Why do some people feel terrible after just one drink while others seem unaffected? In the second part of this episode of PCOS Unfiltered, Lindsie continues the conversation with Paul Lagerstedt, co-founder of ALKAA, to discuss alcohol sensitivity, inflammation, headaches, histamine reactions, and the personal health journey that inspired the first patented in-glass sachet designed to reduce trace compounds in alcoholic beverages. Paul shares his remarkable story of neurological Lyme disease, Bell's palsy, and alpha-gal syndrome—a tick-borne condition that led to severe food sensitivities and life-changing health challenges. Through years of trial and error, he learned firsthand how toxin load, inflammation, and hidden triggers can dramatically affect quality of life. Together, Lindsie and Paul discuss why healing is rarely a straight line, the emotional realities of chronic illness, and how many people simply want to enjoy an occasional glass of wine or cocktail without feeling miserable afterward. They also explore ALKAA's approach to mindful drinking and why supporting your body before drinking may be different from trying to recover afterward. If you've ever struggled with headaches after alcohol, inflammation, poor sleep, histamine sensitivity, or simply wondered why alcohol affects you differently than others, this conversation offers practical insights and a refreshing perspective on listening to your body and reducing toxin load.
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(0:00) But it was good for me, like to just remember that things do work. (0:08) And again, we created Alka to just reduce the toxin load to give your body a fighting chance (0:13) and made it for me, made it for Sarah, and then friends and family started asking. (0:21) And then from there it turned into, you know, to what it is now.(0:26) Welcome back to PCOS Unfiltered. (0:28) Before we dive in, I want to share a quick note about today's episode. (0:32) We'll be discussing alcohol, alcohol-related symptoms, (0:35) and a product designed to reduce certain compounds found in alcoholic beverages.(0:40) If alcohol is a sensitive topic for you, please use your discretion while listening. (0:44) Now, if you've been listening for a while, you know, I rarely talk about alcohol. (0:49) In fact, I stopped drinking almost entirely a couple of years ago (0:52) because even a single drink often left me feeling worse, (0:55) sometimes immediately and sometimes for days afterward.(0:59) But the reality is that many people want to enjoy a glass of wine, a cocktail, (1:03) or a celebratory drink once in a while without it completely derailing their progress (1:07) or experiencing any of the unwanted side effects. (1:11) That's why I was intrigued by today's guest, Paul Lagerstedt, co-founder of ALKAA, (1:16) the first patented in-glass sachet designed to reduce trace compounds (1:21) in alcoholic beverages before you sit.
(1:23) During our conversation, Paul shares not only the science behind the product, (1:27) but also his own personal health journey and the experiences that inspired his creation.(1:32) And yes, I actually put it to the test during this recording while enjoying a glass of wine myself. (1:38) As always, the content shared on PCOS Unfiltered is for informational and educational purposes only. (1:45) The views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are not intended to serve as medical advice.(1:50) Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional (1:53) before making any changes to your diet, exercise, or treatment plan. (1:57) The information shared is based on personal experience and expert interviews (2:00) and is not a substitute for professional medical guidance. (2:04) Now let's get going.Here's my conversation with Paul Lagersted. (2:15) Yeah, I'd love for you, if you're open to it, to share more about your story with Lime. (2:21) Oh my gosh, Lindsay.(2:23) Because I still feel like, you know, that's still...
(2:27) Man, Lime. (2:28) We're not always super PCOS-specific on here, but, you know, (2:31) I feel like there still might be some good takeaways in there. (2:34) Okay, I'll tell you the story.And it's a Lime story, and it's an alpha-gal story. (2:40) Have you heard of alpha-gal? (2:42) Yeah, with the meat allergy, right? (2:45) The red meat allergy. (2:46) So one day, man, I'll tell you this.(2:51) I had worked at a job for 26 years, and then I quit. (2:57) And it was really, really rough. (2:59) Like, I was just like, man, I'm... (3:02) So I quit this job, and I went to work for a local company here in New York.(3:08) And on day three of working for this new company, (3:13) it was Wednesday morning. (3:16) I wake up at like 4.30 in the morning. (3:21) I go into use the restroom.(3:23) I look in the mirror, and my face is... (3:28) I've got palsy. (3:30) Like, the whole right side of my face is drooping. (3:34) Yeah.(3:35) Scared the living daylights out of me, right? (3:38) But then, being a guy, here's what I thought. (3:41) The night before, I had like a muscle spasm in my shoulder, right? (3:46) And I hadn't taken a muscle relaxer in years.
