📹 The Sudden Meat Allergy Is Real. Did Vegans Engineer It?
The red meat allergy is a very new phenomenon that affects thousands severely. Some have said it’s too convenient for vegans.
Can you become allergic to meat after being vegetarian?
Individuals who adhere to a vegan diet may manifest allergic or intolerance-related symptoms subsequent to the consumption of dairy or meat products. It is advised that those wishing to transition from a plant-based diet to an omnivorous one should allow sufficient time for the digestive system to adjust. Sesame seeds are a common ingredient in a variety of plant-based foods, including salads, dressings, vegan sushi, tahini, and hummus. They are naturally free of meat and dairy, which makes them a popular choice for those following a plant-based diet.
Why am I suddenly intolerant to meat?
Meat sugar allergy is caused by the sugar molecule alpha galactose, found on animal cells and not produced naturally in humans or primates. The immune system recognizes meat sugar as dangerous and produces IgE antibodies. The cause is controversial, with American researchers suggesting bites from the American tick. Meat sugar allergies are limited to beef, lamb, venison, and pork, with offal having a higher concentration of alpha-gal.
Can you reverse meat allergy?
Although there is no known treatment for red meat allergies, it is possible to prevent them by limiting or stopping consumption. Individuals with alpha-gal syndrome may require the avoidance of byproducts of red meat, while dairy is generally well tolerated. Further research is required to elucidate the underlying causes, optimal treatment, and duration of red meat allergies.
Who lives longer a vegetarian or a meat eater?
Loma Linda University researchers have discovered that vegetarian men live 10 years longer than non-vegetarian men, with an average life expectancy of 83 years, and for women, it adds an extra 6 years, bringing their life expectancy to 85 years. This research is part of the Adventist Health Study-1, a 14-year study that tracked diets, lifestyle, and diseases among 34, 000 Seventh-day Adventists.
What are the first signs of alpha-gal?
An AGS reaction, characterized by hives or an itchy rash, typically occurs 2-6 hours after eating meat or dairy products or exposure to alpha-gal products like gelatin-coated medications. Symptoms can range from mild to severe, with some potentially life-threatening. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, heartburn, diarrhea, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, blood pressure drop, and swelling.
Can you develop a meat allergy later in life?
Meat allergies can develop at any stage in life and affect the immune system, which protects the body from harmful microorganisms. This can lead to allergies, hypersensitivity, and rejection of transplanted organs, tissues, and medical implants. Symptoms include vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, wheezing, shortness of breath, repetitive cough, tightness in the throat, weak pulse, pale skin color, hives, swelling, dizziness, confusion, and potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. Triggers for meat allergies include eating meat from mammals and sometimes poultry.
Can your body reject meat after being vegetarian?
The body can still digest meat, even after being a vegetarian. Although you may feel heavy after the first meal, you won’t be unable to digest and metabolize it. To reintroduce meat, consider questions like whether it will make you sick, what to eat first, portion sizes, preventing digestive issues, making meat appealing, and handling the emotional impact. Eating meat again is easier than you might think, and easing back into it is likely to be easier than you think.
What happens if a long-term vegetarian eats meat?
A long-time vegetarian inadvertently consumed meat in the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation cafeteria, prompting concerns about the safety of youth sports from coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreaks and the potential impact of the virus on sports and overall health. The human digestive system is capable of digesting both plant and meat products. The enzymes utilized for the breakdown of plant proteins are identical to those employed for the breakdown of meat proteins.
Do vegetarians age faster than meat-eaters?
A substantial body of research indicates that individuals who adhere to a vegan diet and consume a substantial quantity of fruits and vegetables exhibit reduced levels of inflammatory markers, which is advantageous for individuals as they age. Veganism offers a plethora of benefits, including the prevention of chronic disease, increased energy levels, and reduced inflammation. However, the question of whether vegans age better than meat-eaters remains unanswered.
Do vegetarians stop producing enzymes to digest meat?
Our bodies are capable of breaking down proteins, and they don’t differentiate between animal or plant proteins. The enzymes involved in breaking down meat are the same as those that help with digesting tofu or chickpeas. Many vegetarians worry about accidentally eating meat and believe their bodies can no longer digest it properly. However, professor of Nutrition, Metabolism and Genomics Sander Kersten explains that our bodies are perfectly capable of breaking down proteins and don’t differentiate between animal or plant proteins.
📹 Meat is Now a Top 10 Allergy
How meat has become a top 10 food allergy and the research on how it leads to the creation of unique, *super LDL* (bad …
I’m in the army, stationed in Virginia. They have been giving us warnings about the lone star for months and doing constant “tick checks” when training. Well last summer during a training mission in the woods I was bit one of the nights we slept in a grassy clearing. I was a very active meat eater and went through a depressing transition to vegetarian. I have had nothing but support from friends and am about to hit my one year veggie-versary. I love being vegetarian, everything about it aaaand; if I go full vegan the army gives you extra pay. Baby steps, this website helps me so much in my transition
I have just been diagnosed with alpha gal after 8 months of being sick with a lot of symptoms. I have had testing and it seems I react to all animal protein including chicken and seafood. I have been vegan now for 3 days and many of my symptoms are gone. Sadly the pain and some fatigue are very present. I have had to switch all my vitamins and supplements to certified vegan. This tick Bourne illness has turned my life upside down as animal byproducts are in so many things. I now have to carry an epi pen, wear a medical ID bracelet and will need to inform all doctor before any medical procedure so they do not inject me with anything dangerous to me. I already have a suppressed immune system and lymes disease so likely this will be life long for me. Nature evolves and so must we.
