Lactose Free?

helmeidn
helmeidn Posts: 5
edited November 13 in Food and Nutrition
I have issues.. like, stomach issues to put it nicely. We think I may be lactose intolerant. So, im trying to put this theory to the test. I have already switched to Lactaid instead of regular milk. Surprisingly, its pretty good. What's my next step, though?

Replies

  • bodyzen
    bodyzen Posts: 122 Member
    You could try almond milk. Or coconut milk. There are lots of yummy non dairy versions out there. I've made my own hazelnut milk in the past and oh man it was delish!
  • Yodee
    Yodee Posts: 84 Member
    I have found that ice cream and milk are no good for me - but I can tolerate cheese. It will be a trial and error type thing to see what your body will allow and what it won't. When I began having problems I added one thing to see what happened - then moved on from there.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    Eliminate all dairy products. Cheese. Cream. Butter. Etc. Keep in mind some sauces have cream in them.. Cookies, chocolate, Ice cream, etc all have dairy. Eating at restaurants can be difficult bc there is no telling whether they put butter or cream in something. I went off dairy for a while but found it didn't affect my digestive problems so now I'm eating it again. Although now my face is breaking out so I'm wondering if dairy causes my acne? :(
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
    I can eat cheese with no problems and have a little milk in cereal sometimes, but ice cream is the worst. Makes me so ill. Occasionally I can have a little and do better with homemade real ice cream. Just a little though.
  • thinkthinfox
    thinkthinfox Posts: 9
    Hey I thought my problem was lactose, but I find im a lot more tolerant now I dont eat gluten.
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
    edited February 2015
    I can do hard cheese without issue, butter upsets my tummy as does straight milk. Yogurt is a crapshoot, no pun intended. Ok, pun intended. Everyone who is intolerant has varying degrees of lactose tolerance. You just have to experiment.
  • AndineC
    AndineC Posts: 20 Member
    Oddly I can eat goats cheese and am fine but cows cheese and cream are awful. I do miss it but the reaction is so uhhh explosive it simply isn't worth it
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    I cannot drink cow or goat milk at all or eat regular cottage cheese. Sometimes ice cream is a problem
    I am o.k. with regular yogurt and frozen yogurt and lactaid cottage cheese.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    You may do fine just by switching to lactaid. That worked for me for a good while. You may eventually need to change to soy or almond milk. Unfortunately, most readily available ones are loaded with added sugar. Look for unsweetened versions. For many of us, cheeses, especially aged cheeses are fine. For others, like my mom, even cheese sends her around the bend. You just need to use your own judgement. If something bothers your tummy, don't eat it.

    (If you look in our fridge now, there's unsweetened soy milk for me, unsweetened almond milk for hubby, and Lactaid for the cats! ;-))
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    I'm lactose intolerant and even lactose-free milk bothers me. All milk causes me extreme digestive pain, ice cream, cheese curds, mozzarella, cheese they sell in brick form (think orange cheddar), and yogurt are also very disruptive to my system. Remember that higher fat content milk products contain less lactose, so if you have to consume dairy, cream will hurt less than skim milk. I can tolerate small amounts of ice cream, frozen yogurt, or cream in recipes, but it definitely does still cause digestive issues, even in very small amounts. I find old (especially hard) cheeses like aged cheddar and parmesan don't bother me, blue and brie don't bother me. So at the least the good cheeses are still on the table, so to speak. Goat cheese is a good option as well.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
    hesn92 wrote: »
    Eliminate all dairy products. Cheese. Cream. Butter. Etc. Keep in mind some sauces have cream in them.. Cookies, chocolate, Ice cream, etc all have dairy. Eating at restaurants can be difficult bc there is no telling whether they put butter or cream in something. I went off dairy for a while but found it didn't affect my digestive problems so now I'm eating it again. Although now my face is breaking out so I'm wondering if dairy causes my acne? :(

    Umm, or not?

    Most hard cheeses don't have much in the way of lactose (if any). Sometimes I'll take a lactaid if I'm having fresh nommilicious ice cream. But, otherwise that's it. I'm fine with lactaid, it has higher protein amounts than almond milk and is tastier. No need to go extreme with it. If you have a dairy allergy, that's a different matter. But, an allergy can be tested for.

    Bits of cream don't really bother me much. So, I don't have enough lactase to break down loads of lactose (sigh), but some.
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    Butter doesn't bother me either, unless in really large amounts. You'll find what you can and can't eat pretty quickly, and in what amounts, if you start by cutting out all dairy products, and slowly integrating ones you think you can tolerate one at a time. That's what I did. For me it's a scale of 'Oh, I may be a bit gassy, but it's so worth it to have some of this,' to 'If I have even a bit of this I will be in crippling pain, screaming in the fetal position for hours.' So, as I said, you'll quickly figure out what to avoid, and what is worth having in small amounts.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    helmeidn wrote: »
    I have issues.. like, stomach issues to put it nicely. We think I may be lactose intolerant. So, im trying to put this theory to the test. I have already switched to Lactaid instead of regular milk. Surprisingly, its pretty good. What's my next step, though?


    Cabot makes lactose free cheeses. Not sure if you have that brand in your area (they are based in Vermont), but their cheese is awesome, and was helpful for an ex who had a lactose intolerance.
  • zeal26
    zeal26 Posts: 602 Member
    I go for lactose-free milk when I can get it, and just forego milk when I can't because I just don't enjoy milk alternatives.

    Hard cheese is fine and I eat cream cheese in small amounts.

    Ice cream and yoghurt make me feel awful though. I did find a tasty soya ice cream recently, and usually get Alpro Soy desserts for snacking. I also switched from milk chocolate to dark chocolate.
  • helmeidn
    helmeidn Posts: 5
    Thank you all for the suggestions! I will have to just experiment here and there. I absolutely love cheese so im hoping that I can get away with eating it still. I did not know that there were so many variations that were lactose free. I will definitely have to go to the store and just spend some time looking.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I guess my plan if action would be to eliminate all of it then slowly reintroduce one thing at a time to find out what causes the problem.
  • harpere87
    harpere87 Posts: 142 Member
    I can eat cheese, in moderation. Which is a huge problem for me at parties with a cheese tray lol. I can't drink milk or have ice cream. Oddly enough, if milk is cooked (i.e. in mac n cheese, scrambled eggs, etc) I can eat it - I'm guessing the heat helps to break down the lactose for me. I can also eat yogurt in moderation. Thank goodness my boyfriend is the same way (and we both ended up this way as adults??).
    - We have found that unsweetened original almond milk is the most similar to milk we used to have.
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