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We love our emu meat and eat it regularly in place of beef, pork, venison, and more. But for those with alpha gal allergy, a largely unknown allergy to mammal meat caused by a tick bite, these other red meats are off limits and emu (or other ratites) are their only source of red meat.
So what is it? How do you get it? And how do you know if you got it?? It turns out, those answers aren’t so clear and it is still often misdiagnosed or even denied by some medical providers because of the huge variability in symptoms. But the consequences of having it can impact every. single. aspect. of your life.
Alpha-galactose-A-1,3-galactose (alpha gal) is a sugar molecule found in mammalian meat and other products made from mammals. Alpha gal allergy can develop after a bite from lone star tick causes your body to become allergic to this sugar. What happens is only just recently understood, which is why many doctors did not recognize or acknowledge it. Like most allergies, symptoms can vary from person to person, from mild rash, swelling, nausea, and indigestion, all the way to severe anaphylaxis causing life threatening conditions. It is even harder to diagnose because symptoms can appear from 2 to 8 hours after exposure, sometimes even longer. Not every lone star tick bite causes the allergy. Not every person bitten will develop the allergy. In some people, a severe reaction will be immediate, and in some it, will slowly worsen over time.
Because of this variability, it is hard to track cases and most information comes from self reporting after a long and difficult road to determine what is wrong.
To find out more about symptoms, a map showing where it is prevalent, the many everyday products containing the alpha gal sugar, and how to protect yourself…check out the resources on our website.
Only recently has this been addressed by the CDC. Check out their guidance
Symptoms of anaphylaxis can be mild or severe, including itching, hives, erythema, ageioedema, abdominal pain and cramping, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn, shortness of breath, chest tightness, cough, dizziness, and cardio vascular disease
Protect yourself from ticks (more active during summer months) by avoiding areas where they are found, using an insect repellent if you are in a woody or brushy area, carefully checking yourself and your animals, your clothes, and equipment after being outdoors in such an area. Remove a tick only very carefully without squeezing or twisting. See how to remove.
If you are allergic to the alpha gal sugar molecule, it is in so much more than just meat and dairy. Sometimes even fumes from cooking carry the molecule and can cause a reaction. And, animal bi-products are in soooo many more things you would never expect. Glycerine, gelatin, magnesium stearate, Medical products, medicines, beauty products, and so much more…
This map and many more resources at alphagalinformation.org
Here is a link to the latest map where you can see that it is most prevalent in areas where the lone star tick is common, but note how often it is starting to move westward….
From: Agdaily
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A gift for your sweetheart… and one for yourself. Through Valentines Day, get a free Lip Balm when you order a two ounce bottle of our Nighttime Face Serum. This serum is our best-selling product. We start with two ounces of our skin-loving pure emu oil, which is always AEA Certified Fully Refined so you are sure you are getting the very best quality. We add Vitamin E, an antioxidant and so much more, and then tea tree oil for its antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. Finally, we finish with the AMAZING lavender essential oil which is locally grown and distilled by Cowlitz Falls Lavender Company (check out their festival this summer).
This Serum will penetrate deeply into your skin in just a few moments and leave it silky soft and smooth. While we call it a Nightime Face Serum… don’t let that fool you. Emu oil is gentle enough to use anywhere and you can apply it anytime, especially if you need a lavender zen moment in a really stressful day! #Janeansfavoritezen.
Order by Valentines Day and we will send you our Moisturizing Lip Balm for free—just the thing to get those lips into kissable form for the #BigDay. We combine our emu oil with coconut oil, cocoa butter, just the right amount of local beeswax, and even more Vitamin E for a soothing solution for dry lips. No colors, no flavors, no preservatives. A perfect pair for the romantic day.
]]>Thanks, Your customer support team- i.e. Janean and Tony!