(3:50) I took a muscle relaxer that night because I'm like, (3:52) new job, stress, day three.(3:55) I'm just going to take one. (3:57) I was looking at my face in the mirror, and I'm like, (4:01) oh, it's because I took a muscle relaxer that my face is drooping. (4:07) So I go back to bed.(4:09) Sarah's still sleeping. (4:11) And I lay there, and I'm stressing. (4:13) And I'm like, in my brain, I know.(4:16) Like, I'm probably having a stroke. (4:18) That's what I thought. (4:18) I'm having a stroke, but I'm scared to death.(4:22) Yeah. (4:22) So I get up, I don't know, a couple hours later, (4:26) go into the bathroom. (4:29) Face is drooping.(4:30) Go in. (4:31) I wake up Sarah. (4:32) I'm like, hey, babe.(4:35) Something's wrong with me. (4:37) But I knew it wasn't a stroke. (4:39) I don't know how I knew.(4:40) Because I'd read all of the act and the face and the time (4:43) and all the acronyms weren't coming to my brain. (4:46) But I was like, everything's functioning but my face. (4:52) So she wakes up.(4:54) We go to the urgent care.
(4:55) Urgent care is like, you need to go to ER. (4:58) Because we don't think that it's a stroke, (5:01) but we don't know for sure.(5:02) Because I had a little bit of movement in one of my eyebrows. (5:05) So we go to ER. (5:06) They call ahead.(5:06) They're waiting for me. (5:08) They go in. (5:10) Or we go in.(5:12) And it's in Middletown, New York. (5:13) And the ER's kind of crazy. (5:17) Anyways, we get in there.(5:20) They do all the tests for a stroke. (5:22) And again, same thing. (5:24) They're like, you've got a little movement in your eyebrow, (5:26) so we don't think it's a stroke.(5:27) They do a blood test. (5:29) They come back and they're like, good news, bad news. (5:31) Good news is it's not a stroke.(5:33) The bad news is you have Lyme disease. (5:36) And I'm like, what's that and why is my face paralyzed? (5:42) They're like, you got bit by a tick. (5:45) And this is basically stage two.(5:49) It's so bad that it's basically kind of crushing your nerves. (5:55) It's neurological Lyme. (5:57) So there's the basic Lyme.(5:58) You get the rash. (5:59) You go in. (6:00) You get some doxycycline.(6:01) You have two weeks of antibiotics. (6:03) That's kind of the protocol. (6:05) They're like, this is way beyond that because it's (6:07) in your nervous system.
(6:08) And we need to do antibiotics. (6:11) So they did two weeks, which wasn't (6:18) enough for the neurological Lyme. (6:22) So dealing with the Lyme disease and then (6:24) went to a Lyme literate doctor, got all this stuff, (6:28) natural, like a Japanese knotweed and cryptoleptus (6:32) and all this stuff that seemed to start helping.(6:36) Well, along with the Lyme, I was having (6:41) these extremely bad reactions to what I didn't know at the time. (6:48) But I was literally coughing 24-7. (6:55) I couldn't sleep.(6:56) And I was drowning in mucus. (6:59) I'm sleeping on the couch. (7:00) I'm coughing.(7:01) I can't sleep. (7:02) I'm super, super desperate. (7:04) I'm going to the doctor, going to the doctor, (7:06) going to the doctor to the point to where I'm kind of losing it.(7:14) Like I'm losing it. (7:15) I'm going to the doctor. (7:16) And he's like, you need to quit your job (7:19) because there's something at this job that's triggering you.(7:23) My face is swelling up. (7:25) I'm getting blisters. (7:27) I would do like this.(7:29) I'd go like that to my lips. (7:32) And it would instantly puff my lip out. (7:38) I was so loaded with a histamine.(7:42) It was insane. (7:44) So one day, serendipitous, I was with a friend. (7:48) We go to Shake Shack.(7:50) Right? (7:50) We get a shake. (7:51) We get a burger and a shake. (7:53) And I'm bringing stuff home for Sarah.(7:57) And I take a bite of the burger. (7:59) And then I start coughing, like one of my coughing fits, (8:02) to where I go outside. (8:04) I'm on all fours.(8:06) And I'm basically coughing and throwing up. (8:10) So I Google Lyme disease and hamburger. (8:15) And then it pops up with alpha-gal.