I’m a big fan and appreciate your work, but this article is incredibly insensitive. I hope you have grown / learned more since filming this. I’ve been vegan for over a decade and still recently got diagnosed with alpha gal. Mammal is pervasive in the world, and it’s not possible to avoid just by not eating meat. 😒 More importantly, alpha gal is ALSO present in carrageenan, which is, guess what, in lots of vegan products!! So I’ve been incredibly sick despite ALREADY BEING VEGAN.
For someone whose life philosophy is based on compassion, your ableist views are surprising. You might not be aware of it, but lots of vegans get AGS, and they suffer, too. This is because alpha-gal is in tens of thousands of medications, medical products, personal care and household products in the form of byproducts that are almost impossible to recognize as mammal-derived. Did you know that a complete list of mammalian byproducts doesn’t even exist? In other cases, such as when a byproduct is used as a processing aid, it’s not listed on the label at all. Alpha-gal is in lots of foods that vegans don’t think twice about eating, because they don’t even know they aren’t vegan, like water filtered with bone char and processed foods with added vitamins. It’s in juice and other drinks clarified with gelatin. A vegan friend with alpha-gal recently had a severe anaphylactic reaction after eating a vegan chocolate bar that was made in the same facility as milk chocolate. And alpha-gal is not just in mammalian products. It is also in carrageenan, which is added to many vegan foods to improve their mouth-feel, as an emulsifier, or for its gelling properties. Carrageenan is also added to personal care and medical products, and it’s virtually impossible to figure out which. Airborne alpha-gal from cooking meat or other sources can cause some of us to experience immediate anaphylaxis or lose consciousness. Some people have to move or quit their jobs to avoid meat fumes. It’s impossible for many of us to eat out or travel without getting deathly ill due to unavoidable cross-contamination, fumes, and hidden sources of alpha-gal.
Great article I’ve had Alpha-Gal for over 6 years and it took forever and almost dying a few times before it was diagnosed. I am vegan now but a lot people (even my own family) really don’t understand how dangerous it is for me to even have something with gelatin in it. Thanks for putting the info out!
I wish they didn’t always serve meat as a default at hospitals! Yes, there’s at least a vegetarian option these days. But it can be nasty stuff like sweet milk rice (which I see as a dessert, not a meal). They didn’t even get me the milk rice I had ordered, but potato soup with a large sausage instead. Oh well. The potato soup smelled good, and at least it didn’t have any milk in it, so I just chucked out the sausage and ate the soup. But that’s not how things should be. Meat should not be the default.
Well, I think I have found my problem. I never had bad sickness until I got tick bite back about 10 to 11 years ago. I went down with all kinds of symptoms that would make you think Lyme, but the test came back negative (took 21 day high dosing Doxycycline for me to feel well again), but I still had issues with no common connection. BP went up, migraines more often than not, peri menopause was weird (still have not went 1 year without spotting, last time was in September 2016 and I am 64) yeast infection that was from mouth all the way out the other end, took a year and multiple doses of Fluconasol and the pink crap you take by mouth to get over that….. and a constant popping of hives on my face, at least one to two times a week…. eggs have been the most noticeable thing these past two years. I have gotten to where if I eat them, I get a yukky tummy and I ate them last night at supper, woke up with face hives and OH YES, the heart arrhythmia, that I have had on an almost constant since the tick bite. To make a long story short, this morning after hubby and I were up for a few, he said something about it and then a little ding ding ding went off in my head…. Don’t take flu shot if allergy to eggs…. Don’t ask me why but that thought made me look it up and sure enough, the symptom’s fit me like a glove to a hand. So I went searching out info this morning and the further I went, the more it all began to come together. “The tick bite” and all my symptoms (there are more) led me to the great possibility that this is my problem.
While I’ve never experienced anaphylaxis (or been formally diagnosed with a meat allergy) I’ve suffered from the other symptoms of meat allergy pretty much all my life until I went vegan. Oddly enough, I went vegan to see if it would help with my migraines… And I’d like to add a symptom that wasn’t discussed, but also disappeared after I quit eating meat: hives. Great big, red, itchy hives.
Thank you for this article. Last week they diagnosed the ‘Red meat allergy’ in me. And today I ate red meat and got this anaphylactic shock. I already had one of these shocks in my life when I almost died from a wasp when I was 12. I was already interested in being vegan (because it’s so sad for the animals. How would it feel for us if we would been eaten). But this will deffinetly help me to become vegan.
I usually laugh at Mic for blaming EVER SINGLE MEDICAL CONDITION ON EARTH on animal products but this time he is right, of course a very rare medical condition with little bearing on the vast majority of the earth’s population. Is something unhealthy if we can acquire a n allergic reaction to it? Peanuts, soy, and glutton are healthy right?