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]]>We hope you and your family are safe and doing well during this weird and difficult time. We have been waiting to make a final decision on our annual Farm Visit Day to see if circumstances were improved enough to go forward. We really look forward to the opportunity to meet everyone and share our farm with you all and it is with great disappointment that we decided to call off the event. However, in light of continuing risks and our desire to assure that everyone stay safe, we think this is the best decision. Group tours and children visiting the emu chicks are the highlight of the event and that would be so hard to do with appropriate social distance and sanitation. We are sorry and we truly hope you will put us on your calendar for next year's event. In the meantime, we are exploring ways to bring you some, gulp, virtual tours in lieu of an in person visit so you can still meet the emus and learn about what we do. We are not photogenic and suffer from a glaring lack of technological savvy. But, new challenges require learning new solutions. More to come once we figure it out.
]]>We know budgets are tight and the less you pay in shipping, the more you have to try out our amazing handmade emu oil products. Enter promotion code "FREESHIPPING19" at checkout to receive your discount. All our products ship USPS first class or priority mail.
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Of course, if you want a different selection of scents, just let us know in the comments section of your order. But if you are like us, you will want to try them all. And remember, if you order more than $60 in amazing emu oil products, shipping is free with promo code FREESHIPPING19.
]]>As many of you know, 3 Feathers is a member of the American Emu Association and we really enjoy the annual conferences. They are a time to connect with other folks in the emu industry, see what other farmers are up to, discover what's happening on the science front, get good business and marketing tips, and, yes, drink beer and laugh with friends you haven't seen all year. If you raise emus, or are considering it, we highly recommend attending a conference and getting to know this group of people. Their collective knowledge is invaluable.
This year there was a particular presentation on the composition of emu oil compared with other types of oils and I wanted to share with you the highlights. We know you love emu oil because of how it feels on your skin and helps your body, but we wanted to share with you the science behind it. Not all fats are the same. Fats are made up of fatty acid chains. All foods and oils contain combinations of multiple different fatty acid chains. There are two main types of fats:
Saturated fat (long chains): This type of fat chain has every available link on a carbon atom occupied by a hydrogen atom--it is saturated by hydrogen. Therefore they form very long chains and are usually solid at room temperature. Think beef tallow, butter, lard. (Included here are medium chain fats also like coconut and palm kernel oil). These fats are very stable.
Unsaturated fat (short chains): These come in two types... Monounsaturated fat has one double bond. The hydrogen is missing so the carbon bonds to itself with a double bond, making a bend in the chain and is therefore liquid at room temperature. Think olive oil, canola oil, and most nut oils.
Polyunsaturated fats have two or more double carbon bonds and so more bends and it remains liquid even when refrigerated. Think fish oil, seed and vegetable oils like corn oil and soybean oil. These oils with double bonds are more unstable--or more susceptible to heat, light, and air.
With that background, emu oil has lots of Omega 3 (Linolenic Acid), a fatty acid chain with a double bond 3 carbon atoms from the end; Omega 6 (Linoleic Acid), a fatty acid chain with a double bond 6 carbon atoms from the end; and Omega 9 (Oleic Acid) a fatty acid chain with, you guessed it, a double bond 9 carbon atoms from the end. These omegas are polyunsaturated (short chain) fats.These are all important dietary fats. Omega 3 and 6 cannot be produced by the body, Omega 9 can be produced but is still needed in a person's diet. These short chain fatty acids can pass through the skin barrier and it is these fatty acids in transition that are responsible for the transdermal properties of emu oil. These omegas further help with inflammation and are critical to cell regeneration.
We would like to thank Alina Sucharski for her video presentation to the AEA 2019 Conference for sharing about fat composition and the value of emu oil. Lots of research still needs to be done to firmly establish the value of emu oil within the scientific community, but progress is being made. For now, trying emu oil for yourself is still the best recommendation we have.
Mark your calendars for Saturday June 1 2019 to visit our farm and help us celebrate our 10 years anniversary. Seems like yesterday we got our first birds. There will be games, crafts, music, tours, and much more. Hope to see you there. Please see our Facebook Page for more details...
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