help me all you gluten and lactose free folks out there!

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Liadora11
Liadora11 Posts: 35
in Food and Nutrition
Ok so my daughter and hubby can't have gluten, and we have been living the gluten free life for a couple of years now with no trouble, but now it's been decided that daughter can't have lactose either so I'm going to have to change things up a bit.

How do you adjust to having neither gluten or lactose in your diet? Are you worried about defficiencies? What do you sub for dairy products? (I would rather avoid dairy products that have just had the lactose sucked out if possible) We use cheese and cream fairly regularly so I need to find some alternatives. We are paleo so rice and oat milks don't really work for us, and almond milk isn't available in my country :(

Also I just realised that quiche was on the menu for tonight, can I sub coconut milk for cream you reckon? It's all I got home!

Thanks in advance :)

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  • DocMarr
    DocMarr Posts: 132 Member
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    I've been gluten and lactose (and egg, caffeine, yeast and alcohol) free for almost a decade now. Cashews make great cream - whizz them in the blender and add vanilla extract for a cream for puddings. Adjust water up and down to make thicker or thinner 'cream'. Or add lemon rind or mint or tamari (wheat free soy sauce) to the blended cashews to make a savoury sauce. I also use coconut milk a lot as a base for soups or a casserole or curry. I take calcium supplements because I don't get enough calcium in my food, but other than that I hit all my macros.
  • GreatShowdowns
    GreatShowdowns Posts: 4
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    Coconut milk is usually a bit sweeter than cream, so it might have a slight coconut-y taste in your omelette.
    Other lactose free dairy options that still follow the paleo diet:
    - coconut yogurt, coconut milk, coconut beverage
    - goat is also naturally lactose free. You could have goat yogurt, milk, cheese. But it is definitely a required taste.
    Most other dairy free cheeses are make with some sort of grain or soy.
  • Liadora11
    Liadora11 Posts: 35
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    Aha! I didn't think of goat products, thanks :)
  • DocMarr
    DocMarr Posts: 132 Member
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    It depends how sensitive she is to goat's milk - or even ewe's milk. I can't take either of these as they just run through me. However, I have recently found the Arla products (same makers of lurpak) who make lactose free milk and cheese products and so far I haven't had any issues with them. Apparently the lactose reduction process is quite a natural one and they just let the bacteria keep going in it until all the lactose is gone. For me that seems better than some of the soya or other milks that are full of additives. :)
  • alaskaang
    alaskaang Posts: 493 Member
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    Avoiding dairy altogether isn't that bad once you get used to it. Coconut milk can be substituted for cream or milk in most instances, just be aware of the calorie content. The flavor is a bit different and I'm not sure how it would taste in quiche. I'd be more apt to leave it out and just make a frittata instead. Experiment with the goat and sheep cheese as an alternative. They are generally stronger in flavor, so use a little less than you normally would. I have a dairy allergy and unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter what source. They all make me swell up.

    I don't really worry about deficiencies other than calcium, and that's fairly easy to supplement. I've also read that we don't really need as much as the RDA when not eating grains, but don't really remember specifics. I would check Chris Kresser's recommendations for kids.

    The one thing that I really missed was ice cream. So Delicious now has ice cream that is soy, dairy and gluten free. :)
  • crunch173
    crunch173 Posts: 13 Member
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    I use coconut milk (a lot!) and almond milk as my dairy substitutes. Before almond milk was available, I would make my own. Grind almonds down to a paste and add water to adjust its thickness.

    Didn't know about the goat products, so I'll check that out.

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