I was struggling with food 8 years ago. Went vegan.. Solved some issues found others but a year ago I tried red meat again. (desperate for kcals, and more recently again post covid, desperate) ended up in hospital.. Ran allergy testing and it turns out I’m allergic to salmon, meats, eggs, crustaceans and Soy…. Hazelnuts.. So armed with the information as to why the vegan diet didnt work in gleefully returning to it with a full defense if anyone says I’m making myself I’ll by avoiding animal products 😅
Yeah, I was pretty amused to hear some am-radio @$$hole, maybe rush, claiming this was some liberal conspiracy to put the meat-industry out of business or something. I started getting mysterious and sever allergic reactions occasionally in the early-2000’s. It was very hard to determine the what the cause was because I didn’t eat meat often even when I could and the 4 – 6 hr delay before the onset on allergies. Where you guys are wrong about wishing this on people is it makes you sensitive to other foods as well. At it has me anyway. I can’t eat those salty shelled peanuts they sell at the ballpark, or drink (white) tequila, and there’s a few other weird ones that are hard to identify… Do they use mammal-lard in the tequila making process? That was the probably the sickest Ive ever been and we’re talking 3 – 4 drinks over a two hour period. It was not a hangover. Also seem more sensitive to mosquito bites now. They used to just be small bumps but now they swell up into these huge red welts shaped like rorschach-blots. And now I have to keep an epi-shot handy all the time and they’re expensive as #$%^. Plus insurance companies want to charge me a bunch more for my “condition” because they dont want to cover the shots… Nah, don’t wish this on anyone. Except maybe the idiots who think its a conspiracy.=)
When they say this is not real.. i freak out.. I’m so thankful that my docs weren’t that ignorant.. I wouldn’t call it sudden.. cuz i always had some kinda trouble with meat which i didn’t know of back then.. i wasn’t supposed to either. … i was just 9 or 10.. My mum’s a vegetarian ..but raised me as a meat eater tryin not to impose her beliefs on me.. All those troubles had become a very normal thing to me.. it was somethin that would happen to me every single day..my parents thought i had some kind chronic illness… I was 5 or 6 when it all started.. I had breathing problems, rashes, digestive issues like constipation (i didn’t eat much fibre and loved meat ) high cholestrol, obesity, stuffed nose and what not.. even my nails were deterioratin.. docs were astonished .. (Nails are doin better, haven’t recovered fully even after so many years) .. Problems worsened alarmingly.. as i tuned 10, 11, 12.. I was hospitalized ..and that feelin of isolation was the worst.. mum was always there for me..but i didn’t feel better.. they started perusal my diet..meat somehow managed to sneak in into my each and every meal.. But as it turned out … i had severe meat allergy… (I’m now so thankful to that doctor).. i also had fish and dairy allergy.. (constipation resolved as i gave up on dairy and started incorporatin more fibre into my diet.. i had diarrhoea for straight 2 days but i still felt like .. i had poop more ) I’m now a 15 year old and have been vegan for more than 2 years .
Hi Mic the Vegan. I thought your article was spot on until to the point where you said you have no sympathy for the sufferers. I have suffered with this since 2009. Not only can I not eat mammal meat(which I never had a big interest in) I cannot eat dairy products. Touch things derived from mammal(lotion laundry detergent, shampoo toothpastes etc) In addition I get hives and prolonged itchyness from breathing mammal. I cannot eat non vegan sugars or salt because they are washed in bone char. I can no longer touch or wear leather or wool. I am living a nightmare. I am a over the road truck driver by trade and everything I eat must be prepared ahead of time. I have eaten out six times in last two and a half years. When I go into a truck stop and breathe mammal fumes I itch up to 45 minutes afterward. I appreciate many of your thoughts but all alpha gal sufferers are not suffering equally. Some are children who are not as aware of what is creating issues for them. So while I found humor in most of what you said I would ask you to reconsider your sympathy stance. Due to my sensitivities I have discovered mammal ingredients are nearly impossible to avoid. I am praying for a cure. I have learned some great health principles but I am not living better because of it. You have no idea how this is crippling mine and my families life. Thanks for spreading the word. I think.
I enjoyed your very animated discussion of this topic but would like to point out 2 problems. One, you say that the alphaGal is on the blood that is transferred from one mammal to another (ie the person about to become allergic) as if that is a known fact. It is a supposition. It could be true but research has also shown that alphaGal is on some tick proteins and that these particular proteins are known arthropod allergens (found in dust mites, cockroachs and shrimp). Two, your description of how therapeutic monoclonal antibodies is made is quite out of date. Most MAbs are not produced as ascites fluid in mice but in large fermentors (much bigger and cost effective than petri dishes) in a similar manner to brewing beer. So no mice die to produce cetuximab which is used to treat head and neck cancers and small cell lung cancer as well as colorectal cancers.
When people give up red meat for whatever reason be it health or the environment or whatever, the vast majority of them do not go veg. They eat chicken and fish instead. Eating smaller animals means many many more animals eaten. And chickens are the most abused of all. So giving up red meat means a huge increase in suffering. Vegans who encourage people to give up red meat are not helping animals unless they speak up for chickens at the same time. Please read this:latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-singer-dawn-vegetarian-half-measures-20161016-snap-story.html
Tennesseans need meat to live. Tennesseans are naturally carnivores by nature not herbivores. But why don’t cowboys from Tennessee eat their own horses raw and bloody? Tennessee people are more related to dogs than Primates. Alabamians and Tennesseans, Floridians are not primates. Alabama people are not primates. I am not an Herbivore.
That point around 6:00 I disagree with. You said it would be espensive and time consuming to grow the cells ina petri dish. Unfortunately, I do think that human welfare has to come first. If the petri dish production denies humans from buying it due to its cost, then alternatives have to be found in order for it to be more accessible to people.