(8:18) And seriously, Lindsie, I was like, what the? (8:25) I was so mad but so relieved. (8:29) I'd never heard of it. (8:30) I'd been to the doctor six times.(8:36) Right? (8:37) I have alpha-gal syndrome. (8:40) I'm allergic to anything from a mammal. (8:43) And they call it a red meat allergy.(8:45) But it's way more than that. (8:48) So it's basically anything with a mom. (8:50) Right? (8:50) If anything had a mom, I'm allergic to it.(8:54) But alpha-gal, it doesn't trigger immediately like a peanut allergy or a bee sting. (9:01) It triggers two to 12 hours after you eat it. (9:04) It has to go into your system through your big intestine.(9:08) As soon as it hits your lower intestine and into your bloodstream, (9:11) then your body just freaks out. (9:13) So it made total sense. (9:15) I was eating McDonald's and Shake Shack and cereal and dairy and butter.(9:24) So I figured it out. (9:26) I've got alpha-gal. (9:27) I start cutting out all of the things.(9:30) I start instantly clearing up. (9:33) But then it gets kind of weird because with alpha-gal, you can eat chicken and fish. (9:39) So I was eating tuna fish because I had to change my diet.(9:44) Right? (9:44) I had to because I was at my wits' end. (9:51) So I'm eating tuna fish, and I'm having an alpha-gal reaction. (9:54) So then I'm Googling tuna and alpha-gal.(9:57) Well, you know what they do? (9:58) If you buy cheap tuna, they harvest dolphins and whales with it. (10:05) Guess what's not on the ingredient list?
(10:09) Dolphins and whales. (10:10) Again, I'm 50 years old, and I forgot that dolphins and whales are mammals.(10:17) They're not fish. (10:18) Right? (10:19) So I'm having a reaction to sun-kissed tuna. (10:24) So now I have to buy line-caught tuna.(10:26) So I stop with the cheap tuna. (10:28) I buy line-caught tuna, and I'm fine. (10:30) So then I've got line-caught salmon.(10:33) And I'm barbecuing one day, and I'm being super diligent on everything. (10:38) I can't do gel caps. (10:40) I can't do dairy.(10:42) I can't do butter. (10:44) If I go to the doctor or to the dentist, any type of medication, so much of it has mammal proteins in it. (10:55) And it'll give me anaphylaxis to where I'll – (10:57) So no eggs either then, right? (10:59) I can do eggs because I'm a chicken.(11:01) So I can do fowl, and I can do fish. (11:04) So we're cooking one day on the barbecue, and I'm having a horrible alpha-gal reaction. (11:12) And it just ruined like two days because I'll be in bed.(11:15) Once it hits, it's like two days in bed, fatigue, GI, like really bad GI stuff, headaches. (11:24) Sarah Googles alpha-gal and charcoal briquettes. (11:32) Charcoal briquettes are held together with beef tallow.(11:36) They're glued together with beef tallow. (11:38) So I'm sitting there grilling this beautiful salmon and then inhaling alpha-gal proteins. (11:44) So then one step further, we're driving by a Burger King.(11:53) I drive – (11:55) Smell it. (11:55) So if I smell – if there's meat cooking, there's the fat proteins in the air. (12:02) If I smell it, I've got 20 minutes before all hell breaks loose in my body.(12:07) Wow. (12:09) No joke. (12:10) So I'm what's called a super reactor.(12:12) I've got it so bad that if I even smell meat being cooked or our boys live with us, (12:22) they can't cook in the house. (12:26) Oh my gosh. (12:27) It's that bad.(12:29) So I'm learning to deal with alpha-gal, inflammation, Lyme disease, and thankfully with alka. (12:39) And I'm not being a sales guy. (12:42) I'm really not.
