Question for those with dairy intolerance?

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StacyReneO
StacyReneO Posts: 317 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have been off dairy for about 6 months. I do use grass fed butter on occasion when baking but other than that - no dairy at all. There have been a few times when I've been out and a piece of cheese and snuck it's way into an omelette or other dish and I have paid dearly for the effects. I have been considering going back to greek yogurt though as I need some quick, easy protein and this seems to be the easiest way. My office stocks the kitchen with a ton of unhealthy snacks, the few healthier options being fruit and Greek yogurt. I bring a lot of my own stuff but honestly have been getting tired of meat snack for protein.

I have read that yogurt is processed different than other dairy so people with dairy sensitivities tend not to have issues with it. But then again, cheese is processed differently than milk and I still have issues with cheese. If you have dairy sensitivities, what have been your experiences?

Replies

  • ziggypop93
    ziggypop93 Posts: 133 Member
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    Are you sensitive to the lactose or to the milk proteins? My son had milk protein allergies and got really bad eczema his first year of life, so I had to give up all dairy in order to make sure he didn't have an reactions. It didn't matter what kind of dairy - it included whey and anything that had casein in it. So I would say no to the yogurt. However, if it is due to lactose, I'm not sure.
  • endoftheside
    endoftheside Posts: 568 Member
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    A lot of hard cheeses and yogurts are low in lactose compared to fluid milk. If you have trouble with cheese your problem might be the milk protein instead, in which case you would also have trouble with yogurt.
  • pseudomuffin
    pseudomuffin Posts: 1,058 Member
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    I'm lactose intolerant and yogurt tears me up! I have no issues with hard cheeses or grass-fed butters, though. I guess the best you can do is try a little bit of something and see how you react to it.

    There's a cool non-dairy brand called Tofutti that I personally love, they have all sorts of soy based products that are quite excellent :) I make soy creme fraiche by mixing one to one their soy sour cream and soy cream cheese, and you honestly couldn't tell the difference. You can usually find them at high-end grocery stores (like Whole Foods or World Market type places) and I'll bet their yogurt is excellent though I've never tried it.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    I'm lactose intolerant and I can eat yogurt with no issues. Probably the only way to know is to try it. Maybe do that on a Friday afternoon in case it doesn't go so well?
  • StacyReneO
    StacyReneO Posts: 317 Member
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    Thanks for all your responses. :)



    The issues I have with dairy is bloating, fatigue, gassiness - so it's not really bad. The cheeses that had I had accidentally ingested, after I quit, were along the lines of american, cheddar, swiss, mozzarella - and 'diner' quality so I am sure they were not well-aged. I think I may try some yogurt this afternoon and just see how it sets.
    I'm lactose intolerant and yogurt tears me up! I have no issues with hard cheeses or grass-fed butters, though. I guess the best you can do is try a little bit of something and see how you react to it.

    There's a cool non-dairy brand called Tofutti that I personally love, they have all sorts of soy based products that are quite excellent :) I make soy creme fraiche by mixing one to one their soy sour cream and soy cream cheese, and you honestly couldn't tell the difference. You can usually find them at high-end grocery stores (like Whole Foods or World Market type places) and I'll bet their yogurt is excellent though I've never tried it.

    I can't do soy either. Soy actually does worse for my tummy than dairy! Trader Joe's also carries all the Tofutti products, I used to give my kids Tofutti Cuties ice cream treats all the time - they love those.
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
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    You may tolerate sheep / goat milk / cheese / yogurt better. I have avoided most cow milk products due to bloating and other negative side effects. In Switzerland you can buy these products in normal grocery stores and most of it is organic too.

    Sheep and goat milk seem to be easier to digest as their proteins are more similar to the ones in human milk.

    Sheep milk has a very neutral taste (except in coffee). I only like goat milk fresh off the goat (no joke). But I love the cheeses and sheep milk yogurt is very good.

    Might be worth a try, if you don't want to cut dairy out completely.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,970 Member
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    In before someones says cheese should only be consumed by baby cows. j/k :tongue:
  • grnem
    grnem Posts: 1 Member
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    Im lactose intolerant and use goats and soya products as well as vitalite which is dairy free. I find these much easier .
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
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    Soya milk is a good source of calcium.
  • tiggerhammon
    tiggerhammon Posts: 2,211 Member
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    Any dairy at all gets me, even grass fed butter.

    Try nuts for protein snack
  • adiggs2777
    adiggs2777 Posts: 111 Member
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    I'm lactose intolerant when it comes to milk, but I have no issues with cheese, which is good because I would curl up into the fetal position and cry in despair if I could not have cheese (I don't tend to have issues with yogurt much either). I've switched to soy milk for drinking on cereal/etc. If you have issues with soy, have you considered almond or coconut milk? You don't get much protein with almond milk, but you can put it on your Wheaties without being bloated and gassy all day.
  • dorianaldyn
    dorianaldyn Posts: 611 Member
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    Try nuts for protein snack

    If what you really want is protein, there are better proteins out there for your health than dairy yogurt. I agree on the nuts. What about hummus? Or make a large quinoa salad and bring smaller portions to work for a snack?
  • jess1992uga
    jess1992uga Posts: 603 Member
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    I have the same issue and found out it actually had to do with how my body processed the fats and certain kinds of protein which differ between dairy. Now I can have yogurt if its fat free, skim milk if not too much, and the only Greek Yogurt I can tolerate is Light N' Fit and even then must be very small amount. It's all trial and error...sadly there have been a lot of errors haha.
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
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    How do you feel when you eat yogurt? I have an allergy, so I can't have any dairy (from a cow), but a good friend of mine is severely lactose intolerant, but can tolerate yogurt. Otherwise she just takes a lactaid pill.

    Since I can't have dairy or soy, I've also had this issue with protein - I've basically given up on adding protein to my snacks and instead I added extra protein to my breakfast and lunch. That seems to get me through the work day with some fruit and veggies thrown in. As for non-dairy yogurt - have you tried coconut yogurt? You won't get the protein, but it's yummy...
  • StacyReneO
    StacyReneO Posts: 317 Member
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    Soya milk is a good source of calcium.

    Can't do soy and it's actually protein I'm after :)
    Try nuts for protein snack .

    I do eat nuts sometimes but the protein value in a serving of nuts (about 1/4 cup/20 or so nuts) is not really
    enough for me (about 6g of protein). I can do 140c of greek yogurt and get more than double the protein.

    So I ended up having too many afternoon meetings yesterday to risk the yogurt. If there is any left in the office fridge today I will give it a go as I am pretty slow at work today.

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