Mic. the Vegan Can you help me with knowing what I should go to as a diet now? At 64 I so don’t want to lose the vital nutrition that I need when leaving off all animal from my diet. Another thing too, They have found me to have a low thyroid issue since day one of the tick bite time and my magnesium also they found went low when they hospitalized me to get my heart back into rhythm
many people are pretty judgemental :/ I have been vegetarian ever since birth, but it isn’t my choice since i was born and up to 3-5 years old, i’ve ate meat in which my body just doesn’t take in too kindly my parents have tried and tried but every week i’d end up at the hospital after uhh dehydration, vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea, it was an allergic reaction but the doctors haven’t found any close illness or allergy. so it was decided, i’ll just stop eating meat and continue on a different diet. Don’t get me wrong, i can still eat dairy products, eggs, and seafood. My stomach just doesn’t want meat :/ so many people are lucky. This Alpha Gal thing i’ve found is the closest to all the symptoms i’ve experienced, fking tick. and yet that just isn’t it, i’ve been that way ever since i was born, it’s like an inborn thing. doctors said that i’m the only case that’s like this so far. any thoughts? :/
I have the alpha-gal allergy. It sucks. I can’t even eat banana’s because what they use to spray on them comes from a mammal bi-product. Just take some Benadryl to help with symptoms of cross contamination, right? NOPE, some of they Benadryl medications have gelatin/glycerin in them & I’m allergic to the medicine that’s supposed to make me better. Might as well forget about vaccines, because gelatin is used as a stabilizer & the last flu shot I got made the injection site swell up the size of a softball and I was sick for a month. I even told them I was allergic to anything to do with mammals, they read the packing information and said I was safe to take it. Colds, sucks to be me, can take most medicines because they have glycerin in them. Food, what a joke, the risk of cross contamination because utensils weren’t washed well enough is ridiculous. I’ve even had reactions at Vegan restaurants, due to cross contamination… HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?!?! I didn’t have any type of allergy prior to this and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even someone who is already vegan. In theory, I can eat chicken and fish, but the risk of cooking it in a pan that could’ve been used to cook some other type of meat terrifies me. I know that some of you think this is a joke, but it’s really not. Anyone can suddenly get this allergy and many are being falsely diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease because their doctors are unaware. Even now that I have transitioned into being a vegan, there is still so many things that say vegan friendly that truly aren’t.
I have a question. My friend just questioned me saying “if you’re vegan and care about animals. Why do you buy things like cacao because its harming a human as they get payed low wages and have horrible things happen to them?” Please could you make a article about vegan contributing to human suffering? Thanks
I get the whole vegan thing I agree animals are innocent. If humans were truly supposed to be vegan then I wouldn’t be having so many vitamin deficiencies due to not eating any. I have alpha gal but am also allergic to chicken, duck, shellfish, shrimp, dairy and some fish ect. I can’t take vitamin supplements like most vegans because again I’m allergic. Weather you think so or not there are animal products in most vitamins and the vegan vitamins don’t work. Im constantly iron deficient, b12 and vitamin D. Two of those truly only come from a meat source.
MIC PLEASE READ THIS! Ok so my mom has Lyme disease. There’s a lot to suggest Lyme disease is an autoimmune disease. And that makes sense, her immune system is messed up now. So how does a vegan diet help autoimmune problems? How can it help Lyme disease? Frustratingly, the lyme bacteria or whatever can burrow in cells and hide from antibiotics, so it’s almost impossible to completely get rid of it using antibiotics. And then plus, they develop resistance overtime. Please help! I’ve been recommending a vegan diet to her, but I can’t find enough studies proving it would actually help her.
I hope you don’t find my question to offensive but I was hoping to get some tips on vegan food. I’m not vegan (or even vegetarian) myself but I am kind of starting to open up to it. Now a lot of times when I’m consciously thinking about it I feel like I should have something vegan to eat but I’m so used to a non-vegan diet that I find it difficult to think of stuff that doesn’t have any animal products in it but is still tasty. I think I usually use animal products as the main flavors and when I’d just take them out I’d end up with something like a just tomato and lettuce sandwich :/ Or I’d just eat jam all day every day which probably wouldn’t be too great either lol. But I’m having a pretty hard time thinking of what to replace animal products with that would have a sort of similar rich savory taste to it like meat, eggs or cheese. I know the moral argument is way more important than taste but I feel like I won’t have the willpower to only eat bland food and it would be way easier to leave out animal products at least some of the time if found some things I really liked.
Hey, what’s your opinion about insect consumption? There are a lot of supporters of eating insects instead of meat because of some reasons that I haven’t really researched tbh, but I think they have a higher concentration of protein in them than some red meats or something (maybe it’s more efficient in some way? Not sure really). Not to mention the rest of the world enjoys them and we for some reason don’t. Either way, insects do not experience pain and from a vegan perspective, I see very few flaws in adopting more popular use or insect-including foods/meals, they don’t even experience any form of nociception. Personally I think it would be forcing my other morals onto people to tell them it’s wrong to kill insects for food because my argument is based off suffering (and environment and our own biology/health). Since suffering is the main reason, I see no flaw with using insects for various reasons like this. It’s very well that they are moving creatures and we identify with them on some level, but so are plants and we don’t consider it wrong because they feel no pain. While I personally have no interest in eating them, I think it’s overall morally neither right nor wrong to eat them. And hypothetically, if it got more popular and people did end up swapping their meat consumption to insect consumption, there’d be miles less meaningless death and suffering involved (I know technically there’d be billions of insect death but, with what I said before, you get my point). Oh and uhh, this is just a moral thing I suppose, I see no reason for us to jump up out of the blue and say “Hey, we should make eating insects popular!
