Dairy - Does it cause bloating?
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gia_incognito
Posts: 103 Member
I eat a lot of dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar slices) almost every day. Is this slowing down weight loss? Should I cut it out altogether??
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Replies
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As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.3
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As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.0 -
gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Have you been consistently in a deficit for at least 6 weeks?0 -
TavistockToad wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Have you been consistently in a deficit for at least 6 weeks?
It's been about 2-3 weeks. But I was used to losing a lb a day for years when I'd first start dieting.0 -
gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Maybe some of both. It's probable that if your family is mostly lactose intolerant you are too, since lactose tolerance is a genetic factor. You can also become lactose intolerant over time.
Bloating is a common symptom of lactose intolerance. If your body isn't producing enough lactase to handle the dairy, the lactose is broken down by gut flora that produces gas, which you sense as bloating and stomach pain.
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gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Maybe some of both. It's probable that if your family is mostly lactose intolerant you are too, since lactose tolerance is a genetic factor. You can also become lactose intolerant over time.
Bloating is a common symptom of lactose intolerance. If your body isn't producing enough lactase to handle the dairy, the lactose is broken down by gut flora that produces gas, which you sense as bloating and stomach pain.
Ohh interesting! I never thought that I could be lactose intolerant bc I never get pain when I eat dairy. But that makes sense that maybe my system isn't set up for it and though I'm not in pain maybe the bloating still happens.
Is there a supplement you can take to get more lactase?0 -
In the US there's a supplement called Lactaid that's sold OTC. I'm not sure how effective it is.0
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gia_incognito wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Have you been consistently in a deficit for at least 6 weeks?
It's been about 2-3 weeks. But I was used to losing a lb a day for years when I'd first start dieting.
A pound / day is likely initial water weight loss, especially if you've drastically reduced sodium and carbs. That's too fast for fat loss. 2 pounds per week is the fastest you would try for, and that's only if you are significantly obese. 1 pound per week is more likely a reasonable target.2 -
gia_incognito wrote: »I eat a lot of dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar slices) almost every day. Is this slowing down weight loss? Should I cut it out altogether??
Eating dairy doesn't slow down fat loss**, and fat loss is what we usually really want when we're talking about weight loss. I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian and have eaten very large amounts of dairy all through weight loss and now in weight maintenance. From a weight loss perspective, dairy food calories are like any other kind of calories: Eat too many of any kind of calories and we gain weight, eat fewer calories than we burn and we lose weight.
Since it's only been a couple of weeks, perhaps you've just started your diet at a different point in your menstrual cycle so water weight gain is obscuring fat loss temporarily, or started a new exercise routine that can also temporarily add water weight, or something like that. Water weight isn't fat, so it's not worth worrying about. Premenopausal women really need to stick with a new eating routine for 4-6 weeks (a full menstrual cycle plus a bit) to see what the actual average weekly weight loss results will be.
Even starting to eat more of low-cal but high fiber veggies can cause a deceptive scale stall at first, just because of more physical volume of food in transit in the digestive system. Newly high fiber intake can also cause some gassiness at first, while one's gut microbiome adjusts to the new way of eating.
If you were having lactose intolerance, I'd expect more/worse symptoms than a scale-weight stall and relatively minor/manageable bloating.
** AFAIK this is true even for people who are lactose intolerant, though intolerance could cause certain types of bloating that aren't rat retention or gain.
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gia_incognito wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Have you been consistently in a deficit for at least 6 weeks?
It's been about 2-3 weeks. But I was used to losing a lb a day for years when I'd first start dieting.
How much weight do you have to lose? A pound a day for years? :huh:1 -
TavistockToad wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »As long as you are not lactose intolerant and you are in a calorie deficit there is no reason that dairy would affect your weight loss.
But does dairy actually cause bloating or is it in my head? I'm the only one in my family who is NOT lactose intolerant and dairy is my go to food. Just wondering why the weight is moving.
Have you been consistently in a deficit for at least 6 weeks?
It's been about 2-3 weeks. But I was used to losing a lb a day for years when I'd first start dieting.
How much weight do you have to lose? A pound a day for years? :huh:
I'm 140 (which seems to be my body's set point) and I want to get to 125. So 15 lbs. I'm 5'7".
I'm almost 40 and weight loss just seems to be more elusive than it was.3 -
gia_incognito wrote: »I eat a lot of dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar slices) almost every day. Is this slowing down weight loss? Should I cut it out altogether??