(12:43) But if I didn't have alka, there's no way I could drink. (12:48) And sometimes when you're – like I'm chronically ill. (12:52) I've got a – and I've never been sick in my life.(12:57) I mean, you know, here and there. (12:59) When you're ill for – I think chronic is over six months because I Googled it. (13:05) I was like – because I was so depressed.(13:07) I couldn't do anything, right? (13:09) Because you can't go out to eat, right? (13:12) Can't go out to eat. (13:13) So I've kind of like what you with the seltzer water. (13:16) When we go out to eat with friends, because we're so social and life revolves around food, (13:22) I'll order – I'll eat before I go and our friends know it.(13:26) So I can have McDonald's French fries of all things, which is really funny. (13:32) Because you would think there would be something wrong with them, but I can do French fries. (13:35) And if I go to like an Italian restaurant, I'll order pasta with olive oil.(13:44) So at least I have something, right? (13:46) And I put some salt and pepper on it and that's – they say it goes away after two to five years. (13:52) Really? How did I know? (13:55) I don't know.
(13:57) So with the alpha-gal protein, there's also carrageenan.(14:02) So the red algae has alpha-gal in it and carrageenan is in almost everything that's yummy. (14:10) So you go to a vegan restaurant, which – I've been to a vegan restaurant or like a vegan Chinese restaurant. (14:17) We went – we're in New York City and I'm so excited to go eat Chinese food at a vegan place.(14:24) Just destroyed me because it had carrageenan in it and I didn't even think to think of it. (14:30) So when it comes to being sick and ill and then dealing with problems, I was reading up on PCOS. (14:40) You know when you have empathy where you're like, I know how you feel and life can really suck.(14:48) So let's just find some enjoyment in a glass of wine or some escape. (14:53) That's probably the wrong thing to say but sometimes you just want to just feel good because you feel bad. (15:04) You know? (15:04) Yeah.(15:05) So I know again that was kind of long-winded but – (15:08) No but – (15:10) It's quite the – being sick is – being sick just sucks. (15:15) Yeah, yeah. (15:16) Oh man.(15:17) But no, I mean I wanted you to share it too because I think it's the ups and downs, right? (15:23) Like that was for me too, like with gluten.
(15:25) I thought, okay, I thought I knew what gluten was but then there's other things that can react just like oats for me, for example. (15:33) I know are a trigger for me that can act like gluten does.(15:39) So there's ups and downs with any health journey at all. (15:44) And so I think that was the point, you know, I wanted you to share that because, you know, people, the listeners need to know that no matter what it is, if it is PCOS or anything else, just because you get the diagnosis and maybe you decide to start cutting out things that you figure out you're reacting to or having an issue with or whatever it might be, it may not be that simple, you know? (16:08) Yeah. (16:09) Yeah, there's going to be some ups and downs along the way.(16:12) Ups and downs for sure. (16:14) And if you can find a little bit of reprise in something that you're taking out, whether it's a supplement or eliminating something, then by all means, by all means, yeah. (16:27) Yeah, find the stuff you can enjoy, right? (16:30) Yeah.(16:31) And you end up learning, you learn a lot.
(16:34) So much that you've got your own podcast on PCOS, right? (16:39) It's really cool because you're helping people. (16:41) And I feel ALKAA's kind of the same, like we're helping people.(16:47) Exactly. (16:48) For those that want help, we're not here to, we kind of started off as a, this is going to cure your hangover. (16:57) If you like to drink and you don't feel right, and we've really, we've done a 180 from that because that's not the crowd that we're after.(17:06) There's so much of that out there. (17:09) And most of it is you treat your body after you drink, right? (17:16) So either you're, like what I was doing, take a bunch of stuff before you drink to help your liver process acetaldehyde and all this stuff. (17:24) Or you've already had a drink and now you're going to take the post drinking pills, potions, powders, or even the prods, right? (17:35) The needles and the IV.(17:37) You can go to Vegas and go to a night, right? (17:39) Like a mobile IV or something, yeah. (17:41) Exactly. (17:42) And then there's that evening stuff and then also the next morning.(17:47) And it's usually a drink and it's either minerals, vitamins and minerals, or acetaminophen or caffeine. (17:59) And so the fun thing about Alka is you're just, you're filtering your drink before you drink it. (18:04) Like you filter your water before you drink it.(18:07) Yeah.