A family that attends my mothers church, has a daughter who developed a meat allergy. She kissed her fathers cheek and went into an anaphylactic reaction. Swelling of tongue and lips. Her Dad had eaten a hamburger prior to her kissing his cheek. I think this will be worst than a peanut allergy for most children.
I am not vegan or vegetarian but so want to be. I grew up in an area where meat is a part of our culture and economics (think rural farming communities). We are meat and potatoes people. I don’t want this to be an excuse… Simply an explanation. I have talked to a few former vegans… Most of them said they had to at least include fish or go ovo lacto to stay healthy or get energy. To be honest… All of the information is a little overwhelming so I don’t quite know where to start. I don’t believe in my case it’s possible to just wake up and stop eating animal proteins and fats… I think research on correct veganism or vegetarianism is required… Supplements, etc. It does seem a bit overwhelming. I live in a house where everyone consumes meat, including and especially my spouse. I think this makes it more difficult. I’ve brought it up to him before and he just says “stop perusal PETA articles”. Of which I have actually seen none. I just found your website. Hopefully you have a article on “getting started”. I’ll take a look. Thanks for being out there. ~Christopher.
Ticks have always been cute to me and only take what they need to survive. Only the diseases that they contract kill the host they never kill anybody. Though I have always loved them they have now shot up as my second favorite insectoid. Though I wish they could develop the same thing for the consumption of any animal product. Here’s hoping. Go lil freedom fighters!
I was diagnosed with Alpha-gal in 2020. Going vegan has been the best strategy to ensure no exposure. I react with hives and a racing heart to beef only, but choose to avoid all meat and dairy. Many with the diagnosis still eat dairy as they do not have a visible reaction. This is what probably leads to the heart complications in many.
My housemate has had a meat allergy from a young age. He doesn’t ever remember being bitten by a tick. Hes been vegetarian/pescatarian/vegan most of his life because of it. I’ve seen his reaction when he has land meat contaminated food and it includes a rash as well as the stomach distress(its really unpleasant for him and makes him feel ill for days after). Its horrifying how many people think its a joke or don’t think it exists.
Interesting. I wonder how long it will take before the FDA/Congress votes/approves adding meat to product labels. That would have the ancillary benefit of making plant-based grocery shopping much easier. For non-US people, companies are required to put “CONTAINS: milk and eggs” or something similar under the ingredient list in the US if the product contains any top nine allergies: milk, eggs, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, and sesame.
I became highly allergic to animal proteins after Covid but always had issues with them as a kid (ate no meat, just a bit of dairy at times) and became Vegetarian in my teens then I could no longer tolerate the tiny amount of pastured dairy in my diet. Now I’m fully Vegan and feel 100% better. IMO a Vegan diet helps those of us with EDS (mast cell & histamine issues) since inflammation tones down significantly, I noticed a difference in my daily symptoms.
As a vegan for over a decade who contracted alpha gal two years ago, I appreciate you shining more light on this topic. However, please PLEASE stop perpetuating people calling this a meat allergy. It is SOOOOO much more, as you alluded to with the mention of dairy and medications. You know what else is a problem? Carrageenan contains alpha gal (it’s the one plant that does) – and therefore so do the many vegan meat and cheese substitutes that contain carrageenan. So many hygiene products have mammal derived ingredients. A lot of vegans eat Oreos – guess what, they use bone char processed sugar = they contain alpha gal. People can react to airborne alpha gal, if someone nearby is BBQing, or in non vegan cleaning products. This is a debilitating disease and calling it a “meat allergy” does no one any favors. I wish you would actually interview people for these articles, not just read papers. If you talked to any of us you would have a much better article that doesn’t have me yelling at it for inaccuracies the whole way through. 😢
Unfortunately, many people will still eat meat. One of the websites I’m subbed to (not a vegan website) did a poll on whether people were lactose intolerant or not. I saw LOTS of people in the comments talk about how they are allergic and have awful side effects but still consume dairy. Even worse, I saw others ENCOURAGE those who said they felt terrible eating dairy to do it anyway and suck it up!
Good to know, thanks. It’s amazing how much knowledge there is out there yet people, even health professionals, are unaware of. I remember your shocking article on seafood and ALS. Even keto diets, why even plain and simple whole food fully plant based benefits; or auto immune diseases and dairy… in my own family i have people suffering from serious diseases – which have been shown to be improved or reversed by WFFPB diet – yet their doctors and dieticians are encouraging them to continue eating animal foods. Anyhow, thanks. Keep up the good work.
When I was eating meat I don’t think I ever had an allergic reaction but the high cholesterol sucked as it left me with excessive pain for most of my life that I though was normal like back pain. A few months after being vegan the back pain disappeared Like as if it was god damn magic. If there was a spell to fix back pain it would be Veganum Emendo.
