lactose free foods

charliet297
charliet297 Posts: 8 Member
edited November 19 in Food and Nutrition
I have recently been diagnosed with an intolerance to lactose, are there any good replacements for cheese and do they cook the same way?

Replies

  • hansel2001
    hansel2001 Posts: 11 Member
    I use the Cabolt cheese they are lactose free melt great and taste great there low fat is hard to find
  • charliet297
    charliet297 Posts: 8 Member
    Great thanks I will keep an eye out for that one :-)
  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
    edited June 2015
    Depends on where you are. Daiya cheese is a rice based cheese that is pretty good in the USA. Melts fairly well. Cashew cream, curiously, is a commonly used substitute - it thickens when heated, just like dairy. There are recipes to make faux cheese with it - it gets very thick, and the taste is mild enough that herbs and spices can alter it fairly well.

    Also, if it's just lactose intolerance and not dairy? If you're in the UK or elsewhere, you may be able to have some dairy items, like yogurt, buttermilk, and some cheeses. Here in the USA, you'd have to buy European imports or make them yourself to do that. With these items, the process involves bacteria eating all the lactose sugars and producing the soured or thickened product.

    In the USA, however, our companies do a little bit of that process in making dairy products, but they want to make food faster so they skip the rest and just adds in things to make it taste sour, or make it thick. Sometimes the companies even add in milk powder so the food ends up with more lactose than it started with. But if you make your own, you can get the lactose consumed.

    Oh, also, you can likely use Indian Ghee - it's a type of clarified butter that has little to no lactose remaining, but a lot of the butter flavor is still there. Can find it at Indian groceries, if you don't have it available in your regular stores.
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
    charliet297 wrote: »
    I have recently been diagnosed with an intolerance to lactose, are there any good replacements for cheese and do they cook the same way?

    One of my kids is lactose intolerant and a close relative has a full blown dairy allergy. For my daughter-some cheeses don't bother her. She can have American cheese fine, for example. Other kinds she can have with a dairy pill and not have any issues. For my relative-she's just eliminated cheese from her diet because the substitutes are awful (her words).

    Also-almond milk will be your new best friend! Great for drinking, cereal and it's a great dairy milk substitute for baking.

    Blue Bonnet makes lactose free margarine (sticks). These are great for baking, for toast and bagels etc. I can get a box of 4 sticks on sale frequently for .69-vs $4 for a small tub of Earth Balance or other dairy free butter alternative. Tastes the same as regular margarine too.

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    edited June 2015
    Cabot is a great New England based brand. Not sure if they are regional, but I used to get some of the lactose free cheeses for a former significant other who had an intolerance. They have similar nutrition to "regular" cheeses, but they're pretty fantastic. My favorite is their pepper jack.

    Edit: also, it melts/tastes like regular cheese.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    Also, experiment with some cheeses aged longer, or harder cheese. It helps reduce the lactose in them.
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
    Another thing to bear in mind is that lactose intolerance generally doesn't mean that you can't have *any* lactose. It means that whilst your body produces a reduced amount of the enzyme needed to digest lactose, it still does produce it.

    So in practice, you can probably eat a small amount of lactose based foods still. Cut it out where you can of course, but the odd slice of regular cheese probably won't hurt. Over time, you'll find your own limit.
  • poisonalchemist
    poisonalchemist Posts: 1 Member
    Lactose Intolorence Cheatsheet
    (Because imitation cheese is not cheese)
    • Parmesean -> Pecorino Romano
    • Aged Italian sheep cheese, found in Costco, half the price of parmesean anyways. Gives a salty meaty flavor, but melts even better.
    • Cream Cheese -> Chevre
    • Soft goat cheese, can also be found at costco (may be regional). Has the same tart, bright, umami qualities, can be used in most baking/recipe applications. Does not melt, except into a sort of grainy watery mix. Some varieties are slightly firmer than cream cheese and need time out of the fridge to become spreadable.
    • Cheddar -> Manchego
    • A firm Spanish sheep milk cheese. No goat/sheep cheese I have found has the flavor profile of a good cheddar but Manchego is the only readily available one I have found that has comparable melting characteristics. For melting younger is better, you're going to be looking at less than 6 months. It is usually sold in 12, 6, 3, and 1 month varieties at everything from Kroger to Safeway and Whole foods (And yes, Costco again.)

