this and still have something nice to eat
schmiddtters
Yup, I’ve heard of this, tho not by that name. There is a disease caused by ticks that essentially makes you allergic to red meat.
It’s pretty unfortunate for her. Just make her a nice chicken breast in a pan with some nice veggies.
sc2lover2001
Most definately real unfortunately, the biggest bummer is the added allergies below, she also can’t have seeds nuts or gluten, so you can essentially cancel most breads in food service, unless you have decent advanced notice to source something for them.
MsFrankieD
I knew a lady who suffered from this. Even exposure to smoke from a grill would cause her to break out in painful rashes.
Yes this is a real thing. But as a person with severe celiac disease, it isn’t a “give the chef a handout” thing, it’s a “stop by the restaurant during a quiet time and speak directly to the chef” thing. And if the chef agrees – with a regular heads up – that they can accommodate when you visit, this is now your Forever Only Safe Restaurant.
It’s unreasonable for us to put our lives in the hands of someone we’ve never met. It’s equally unreasonable for True Food Service Professionals™️ to unilaterally decide we should never ever eat out and that we should fuck off and stay home forever.
ArtBear1212
I have a friend who has this. His allergy is now so bad that he can’t eat anything from an animal – not just mammals. So he is involuntarily vegan.
CantaloupeAsleep502
I have a friend with alpha gal. He got it before it was widely known, and basically had to figure out what was causing it for him while people were telling him he was crazy.
Of note, he stopped going out to eat when he figured it out, because this is completely and utterly unrealistic to expect of literally any kitchen unless it’s already a vegan place.
From a self preservation angle, I would never, ever bet my life on a kitchen doing this, and from a not being an asshole perspective, I would never, ever make this kind of request out of the blue.
Most_Ad_3765
There is a really excellent episode of Radiolab on Alpha Gal, where I first learned about it: [https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal](https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal)
Grigori_the_Lemur
At some point, as much as my heart quite genuinely bleeds for her, her problem cannot become your problem without more advance notice or some sort of arrangement. If you get any of this wrong she can die.
olde_meller23
This is my annual psa to tuck them pants into them socks if you’re going out hiking. No long pants, no closed toe shoes, no hike for you.
And still check for ticks. If you spend time outdoors regularly, let your doctor know regardless of whether you have symptoms or not.
25 Comments
Oh yeah, alpha gal is a whole current thing. Thanks Ticks!
FYI, it’s a tick related illness. Do a google search for “ alpha gal Martha’s Vineyard”
It fucked up the whole season on the island
Yep. The lone-star tick can cause this allergy. A friend of mine had this, he was lucky in that he was one of the people who got over it.
It’s a red meat allergy, commonly from tick bites. First officially reported in 2002. Discovered because some people were allergic to a weirdly specific form of chemotherapy and researchers wanted to know why.
[You can read more about it here.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha-gal_syndrome)
*glances at recent large delivery of emu*
“You got lucky this time…”
Yes. [Alpha-Gal syndrome is actually becoming more common in the USA, thanks to climate change and the increase of lone-star tick populations](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12365936/).
Yes. It’s a syndrome that causes (some) food allergies. It’s gotten some press here in Massachusetts:
[https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/tick-allergy-meat-dairy-marthas-vineyard/](https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/tick-allergy-meat-dairy-marthas-vineyard/)
[https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/09/04/ticks-marthas-vineyard-ma-vegan-alpha-gal-lone-star-red-meat-allergy/85944313007/](https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/healthcare/2025/09/04/ticks-marthas-vineyard-ma-vegan-alpha-gal-lone-star-red-meat-allergy/85944313007/)
[https://mvmagazine.com/news/2025/06/06/island-epidemic](https://mvmagazine.com/news/2025/06/06/island-epidemic)
Here’s a Mayo Clinic writeup on it: [https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608](https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alpha-gal-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20428608)
Definitely real and not all that uncommon. However, if I had allergies this severe, I would not be eating out.