Hello. I tried vegetarianism Jan 1, 2004. By April 1, three months later, I knew I could be vegetarian the rest of my life . I realized it wasn’t as hard to do as I thought . But I made an unexpected serendipitous discovery . By April, in the height of pollen season, I realized that somehow I wasn’t having as much problem with the allergies I had been struggling with for the previous thirty years . I had been documented as having allergies to ten pollens, 8 molds and mildews and dust . By April 2004,, I had been taking allergy shots exactly 20 years ( since April 1984.j . By April, 2004, three months after becoming vegetarian, I found out I did not need either my allergy shots anymore OR my loratadine anymore . Bam ! Just like that . My allergies totally disappeared . About five years ago I got allergy-tested and I have ZERO allergies . Not even one . I’m vegan now . A similar thing happened to actress Alicia Silverstone when she first became vegetarian. She told her allergist and he said “. I hear that from sometimes from people .” ” Why didn’t you tell me ?” she said to him. Good question . Meat hurts people in numerous ways ….and it doesn’t do much for the poor animals either 😢
1. ✅ Parents have a moral duty to protect their children’s vegan virginity. 2. ✅ Babies and children cannot consent to being fed meat, dairy or eggs because they are not informed about the rape, kidnapping, torture, enslavement and murder in these industries. 3. ✅ All good people must strive to be as vegan as possible by having the courage to watch this 5 minute documentary to begin with: Dairy is Scary on YouTube.
Why did the vegan secretly hope that the meat-eater would get bitten by the meat allergy tick? Because they wanted to prove that even Mother Nature was on board with going vegan and they also thought it might be the only way to “tick”le their taste buds into trying a plant-based diet for the sake of their health, the animals, and the planet! 🌱😄
@Mic, I think its related to gut flora a well – healthy gut flora actually produces some alpha-gal in healthy amount, upon which our immune system learns to recognize the molecule, creating other more beneficial antibodies like IgM and IgG – so, the imbalance in gut flora or fiber-depleted diet probably predisposes the immune system to react out of balance and with IgE, but certainly the tick is literally just spitting the alpha-gal into our blood, indigested, compared to in our gut it gets digested practically entirely.
I’ve actually heard of this before, though I could not have recalled the name before reminded. Twice in the past 5 or 6 years I have had an allergic reaction after a tick bite- the symptoms very similar to the ones mentioned in this article. I saw my doctor about it the first time, though the symptoms subside pretty quickly after you find and remove the tick. This allergy was mentioned to me as something to look out for, though it did not apply to me as a vegan. Pretty sure the first time it was a dog tick, though. hmmm
You can be allergic to meat that are fed foods you are allergic to like corn. I do have a friend who is so allergic to corn that she doesn’t eat corn fed beef or corn fed cow’s milk. I also have a friend who is allergic to chicken. Personally, i have real problems with pork, but going vegan helped me in so many ways. I was having terrible water retention problems in my legs until i stopped eating animal problems.
Whoa! Thanks for your hard work putting this vid together! Love how you always include the science and also big kudos for tying it into climate change. We all need to let our friends and acquaintances know that animal ag is the biggest driver of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Just one more reason here for people to stop eating animal flesh and secretions.
I’m pretty sure I had this from a tick before I went vegan. I used to practically live in the woods as a kid so o was constantly pulling ticks off myself. I never got Lyme disease, but my stomach felt so much better and I stopped having those extreme stomach cramps after I stopped having meat. I also haven’t had heartburn since I stopped eating meat. Hilariously, I always know when my food gets contaminated at restaurants because the symptoms come back
Oh wow, that might be why I have a meat allergy then. I live in the countryside (UK), always walking about around here, have deer run through my garden – and I’m occasionally being bitten by ticks. Recognised that European one straight off – as the one that woke me up in the very early hours, to see its head half buried in my stomach as it was chewing through my skin.
I’m 56, I’ve never been bitten by a tick. I’ve had a meat allergy since infanthood. When I was a teen, I was told I had a protein sensitively (including a whole milk sensitivity, not as terrible with skim dairy) and just don’t eat what makes me feel sick. So, yeah, that’s what I’ve done for 56 years. I have terrible hypertension, despite being of appropriate weight/height ratio and lifelong plant based (I think it’s stress related) so I am diagnosed as having “Hypertensive heart disease without heart failure”. I feel my body simply rejected, as an infant, what was not good for my body genetically.
I got Lyme disease when I was in 5th grade and I also have never been able to tolerate meat well, I have what the doctors say a bad case of IBS and when my IBS flares so does my cystic acne on my face & body. In 2017 I went vegan purely for ethical reasons and I wasn’t a whole food healthy vegan eater either, but my skin cleared up about 75%, and for the first time in my life I didn’t have constant digestion issues. The last year I fell off I started eating meat again (Never dairy because I’ve always been severely allergic) but I started having all sorts of skin & gut issues again, I tried to cut out red meat, still had issues, went pescatarian, still had issues. Now after a year I’m finally going back to vegan (Was vegan for about 5 years prior) People dont have to believe its true but its true, people and doctors will come up with ANY other possible reason asides from diet
Well I’ll say that your vids are quite informative, little red-beard ridinghood, and I will admit that tick issue is a crappy one…. Hmmm, will have to figure a way around that. Thought I’d throw this in here as well…. If it wasn’t for the fact that we are omnivores aka oppertunivores, we might not have done so well up until now because when blood and milk was drunk due to water problems, humans were able to get through the hard times. Also, seasonally some foods were more abundant. So one couldn’t have lived only on one type of food group all the time. We adapt and heal. And if we were now to eat only plant foods for a long time and our genes become used to that and we lose some of the meat nutrient extraction ability, and suddenly there’s a catastrophe that forces us to eat meat, then we might not be able to. I don’t know if that would be the case, as in the lactose gene expression, but I’d rather stay omnivorous.