    My Costco membership pays for itself in bulk cheese.
  • salemthecat27
    salemthecat27 Posts: 16 Member
    Cabot cheeses are great. I've also tried something called 'veggie shreds' - it's a vegetable based cheese of some sort. It's, not really cheese, but an ok substitute in a pinch. Also, have you heard of lactaid pills? They contain the enzyme that your body lacks, and all you need to do is take one before eating something with dairy. Walmart sells a generic version (over the counter) called dairy digestive supplement.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    salemthecat27 wrote: »
    Cabot cheeses are great. I've also tried something called 'veggie shreds' - it's a vegetable based cheese of some sort. It's, not really cheese, but an ok substitute in a pinch. Also, have you heard of lactaid pills? They contain the enzyme that your body lacks, and all you need to do is take one before eating something with dairy. Walmart sells a generic version (over the counter) called dairy digestive supplement.

    This.

    My friend took one, and survived my homemade mac and cheese with an inhuman amount of melted pepper jack and parmigiano reggiano.
  • Sarasmaintaining
    Sarasmaintaining Posts: 1,027 Member
    cyronius wrote: »
    Another thing to bear in mind is that lactose intolerance generally doesn't mean that you can't have *any* lactose. It means that whilst your body produces a reduced amount of the enzyme needed to digest lactose, it still does produce it.

    So in practice, you can probably eat a small amount of lactose based foods still. Cut it out where you can of course, but the odd slice of regular cheese probably won't hurt. Over time, you'll find your own limit.

    This is what we've discovered with my daughter. She can eat a bit of dairy and be fine-takes some trial and error to figure out the threshold though. But we've also found out that my daughter cannot have straight up dairy milk anymore, even with two pills. Ice cream is another one she has to take 2 pills with, and even then can only have it in small doses. But things like American cheese, yogurt and dairy in baked goods she can have with no pill, as long as she keeps the amount in check.

  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member
    My husband is lactose intolerant and can eat quite a few cheeses that have been listed. On some Kraft packages of cheese, it even says, contains 0g of lactose. Or at least it used to.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Sarasmaintaining wrote: »
    cyronius wrote: »
    Another thing to bear in mind is that lactose intolerance generally doesn't mean that you can't have *any* lactose. It means that whilst your body produces a reduced amount of the enzyme needed to digest lactose, it still does produce it.

    So in practice, you can probably eat a small amount of lactose based foods still. Cut it out where you can of course, but the odd slice of regular cheese probably won't hurt. Over time, you'll find your own limit.

    This is what we've discovered with my daughter. She can eat a bit of dairy and be fine-takes some trial and error to figure out the threshold though. But we've also found out that my daughter cannot have straight up dairy milk anymore, even with two pills. Ice cream is another one she has to take 2 pills with, and even then can only have it in small doses. But things like American cheese, yogurt and dairy in baked goods she can have with no pill, as long as she keeps the amount in check.

    Yep, you definitely figure it out over time. It will sound stupid but I can tell by looking at some foods (I'm thinking about pictures on restaurant menus) whether or not they will make me sick even with a pill, if I'll be fine with a pill, or if I can just skip a pill entirely. While I am posting, I am going to suggest these lactase pills. I like them better than Lactaid brand because they come in a bottle instead of those little paper sheets and they are capsules so you can swallow them easily without water. I get them from Subscribe and Save on Amazon each month.

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  • discretekim
    discretekim Posts: 314 Member
    Good cheese shouldn't contain lactose because lactose is a sugar. Cheese is usually just fat and protein.
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