Navigating Parties & Gatherings With Alpha-Gal Syndrome

With the 4th of July just around the corner, families all across the United States are planning cookouts and large get-togethers. Usually 4th of July parties are a time of fun and connection. Food, fireworks, friends, and family…it doesn’t get much better than that!

But when you have Alpha-Gal Syndrome, large gatherings can quickly turn into a nightmare. You don’t know what is safe to eat and what is not. Even mammal-free foods can easily be contaminated or use mammal byproducts.

The fear of missing out is real, especially for people with food allergies like Alpha Gal Syndrome. Feeling left out of the fun and fellowship surely robbed me of joy at the beginning of my Alpha-Gal journey. I focused on everything I was missing out on, and couldn’t help but envy the carefree way everyone else could eat whatever they wanted to.

However, after years of navigating life with Alpha-Gal syndrome, I have learned some ways to enjoy the parties, family gatherings, and cookouts. Let me share some of my tips with you!

Parties

Parties, no matter the type, are a little more tricky to navigate than family gatherings or cookouts.

I have found that I enjoy myself the most if I can bring similar food as to what the rest of the party will be eating.  

In the most tactful way possible, I try to find out the theme of the party, usually just by asking if there is something I can do to help with the food. Once I know what the menu will be, I can go from there.

Let’s look at an example birthday party:

My friend Suzy Q is hosting a birthday party for her husband Nick. The menu is pizza, salad, beer, and birthday cake. 

I know that most store bought pizza will make me sick so I choose to make my own and take a couple slices along in the ever-present essential food cooler. Salad will be easy to navigate as long as the salad is not premade. Just in case it’s a mixed salad and not a choose-your-own-topping salad bar, I add a bag of prewashed butter salad to the cooler along with my favorite dressing. I personally don’t like beer, so I pack my own favorite beverage and a vegan cupcake I got at my local vegan bakery. 

Now I’m ready to go! Unless someone sees me digging in my cooler, they will never know I’m eating something different. Simple success!

Family Gatherings

In my opinion, family gatherings are by far the easiest to navigate with Alpha-Gal Syndrome. My family has a long history of food allergies, so we are all used to adapting recipes to meet the crowd’s needs or offering at least one acceptable option for each differing set of allergies.

My Dad is allergic to soy and dairy, and sticks to a keto diet. My daughter is allergic to gluten, dairy, and cane sugar. Meanwhile, my nephew and I both have Alpha-Gal Syndrome. It’s quite a list of food allergies!

Our family loves Mexican, Italian and country cooking. Italian is pretty easy to work around. Our pasta menu may look as follows:

• 3 pasta options: 1 gluten free, 1 regular, and 1 with veggie noodles

• 2 pasta sauces: 1 with meat, 1 without meat

• 2 cheese options: vegan mozzarella or parmesan, and regular 

A salad bar is also a popular choice at our family gatherings. We keep each topping in a separate dish so we can choose according to our liking.

• 2 crunchy salad topping options: 1 vegan and 1 regular croutons

• Multiple salad dressings: everyone brings their own favorite

• 2 bread options: 1 regular and 1 vegan keto

For dessert, we tend to go with the same two choices at every gathering.

• Bowl of mixed berries with 2 whipped topping choices: 1 full dairy and 1 dairy-free. 

• Brownies: 1 regular and 1 GF keto

They key is offering multiple choices at family gatherings so there are options for everyone with food allergies.

Cookouts

Cookouts can be navigated with forethought unless you are fume reactive. If you are fume reactive, that may make cookouts a no-go. But as long as you’re not fume-reactive, you can still enjoy a cookout.

I like to be extra careful about cross-contamination on the grill, specifically on other people’s grills. If the cookout is not at my house, I will grill my own meat at home. However, on occasion I have wrapped and sealed my meat in aluminum foil and asked the host to grill my meat safely inside the aluminum foil.  

For the other toppings, I take those along in my cooler: vegan cheese, homemade chili, and dairy-free safe chip or veggie dip.  

The hosts of the cookouts I’ve attended usually ask everyone to bring a covered dish. With this being the case, I usually make Alpha-Gal safe baked beans to share with the crowd. Additionally, I usually offer to make a dessert to share. Fruit cobblers and chocolate chip cookie recipes are pretty easy to adapt to be allergen-free.

As you can see, an excellent cooler that’s easy to take along is the key to navigating parties, family gatherings and cookouts.