Eating dairy doesn't slow down fat loss**, and fat loss is what we usually really want when we're talking about weight loss. I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian and have eaten very large amounts of dairy all through weight loss and now in weight maintenance. From a weight loss perspective, dairy food calories are like any other kind of calories: Eat too many of any kind of calories and we gain weight, eat fewer calories than we burn and we lose weight.
Since it's only been a couple of weeks, perhaps you've just started your diet at a different point in your menstrual cycle so water weight gain is obscuring fat loss temporarily, or started a new exercise routine that can also temporarily add water weight, or something like that. Water weight isn't fat, so it's not worth worrying about. Premenopausal women really need to stick with a new eating routine for 4-6 weeks (a full menstrual cycle plus a bit) to see what the actual average weekly weight loss results will be.
Even starting to eat more of low-cal but high fiber veggies can cause a deceptive scale stall at first, just because of more physical volume of food in transit in the digestive system. Newly high fiber intake can also cause some gassiness at first, while one's gut microbiome adjusts to the new way of eating.
If you were having lactose intolerance, I'd expect more/worse symptoms than a scale-weight stall and relatively minor/manageable bloating.
** AFAIK this is true even for people who are lactose intolerant, though intolerance could cause certain types of bloating that aren't rat retention or gain.
Ok so it sounds like I'm just impatient and need to wait longer. And keep to the plan. CICO, right?0 -
gia_incognito wrote: »gia_incognito wrote: »I eat a lot of dairy (yogurt, cottage cheese, cheddar slices) almost every day. Is this slowing down weight loss? Should I cut it out altogether??
Eating dairy doesn't slow down fat loss**, and fat loss is what we usually really want when we're talking about weight loss. I'm an ovo-lacto vegetarian and have eaten very large amounts of dairy all through weight loss and now in weight maintenance. From a weight loss perspective, dairy food calories are like any other kind of calories: Eat too many of any kind of calories and we gain weight, eat fewer calories than we burn and we lose weight.
Since it's only been a couple of weeks, perhaps you've just started your diet at a different point in your menstrual cycle so water weight gain is obscuring fat loss temporarily, or started a new exercise routine that can also temporarily add water weight, or something like that. Water weight isn't fat, so it's not worth worrying about. Premenopausal women really need to stick with a new eating routine for 4-6 weeks (a full menstrual cycle plus a bit) to see what the actual average weekly weight loss results will be.
Even starting to eat more of low-cal but high fiber veggies can cause a deceptive scale stall at first, just because of more physical volume of food in transit in the digestive system. Newly high fiber intake can also cause some gassiness at first, while one's gut microbiome adjusts to the new way of eating.
If you were having lactose intolerance, I'd expect more/worse symptoms than a scale-weight stall and relatively minor/manageable bloating.
** AFAIK this is true even for people who are lactose intolerant, though intolerance could cause certain types of bloating that aren't rat retention or gain.
Ok so it sounds like I'm just impatient and need to wait longer. And keep to the plan. CICO, right?
Youbetcha.
And with 15 pounds to lose, you don't really want to lose it fast: Not healthy.
The difference with age, BTW, is that we usually don't have as muscle mass as we once did, and we're a little less active in daily life than we used to be . . . both of which are things we can work to improve. (I'm 62, and lost weight anyway. ).
Best wishes!
P.S. I didn't really mean "rat retention". Autocorrect, jeesh. Water retention! LOL.
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Unless you are lactose intolerant or have other dairy related medical issues, no, dairy does not cause bloating.0
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If you're in a calorie deficit then you will lose weight, whether you eat dairy or not. It really is calories in vs calories out. A lb a day is not typical of a healthy weight loss. It is common to lose faster in the initial week or two because of water weight but if you're consistently losing weight that fast then you're eating too little. The recommended weight loss is 0.5-2lbs a week.
Regarding dairy you shouldn't feel bloated or have digestive issues unless you're intolerant. However, lactose intolerance is really common, but it's such a regular part of the western diet that things like bloating, wind etc can be overlooked when you have something so frequently (this is not the same as an allergy)
This doesn't mean you are intolerant, but if you are concerned you could always trial a period of time without? It's not really going to make a difference to weight loss though unless it results in a calorie deficit.0 -
Your body doesn’t have a set point. Weight loss just happens very slowly when you get close to your goal, which makes many people think their bodies don’t “want” to lose more. Your deficit when you’re close to your goal is very small, so you need to log as accurately as possible to ensure that you’re still in a deficit, and be patient.1
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