How to Grocery Shop With Alpha-Gal Syndrome
The first comment I get from those newly diagnosed with Alpha Gal is, “What can I eat?” It’s a natural response and a huge concern. Navigating food is often anxiety-inducing and immensely terrifying once you’ve encountered an anaphylactic episode. Every time you eat, you wonder, “Am I going to end up in the hospital after eating this?”
For me, it was easier to go hungry than to think of having another episode. And that was even before I knew of all of the mammal derivatives that also need to be avoided!
I had to do a lot of praying, take a deep breath, speak positively about life, and realize that necessity is the mother of invention.
There are plenty of foods that are safe to eat with Alpha-Gal syndrome. A few basic principles helped me know what to shop for without being overwhelmed or fearing another allergic reaction.
Simple foods are safer
Especially if you have just recently been diagnosed, the best advice is stay away from fast food and commercial food for a while, at least until your reactions settle down. Eating a whole foods-based diet that is mostly fresh and cooked at home is the simplest. Choose yummy fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fresh or frozen non-mammal meats.
Beginning simple will help you get into the habit of knowing every ingredient that has been put in your food.
This will make keeping a food journal easier too.
Use vegan recipes
No, you don’t actually have to go vegan! You can still eat poultry and fish. But vegan recipes are wonderful for finding safe substitutes for ingredients you love. I recommend looking at paleo and pescatarian recipes too.
You can look for food bloggers that specialize in whole foods diets, like Whole 30. You don’t have to completely follow these people’s recipes, but they are a wonderful starting place.
You can also take your regular recipes and just buy substitute safe ingredients. I promise you will get the hang of it. Give yourself grace and time.
Keep snacks on hand
Despite my previous advice to keep it simple and stick with whole foods, there will come days when you are craving some snacks. Fortunately there are plenty of grab-and-go Alpha-Gal friendly snacks, and with some detective work you will be able to find some safe packaged snack foods at your local grocery store or on Amazon.
For starters, simply fill out your name and email in the form below and I will send you a list of my favorite snacks and drinks that are safe for me! As of the time of writing this blog post, the snacks on my list are safe for most people with Alpha-Gal, although I cannot personally guarantee anything. Let’s hope they don’t change any ingredients.
I personally crave salty and crunchy items. My favorites are things like corn chips, lentil chips, and a few new things I’ve recently discovered. I also love fizzy drinks. My #1 one vice is Diet Mountain Dew. Zevia drinks are good and I’ve also linked to some of my other faves in this freebie list!
Get to know your local grocery store
This may sound lame, but one of my fun activities when I have a down day is to visit a local high-end grocery store that carries a large variety of foods. I can spend hours slowly perusing the store, looking for some new Alpha-Gal safe snack or food that I haven’t seen before. I read through ingredients, check the sources, and then I use the FIG app to double check myself.
Be aware it will take some trial and error. Read the ingredients of each new food very carefully. If you aren’t sure what an ingredient is or where it may come from, put that product down and search for another. Apps like Is It Vegan and FIG have been very helpful. I use them to double check my choices. I sure don’t want to miss anything like carrageenan, which has the alpha-galactose sugar even though it is not a mammal product!
Add foods to your diet slowly
Unfortunately, labeling in the US is fallible, and a few times I’ve eaten something that was not Alpha-Gal safe even though the ingredient list was okay. Thankfully, it’s been nothing to the point of causing an anaphylactic reaction. I may have achy joints or feet. Or sometimes I feel grouchy and irritable with an accidental exposure, but with detective work I can usually figure out what the culprit is.
Because of accidental exposure, I try to make it a habit to only add one new food, product, or supplement to my diet per day. That way, if I have an allergic reaction, I know exactly what caused the reaction. It’s a way for me to continually expand my diet, while keeping close tabs on what I can and can’t eat.
As you slowly add items to your diet over time, you will find they there are a lot of things you can safely eat! For more insight, click here to see an example of my daily routine.