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If you were allergic to meat and seafood (basically vegetarian paleo) what kinds of protein sources would be best? Considering the options for paleo sources are considerably reduced, I wonder if some neolithic or processed options like whey would be superior to natural vegetable sources of protein.

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I cancelled out someone's down vote. This is actually a good question. Beef allergy is not only possible, but it is not rare (pun intended). See my answer below. – Ed Apr 27 2010 at 21:05
Thank you Ed, this is indeed a serious question. My friend is allergic to seafood, serious anaphylactic shock, and gets sick almost immediately after eating meat. Despite this, they still want to try and eat paleo, so I will do what I can to help them. – David Csonka Apr 28 2010 at 0:35

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Despite it being rare compared to other allergies it is perfectly possible to have an allergy to meat. The immune system is very complex and there are several mechanisms that can lead to allergies. They have little to do with how long they have been part of our ancestors diet.

Beef, lamb and pork allergy. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19070355

You can aparently get red meat allergy after tick bites in Sydney, Australia due to the similarity between arthropod and a food proteins. The http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19413526

It seems beef is the most common red meat allergy and chicken the most common poultry. Fish, seafood, egg and milk allergies are more common.

I don't know if anyone has ever been allergic to all of them though.


To answer your question: Unless you wanted to eat lots of eggs and dairy products a more processed protein like whey would probably be nessesary. Or else fall back on a more traditional more diet of legume and cereal diet that most traditional agricultural societies relied on with added dairy and eggs. If you didn't have the choice there are worse things you can eat than lentils and brown rice.

Not sure you'd want to though :P

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Thank you for the pubmed links - I might try to see if my friend is willing to try and isolate what particular meats they get sick from. If we can find one they can handle, like pork, that could be helpful. I think they just gave up all meat as a shotgun solution. – David Csonka Apr 28 2010 at 0:39
I did read somewhere that processed meats are often contaiminated with proteins from other meats. Allergic people can react to pork proteins on chicken meats etc. May be worth trying whole meat products like a cooking a whole chicken at home or pork joint, unlikely to have been near any other meat. – Matt Apr 28 2010 at 9:41
Game meats would also be worth trying for the same reasons. – Matt Apr 28 2010 at 9:43
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Your immune system can theoretically develop an allergic response to just about any protein. Meat allergies are not as rare as you might think ( http://www.food-allergens.de/symposium-3-4/beef/beef-allergens.htm ). I have a family in my pediatric practice in which the mother and one of her sons has a documented (by an allergist) immediate hypersensitivity (allergic) response to beef. However, they are able to eat pork and poultry.

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I have read about people with multiple meat allergies, but they were all able to eat game meats. – Kim Apr 27 2010 at 23:00
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Yams, potatoes, eggs, and whey protein would probably have to be staples. I know a few people who are vegan "paleo" and they rely on things like hemp and tubers. I guess if they really really really want to be vegan, it's better than tofu burgers, but it always be more tolerated than optimal.

Also, wildcard, but what about insects? Grub protein powder anyone?

I used to think I was allergic to pork, but I guess my body with just recovering because now I eat it with impunity.

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Yams and potatoes have only tiny amounts of protein. You'd have to eat something like 20 medium potatoes to get 60g of protein. Whey and eggs would do it, though. Insects, now that's hardcore! :-) – Ambimorph Apr 27 2010 at 23:22
I tried a fried grasshopper in Mexico this winter- it really wasn't too bad, but I sure wouldn't want a bowl of them. They also make a paste of roasted wasps and use that in a sauce in a different area- saw that on TV! – henny Apr 28 2010 at 5:36
Have you actually seen a commercially sold grub protein powder? – David Csonka May 11 2010 at 23:17
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I've never heard of a person being allergic to meat. I suppose in theory it is possible, people are allergic to all sorts of proteins, but land animals are pretty fundamental to our evolutionary development. I don't think there exists meat allergies. I suspect any who may have been allergic didn't reproduce too successfully.

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That's sorta the deal with PKU. The body does not make the enzyme to metabolize phenalanine. Messes folks up! Not an allergy, but a very big issue, rules out most all meat! Paleolithically, folks with PKU would have been out of the gene pool, likely. – Tim Rangitsch Apr 27 2010 at 20:41
There indeed exist meat allergies. I have been going to Mt. Sinai with my daughter for years because she nearly died from reactions to beef. See my post below. – Rosalie Nov 12 2011 at 1:06
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A young woman who trains with me claims to be "allergic to protein," which I found pretty hard to believe. Upon further discussion, she told me that she had been sick earlier on in her life, and her body would not process proteins like other people. I told her that I wasn't a doctor (obviously), but that if she was going to do any high-intensity workouts, she ought to consider finding some sort of protein to eat (even if it's whey protein isolate) post-workout, or she was screwing herself.