(18:07) That's it. (18:07) And like we were talking about, all that other stuff, the Tylenol, the Motrin, the potions, that's putting all that additional stress on your body too.(18:20) I know. (18:20) Yeah. (18:21) It's not good.(18:23) Yeah. (18:23) Yeah. (18:24) You may not have a hangover, but you might have some side effects from whatever else you were doing.(18:31) Yeah. (18:31) Yeah. (18:32) Yeah.(18:33) It made me think too, because I just realized, so when I had that margarita over the weekend, because I'm one that keeps an eye on my heart rate and stuff at night, my resting heart rate and all that. (18:42) And that's obviously another big thing with alcohol, when you're not recovering properly and everything and causing inflammation and I'll notice my heart rate. (18:52) But now I think about it, I don't think it affected it.(18:57) You know. (18:58) Yeah. (18:59) This is really fun about Alka.(19:01) Yeah. (19:01) And this is not studied because doing a clinical study is, maybe someday we can afford it. (19:08) But we've got some customers that wear the Aura ring.(19:15) I do Apple Watch. (19:16) Yeah. (19:17) Okay.
(19:17) So they're monitoring. (19:22) Before Alka, they'd have alcohol and they would horrible sleep, wake up feeling awful. (19:32) With Alka in their life, they said not only was their sleep good, it was actually better.(19:44) Oh, wow. (19:45) That's what I said too. (19:47) But I can't, you know, this is not a medical study.(19:52) But I was like, this is real data from just a real human that was like, look, I had a glass of wine with Alka. (20:00) Not only did I have better sleep, deeper sleep, more sleep, but then I woke up feeling great. (20:07) And then I was like, are you serious? (20:11) So eliminating acetaldehyde and toxins and histamines and sulfites and tannins is a good thing.(20:23) So and there's been, I think I've been using Alka for three years. (20:29) I think we're going on three years. (20:31) And there's been a couple times where I forgot it.(20:33) Like we'll go out. (20:34) It was a couple months ago. (20:36) I went to see a movie with a friend and we went to a yard house and they had like 500 beers on tap or something.
(20:43) It was awesome. (20:45) And I reached in my pocket and I forgot my Alka. (20:50) And I was like, how can you invented it? (20:56) I've got little tins everywhere.(20:59) Yeah. (21:00) I didn't have it. (21:01) So I was like, you know what I'm going to do? (21:02) I'm going to drink a beer without Alka.(21:10) I think we were watching Top Gun. (21:13) Oh, my gosh. (21:14) It was something silly.(21:17) I had the beer and it was a Belgian beer, which is really rough on me. (21:24) And no joke, Lindsie, before we even left the bar, I was like, oh, oh, crap. (21:32) I can feel the headache coming on.(21:37) But it was good for me to just remember that things do work. (21:45) And again, we created Alka to just reduce toxin load to give your body a fighting chance and made it for me, made it for Sarah. (21:54) And then friends and family started asking.(21:57) And then from there, it turned into what it is now. (22:02) And now we're doing podcasts and we're reading reviews. (22:08) Right.Every time we get a review, my heart just jumps because you never know. (22:16) Right. So our reviews, some of them are they're just incredible.(22:22) Or people are like, I haven't enjoyed wine in 20 years. (22:27) Literally, because they're like, I just I just can't do it. (22:29) And now I can like I can enjoy.(22:32) And these are people that aren't going out and and just getting hammered. (22:38) These are just people that just want to enjoy a special occasion every once in a while. (22:44) So that's what we that's why we're so I just get so excited because you had a margarita.(22:51) And then you can have a glass of wine and I'm having a glass of wine and it's a Thursday night. (22:56) Yeah, it is. I can I'll wake up tomorrow forgetting that I had a glass of wine.(23:02) I've got a scheduled bike ride early morning and I can do that now. (23:07) You can go to the gym. You can go for a run.You can you'll sleep just fine. (23:11) You won't sweat like crazy. You won't.(23:15) Gosh, you don't need to drink three glasses of water in between.