It was first detected in the U.S. a little over twenty years ago, and is associated with tick bites. Fun fact: the trigger appears in mammals *except* humans.
A friend contracted it. All of a sudden he couldn’t eat any mammal meat.
Alpha-gal is a thing, however I am not sure why is gluten and magnesium stearate on the list of meat by-products linked to it. They are not connected at all, and there is a separate list of other allergens for this person.
I think accomodating a person who has both alpha-gal syndrome AND avoids gluten AND nuts sounds extremely difficult to achieve in restaurant setting.
Yes this is real it makes you allergic to red meat*
This is both weirdly specific and weirdly not specific.
Gluten is not an animal product but it’s in the alpha gal list. The rest is legit. https://www.thermofisher.com/allergy/us/en/living-with-allergies/food-allergies/10-new-and-surprising-facts-about-alpha-gal-syndrome.html
What’s weird is they say they have a nut and seed allergy. All nuts? All seeds? So no cumin, no celery seed, no anise, etc? That seems weird to me.
As someone with food allergies and a relative who died via cross contamination at a restaurant… This person should bring their own food and not make it everyone else’s problem. Honestly people with this severe of allergies don’t usually feel safe eating something they didn’t prepare.
Comes from tick bites, specifically the Lone Star tick. It is very real and people get very sick. It’s named for Galctose-alpha-1,3-galactose, the exotic molecule that starts the immune response.
I have one coworker and one supervisor who have it, and picked it up locally.
My dermatologist’s entire family has it after hiking near the VA state line for a long weekend.
I have a friend whose husband has Alpha-gal. Radio Lab did a great episode about it.
yea that’s sadly a real allergy, and then top it off with gluten and nuts? damn. still, can eat quite a few things. she writes magnesium, but vegetables seem to be ok? lots of directions you can take this and still have something nice to eat
Yup, I’ve heard of this, tho not by that name. There is a disease caused by ticks that essentially makes you allergic to red meat.
It’s pretty unfortunate for her. Just make her a nice chicken breast in a pan with some nice veggies.
Most definately real unfortunately, the biggest bummer is the added allergies below, she also can’t have seeds nuts or gluten, so you can essentially cancel most breads in food service, unless you have decent advanced notice to source something for them.
I knew a lady who suffered from this. Even exposure to smoke from a grill would cause her to break out in painful rashes.
Radiolab did a story on this back in 2016. [https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal](https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal)
Yes this is a real thing.
But as a person with severe celiac disease, it isn’t a “give the chef a handout” thing, it’s a “stop by the restaurant during a quiet time and speak directly to the chef” thing. And if the chef agrees – with a regular heads up – that they can accommodate when you visit, this is now your Forever Only Safe Restaurant.
It’s unreasonable for us to put our lives in the hands of someone we’ve never met. It’s equally unreasonable for True Food Service Professionals™️ to unilaterally decide we should never ever eat out and that we should fuck off and stay home forever.
I have a friend who has this. His allergy is now so bad that he can’t eat anything from an animal – not just mammals. So he is involuntarily vegan.
I have a friend with alpha gal. He got it before it was widely known, and basically had to figure out what was causing it for him while people were telling him he was crazy.
Of note, he stopped going out to eat when he figured it out, because this is completely and utterly unrealistic to expect of literally any kitchen unless it’s already a vegan place.
From a self preservation angle, I would never, ever bet my life on a kitchen doing this, and from a not being an asshole perspective, I would never, ever make this kind of request out of the blue.
There is a really excellent episode of Radiolab on Alpha Gal, where I first learned about it: [https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal](https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal)
At some point, as much as my heart quite genuinely bleeds for her, her problem cannot become your problem without more advance notice or some sort of arrangement. If you get any of this wrong she can die.
This is my annual psa to tuck them pants into them socks if you’re going out hiking. No long pants, no closed toe shoes, no hike for you.
And still check for ticks. If you spend time outdoors regularly, let your doctor know regardless of whether you have symptoms or not.