I'm not sure one would actually be allergic in the textbook sense, but I figure it could be possible to not break it down properly. My answer would be whey protein isolate.

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Allergies to beef lamb and pork are quite real. My daughter survives on chicken and turkey because she has anaphylactic allergies to beef, lamb, pork, soy, eggs, milk, beans, fish. See my post below. – Rosalie Nov 12 2011 at 1:09
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Sounds like you'd be eating lots of eggs, dairy and almonds, assuming you can tolerate those foods. Otherwise you're screwed.

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many people with allergies to beef, lamb and pork are fine with foul- turkey, chicken, etc. – Rosalie Nov 12 2011 at 1:09
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Outside of the already mentioned whey protein isolate and trying game/not common meats, I suppose I would do so sort of food allergy test and enzyme deficiency test to check which one is the issue for which meats, and what method causes the reaction (symptoms etc). I'd also want to monitor if the allergic reaction lessens or goes away with the removal of grains and the much more anti-inflammatory paleo style diet.

if its enzyme you may be able to get digestive enzymes and/or get a probiotic that contains bacteria with the DNA to produce those enzymes/digest meat (which could be transcribed into their personal gut flora's bacteria) though that may be far fetched as I can't think of one that does this off hand currently.

Also so long as they are not doing massive amounts of intense exercise though you may do better with them on a high fat diet (coconuts, avocados etc..) cause you can go as low as 10-20% of calories from protein so long as you up the fat enough.

But yeah just cause its technically neolithic doesn't = bad. The whole Idea of paleo is to eat what our bodies are designed and evolved for.

the-only-reasonable-paleo-principle is a good example.

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Thanks Quik, do you have any info about those enzyme tests? Figuring out the culprit through a lab test would be preferable to having them eat every type of meat and getting super sick. – David Csonka Apr 28 2010 at 14:54
the blanket term for the digestive enzymes that break down protein is Protease, I think they normally just tell by symptoms. Some info here enzymeessentials.com/HTML/protease.html , but form what I can tell just doing the allergy tests first would be a best bet to rule out causes. Enzyme deficiency can appear to be IBS, or have a whole laundry list of other symptoms. – Quik77 Apr 29 2010 at 19:44
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Melissa covered it already but I'd like to add that ostrich eggs are huge, so they probably were a good catch in hunter-gatherer days, full of protein and calories. One ostrich egg has 2,000 calories alone!

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What about mushrooms, perhaps crimini or shiitake? I also like Melissa's idea about bugs, I wish there was nutritional info about some of the more common ones. And I'm sure there are at least a few ethnic restaurants in bigger cities like new york that serve bugs, but how to find them if you're not in the know? Two were listed on a chowhound page for LA, but both are a bit out of the way for me. And I guess it would be even harder for your friend to find edible insects if she lives in a more rural area...

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The Bay Area Bug Eating Society (B.A.B.E.S) does have some limited nutritional profiles and tips. Looks like Caterpillars, Giant Water Bugs and Very Large Spiders (fangs removed) are the best bets for protein. – Marina Jun 20 2010 at 18:04
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According to scratch test I am not allergic to meat. But i noticed having runny nose when i eat meat. Recently, i have noticed that i dont have this problem when i eat really fresh meat. Fresh as in the beef was bought and cooked the day the cow was slaughtered , Because, the Histadine in meat turns to histamine as time goes by. This rate of conversion is very fast in certain fishes. We should have less allergic reaction if we eat fresh meat and fish.

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My 5 daughter has been tested and studied at Mt. Sinai in NYC. She is indeed allergic to beef, lamb, pork, eggs, milk, fish, nuts, beans, soy. She has had anaphylactic reactions and suffered from eczema and asthma. It really frustrates me when people say that you cannot be allergic to these things... It is sheer ignorance. My daughter nearly died from the tiniest amount of eggs. Her allergic reactions to these are severe and have always required hospital intervention. It is quite scary. There are differences between intolerances and allergies. Unfortunately people are not educated enough and think that I am some sort of crazy mom with munchausen. Our son has no issues whatsoever, but my husbands side has all the same issues, including him. Thankfully many of these allergies went away by years of shots. Has anyone had any luck with any alternative methods?

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Sorry mate, but as far as I'm concerned allergic to meat = get out of the gene pool :-D

(Seafood allergies I can live with)

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You beat me to it. :-) Next time I won't type so many words. :-) – PortlandAllan Apr 27 2010 at 20:36
Good point, I should go advise my friend to jump of a bridge. This was a serious question so that I can advise a friend of mine with serious food allergies, but still wants to eat paleo. – David Csonka Apr 28 2010 at 0:33
Didn't meant to cause offence, I assumed it was a hypothetical question. It's easy to forget how ill some people are. – Tom M Apr 28 2010 at 11:17
Not an answer or helpful at all. – sean Nov 12 2011 at 1:27

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