(23:21) And then so then you're going and you're going to the bathroom three times and then you're not getting it right. (23:26) It's just this, this, again, this imposter syndrome of like, (23:30) who the heck are am I to figure out that these little products inside a sachet work so well together? (23:38) Yeah.(23:39) So, yeah, I we just we really want everybody. (23:45) I say we Sarah and I, we are so focused on not just customer service. (23:53) I think that that's that's one thing that I think is really important.(23:56) But just now we know how good it feels to be able to do something that is integral in our lives where you're not paying the price. (24:14) Yeah. (24:14) It's amazing.(24:16) Yeah. So that's a good way to wrap it up. (24:20) Oh my goodness.(24:22) Time flies. (24:24) Nice little bow on it. (24:25) Yes.Yes. (24:26) Any other last thoughts? (24:28) I don't think so. (24:30) I mean, if anybody has any questions, comments, concerns, because we answer a lot of questions, (24:39) Paul at Alka.com. (24:40) That's my email address.(24:43) Reach out. (24:45) I love to help. (24:47) I love to help people.(24:48) And then if we're really big on if you buy Alka, because we're we're trying to build trust with our brand and with podcasts and with our Web site to where we're not trying to cure everything. (25:04) But we're like, hey, we figured something out that we had no idea.
(25:09) It works so well that we did all this lab testing.(25:13) We got a patent on it. (25:14) Try it. (25:15) And if you don't like it, you can you can call us or email us and Sarah is going to make you keep what you have, even though it might not work for you, which is very rare.(25:27) But give it to your spouse. (25:28) Give it to your friends. (25:29) Give it to your family.(25:30) But she's going to refund you everything. (25:32) And then if at all possible, we would love to just see what your experience was. (25:38) So there's no there's you're not going to lose by trying ALKAA.(25:43) Even if it doesn't work. (25:45) And they say about two percent of people have an allergic reaction to ethanol. (25:50) So there's a couple there's some people that are like, it just doesn't work for me because I know nothing works for me.(25:55) So if you want to try ALKAA, by all means, just reach out and give it a shot. (26:02) It's a it's a cool product. (26:05) Awesome.(26:06) Yeah. The Web site is ALKAA.com. (26:09) ALKAA.com. (26:11) Yeah. And then they can find you on Instagram as well.(26:14) Yeah. ALKAA underscore CEO. Alka.co or something like that.(26:18) If you just type in Alka, it'll come up in our Instagram. (26:22) We started off pretty, pretty funny. (26:25) You can see you can see our our journey through the last couple of years of of just us being kind of silly.(26:36) But but but kind of building trust. (26:37) Right. It's just it's me.(26:39) It's Sarah. Here's what we came up with. (26:42) And then we you can see our transition to more mindful drinking kind of that quiet luxury of like, hey.(26:54) We know you don't feel good when you drink. (26:57) If you if you want to give something a shot to just feel better, this is it. (27:02) What we're not trying to defend or push or.
(27:05) And then our customers just they love it. (27:07) Yeah. Awesome.(27:11) Well, thank you so, so much. (27:14) Oh, my gosh. This is this is a fun episode.(27:16) Thank you. That was really fun. (27:19) Informative.Yeah. (27:20) All the things. Nice.(27:22) But I really appreciate you taking the time to be here. (27:24) So thank you. My pleasure.You're welcome. (27:28) That was a really great conversation with Paul. (27:31) I'll be sure to link everything in the show notes if you'd like to connect with him and learn more about the product.(27:36) And if you love this episode, make sure to subscribe and share it with someone who needs to hear it. (27:41) Because healing doesn't come from doing more. (27:44) It comes from understanding better.(27:46) I'm sending you so much love and I'll see you on the next episode of PCOS Unfiltered. (27:51) Nourish. Heal.Thrive.