This article is a good example of a little knowledge in the wrong hands is dangerous. Alpha-gal is on the rise because people’s immune systems and systemic health are more compromised (for a variety of reasons). Diseases from ticks only tend to manifest in unhealthy domesticated pets/cattle and unhealthy humans. Wild animals in their natural environment eating food specific to their species- even when bitten by a tick, are very unlikely to show overt clinical signs of tick-borne illness.
If we banned animal products the amount of problems that it would solve would be incredible. Option 1.) Eliminate all industrial animal agriculture altogether. If someone wants to eat meat they’d be required to source the animal, raise, kill and process the animal entirely and exclusively by themselves. Reduce public fishing to 1 fish per person, per month or something to that affect. Or Option 2.) Citizens are permitted to eat 1 serving of meat/animal product of their choice per person, per week (7 days) no exceptions. This would be a great social experiment that would most certainly yield staggeringly positive human and environmental health results. The planet and all its inhabitants need something drastic. This slow adoption isn’t even remotely close to creating the real, substantive, positive change we need.
This is hilarious because the major cause of this “meat allergy epidemic” is caused by humans, tics are just the icing on the cake. Magnesium stearate found in the majority of supplements,cobra venom found in many medications and bovine gelatine are just a few examples of products containing this carbohydrate.
I’m a vegan for ethical reasons – have been for years. But i wouldn’t be surprised if the govt/military weaponized ticks in order to get people to eat less meat. Ticks have already been weaponized by the military to spread lyme disease (intended for use on soviets (obstensibly) but “accidentally” spread in North America) – this has been documented. I can see how the powers-that-shouldn’t-be want people to be vegan – for their own reasons (cost efficiency, long-term sustainablity/resource de-intensification) as we move into a system of CBDCs and start to implement “social credit” systems. It’s a way of controlling people without having to destroy the planet via endlessly-expanding-capitalism.
Wasn’t there a scientist on world economic forum talking last year talking on how they discovered a way to force people not to eat meat, by genetically modifying ticks and the Gates fundation invested millions into his reasearch…? And then this year there’s a record high of people in US bitten by thicks.
I love your articles, because I always laugh and feel inspired to eat better afterwards. I have a friend whose nephew has this meat allergy. I know that exposure to aluminum along side other molecules can cause allergies so I’m curious if that’s also part of the story. I’m also curious if a lot of allergies are to the pesticides and gmos used. I have a couple Italian friends who have bad reactions to North American wheat products but not Italian wheat.
I’ve wondered if I got this… but not from the ticks. I had some sort of extreme autoimmune episode during a small stroke. My primary problem was a combination of orthopedic problems that was causing constant injury and tendonitis everywhere, combined with a poor diet and forced sedentary lifestyle… but ever since that episode/stroke, I’ve been violently allergic to beef and pork. I also ate a ton of pork that week of the episode. I was certain I wasn’t going to survive in the two months after that stroke… then I went plant-based and it saved my life. In my case, I wondered if bits of beef and pork got through my leaky gut and my body formed antibodies to removed them, which then started to attack all my damaged tissues, and then over time they got a taste even for my healthy tissue.
for me it was covid that really set it off for me. After I got covid I started getting chronic hives breakouts and it took a lot of trial and error in my diet to identify the culprits. I already struggled with egg and soy allergies but my top 3 hive triggers since i had covid are meat, dairy and sugar.
Yeah, after about a year of a mostly meat diet (because I thought that was going to help fix my chronic gastritis and gut issues) I started feeling like crap every time I ate red meat. I really don’t think it’s related to a tic bite though. I still react to a bunch of plant foods too. (My face turns red and I get a rash and/or paresthesia, or if I eat wheat or oats I get crippling pain in my back for about 3 days) It’s really aggravating. I’m doing a SIBO test today, I would love to be able to transition to vegan one day but right now I can’t eat enough plant food (like 90% plant based) so I add in some yogurt, egg or chicken a few times per week. 😢
I hope pharmaceutical companies clearly label if medications are made with ANY animal product and that medical industry gets the word out to inform patients or ask whether or not they have a meat allergy or known intolerance. Hopefully this will help prevent any unnecessary injuries or death due to growing meat allergies. The same way people with other types of allergies need to be aware of whats in their food or any medications or jabs if they take them.
I want to mention a thing of importance to some in some regard to the issue meat verses plants but more on discourse and how we conduct that. Mic I have to congratulate him on his willingness to allow contrary to his own opinions to be versed here on his you tube comment section. We may think …..oh this is not remarkable, they all do it. But it is regrettably not so, most almost all vegan sites do not, and I suspect carnivore keto as well. Political well it seems whole scale removal is out and about. In fact some that Mic idolizes in his way, plant docs and others, with a common view,they are most notorious in that censorship. A common method is to allow comments to be written and appearing to be on site, but on a check, signing out one finds they are not there, only the writer is able to see them. Others they simply refuse them access to comments. I had occasion to find that out being myself censored by various means on various sites due to my content, though I am indeed vegan in diet. And found it quite outstanding on a very few sites only complimentary things on the author are found to be having been said…quite remarkable that Completely unbelievable at least a few a third is bound to surface of contrary view. Some sites seems to allow trolls I guess to speak to non censorship, but they are easily identified by their lack of content saying things like this author is stupid, and such. Perhaps it is Mic seeing discussion enhances views, does it for that reason. But I suspect perhaps it is that Mic really does seem to believe in this thing of free speech.
Great work Mic, I heard about alpha gal about 5 years back not sure if it was from you actually or somewhere else! I think the sun is increasing in solar activity also not just global warming, which increases likelihood of life forcing us to change for the better!! Almost like life was created so perfectly in the Goldilocks zone 😅 universe got its own plans my man! We along observing the ride trying not to crash
I”m actually getting over a serious tick bite that inflamed my lower leg for several weeks and it’s finally subsiding. No other effects other than a red ichy lower leg. Seems the vegan way is protecting and preparing us for the future as things move around more due to higher temperatures. Still need to be vigilant but it’s a handy quiet super power shhhh
Here in central Virginia, Charlotte County is a massive hotspot for alpha gal. I know several people that live there & they all know more people that have alpha gal than people that don’t. Unfortunately, those people just end up eating more chicken/fish to satisfy their meat cravings. (Ugh “meat cravings”🤢)
Why not just simply say that eating unprocessed food is healthy, instead of trying to demonise one type of food over another? Why the constant drum banging on how meat is bad for you when humans can get ALL of their required nutrients from this source. What exactly is your agenda fella? Why not just promote your vegan diet without the constant bashing of meat? Why would anyone want to eliminate a food source from their diet that has sustained humans for thousands of years, I will never know. To each his own, but I for one am a bit tired of all the meat bashing from governments and YouTubers like yourself. Get a grip chap! If you like veggies, and it’s all you eat, great! Then let me know how eating vegetables only, gives the human body every nutrient required to sustain life. It might be a long wait, so I won’t hold my breath…
Obama has repeatedly said he eats 4-6 eggs for breakfast everyday, he likes burgers and vegetables and avoids starchy foods and his public health record showed he was 6’1″ 180 pounds, total cholesterol of 209 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol of 138 mg/dL and a CT Calcium score of zero and a clean bill of health and very fit. He has access to the best medical advice not youtube health entertainers.
The plight of the vegan Here walks “homonis x veganis” through the beautiful forest taking in the scenary, and all it’s beloved scurrying critters at its feet, suddenly feeling a painfull jab on their ankle, and realizes they’ve been bitten by a snake. Now, as in nature, the world can be awe inspiringly beautiful, but also spine chillingly brutal, and because vegans don’t want to cause any harm to and exploit animals, they realise and except that, because antivenom, that have saved so many human lives, incl children, that was originally and still today mostly made by “exploiting” animals, their lives are forfeit, for the sake of an animal who never new them or would be grateful due to a lack of consciousness. How galant and valiant oh brave vegan, that U should cut your own life so short. As they lay there, bleeding out, and finding it ever more difficult to breathe, suffering, staring into the eyes of a slithery death, now reflecting on the high chair they were sitting on and their morals and ethics that has brought them to this point.
I’ve only had one tick in my life, and i got it in Idaho. You know what it led to? thats right an allergy to guys with a comb over. Now my dog got a tick in a dog park in Lakewood CA, after that she would attack guys with dark hair and red beards like crazy. I was thinking that’s bizarre why would dog do that.
You’ve got to be kidding. Climate change? A slight expansion in tick habitats makes some tick borne illness go from non existent to everywhere in 20 years? Even the slightest bit of critical thinking says that’s bs. An expansion of tick habitat could explain why people in Pennsylvania are getting this, but people have lived in Alabama for hundreds of years and it’s not like we see a lack of pork, beef, and dairy in southern cooking.
Happy to see vegans that eat animal meat like chicken eggs, and eat animal produced dairy. Some cheat on animals like fish and other aquatic animals like shrimp and oysters. So those people are keto not vegan, but say they are vegan which is inaccurate. If you choose to eat cultivated animal cell meat made in labs by humans (funny they think they are god), that is also animal based 100%- but it is mutated animal meat so safer to just eat natural meats if your body is craving it so bad that you feel eating lab animal cell meat is good…which it isn’t. Once you eat mutated cells your cells will start to mutate and malfunction. Plus, why steal an animals cells- seems harmful and vegans are against that, right? But if that is what you want, then go eat mutated animal cell lab grown animal meats. Those animal cell meats are not natural so the chances of cancer are higher. And you can’t listen to people that say they have a PHD because if they are bought into by these lab meat companies then they are biased and paid to say things to get you to buy and eat it. Even if it is not safe, the PHD’s will say it is. Go look, Ancel keys did it on cholesterol and he has a PHD. Not good. Your health will be much more nutrient sound on animal eggs which is meat, and animal dairy- from an animal. But, you are not truly vegan if you do. You should inly be eating naturally toxic plants. Would be interesting to see how many vegans have lost their gall bladders- bet most have. If not, probably close to it.
Hmm 🧐 can you make a article about how plants are alive just as much as animals without being bios towards plants? Or have someone else on your show that eats a balanced meal (which includes meat) with proof that can share knowledge and or debate with you on a live show (no edits). And I’m glad to see your looking healthier than your older articles, protein does make a difference. ps: I know your eating meat/protein but I won’t tell anyone 🤫🤐
Sounds like it’s mostly a tick-fatty meat issue. Those of us who eat chicken breast, turkey breast, ground beef and other lower fat meats are at the very least safer. And yeah the fact that lean meats (including certain organ meats such as liver) are safer, makes this not a huge issue because yeah this knowledge of lean meats having a net positive effect on your health i think it’s at least fairly mainstream.