Lactose Intolerance Help

I'm not sure where to ask this, but I am trying to find out about cheese for someone who is lactose intolerant. Is there a benefit to goat or sheep cheese instead of cow cheese? I've got some plant-based but the last time I tried it I couldn't stand it and the taste almost made me sick. I don't know how goat or sheep cheese stacks up on the lactose level.
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Replies

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,528 Member
    Lactaid just came out with a lactose free cheese.
  • fancyqtr
    fancyqtr Posts: 183 Member
    I used that parmesan sprinkle cheese that comes in a jar and was find one day and 2 days later used some and got sick on it. I am so frustrated trying to find something. I don't like cheddar or colby. I like cheese like mozzarela and Monterey Jack.
  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    edited September 2021
    Experiment with the cheeses mentioned above. It helps if you have a local fromagerie or a specialty store in your area so you can ask questions, sample etc.

    I gave it a good two years (goat brie was the tastiest and most tolerated for me) but I just don't eat or crave dairy so much that I needed to continue exploring.

    Hope you find what works for you.

    ETA: There are, obviously, different brands of brie lol So consider being open to experimenting that way as well with all the cheeses you try, OP
  • You might find some cottage cheese or Feta cheese made from goat milk or sheep milk.. but those are hard to find, and more expensive.

    What you need to remember is that lactose is a sugar, so it 's a carb.. so the lower carb cheeses tend to have less lactose.

    You want aged cheeses which tend to be firmer. Swiss is very low, but I find it to not be very flavorful.. maybe added to a dish, it would be OK.. like shredded on top of a salad, or some hot food, for a bit of flavor, such as chili.

    I tend to use Parmesan, and cheddar mostly, because they don't cause me any issues.. the sharper the cheddar the better, and the drier the Parmesan the better. I tend to buy crumbled Parmesan for salads, and I can eat 1-2 two ounce servings a week of EXTRA sharp cheddar.

    Judge the servings size, frequency, and experiment with cheeses low in carbs to see which cheeses work for you. You know what lactose does to you, and how it makes you feel, so if you try a lower carb aged cheese, and get any symptoms.. just know it isn't for you.. find 3-4 that work for you, and it should make your life a little bit happier.

    Often, we want the foods which are bad for us. I love cheese, but you just need to work out how much, and what kind you can have, and how often, and then enjoy it. I don't have any other dairy, but I worked cheese in, and feel good having done so.

    Other aged cheeses which I eat less often due to cost, are Gouda, and one I love.. Manchego. These tend to have <1 g of carbs per 1 oz. serving. Gouda may have more flavors, and therefore more carbs, but usually from things added which are NOT lactose. It tends to have differently aged samples though.. younger ones may be an issue. I tend to squeeze the packet, and if it is soft, I pass.

    Hope that helps, and enjoy some cheese.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited September 2021

    You might find some cottage cheese or Feta cheese made from goat milk or sheep milk.. but those are hard to find, and more expensive.

    What you need to remember is that lactose is a sugar, so it 's a carb.. so the lower carb cheeses tend to have less lactose.

    You want aged cheeses which tend to be firmer. Swiss is very low, but I find it to not be very flavorful.. maybe added to a dish, it would be OK.. like shredded on top of a salad, or some hot food, for a bit of flavor, such as chili.

    I tend to use Parmesan, and cheddar mostly, because they don't cause me any issues.. the sharper the cheddar the better, and the drier the Parmesan the better. I tend to buy crumbled Parmesan for salads, and I can eat 1-2 two ounce servings a week of EXTRA sharp cheddar.

    Judge the servings size, frequency, and experiment with cheeses low in carbs to see which cheeses work for you. You know what lactose does to you, and how it makes you feel, so if you try a lower carb aged cheese, and get any symptoms.. just know it isn't for you.. find 3-4 that work for you, and it should make your life a little bit happier.

    Often, we want the foods which are bad for us. I love cheese, but you just need to work out how much, and what kind you can have, and how often, and then enjoy it. I don't have any other dairy, but I worked cheese in, and feel good having done so.

    Other aged cheeses which I eat less often due to cost, are Gouda, and one I love.. Manchego. These tend to have <1 g of carbs per 1 oz. serving. Gouda may have more flavors, and therefore more carbs, but usually from things added which are NOT lactose. It tends to have differently aged samples though.. younger ones may be an issue. I tend to squeeze the packet, and if it is soft, I pass.

    Hope that helps, and enjoy some cheese.

    Yeah, the older the better. Aging causes the lactose which is a sugar to be converted by the bacteria to lactic acid, which reduces or eliminates the lactose.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    We raised goats for milk when I was a kid (pun intended) and my understanding is that people who have a hard time digesting cow's milk *may* be able to tolerate goat's milk.

    A quick google search shows that goat's milk does have less lactose, and while not perhaps not significantly less, there are other factors that might make it a good option. Example:

    https://lactosefree101.com/goats-milk-lactose-free/

    ...While goat’s milk contains less lactose than cow’s milk, there is certainly enough there. While cow’s milk often contains 12-14 grams per cup serving, goat’s milk typically contains 9 grams. Even for people with mild cases of lactose intolerance, a glass of goat’s milk is certainly too much.

    While goat’s milk does contain significant amounts of lactose, some people who suffer from lactose intolerance find goat’s milk to be far easier to consume, even more than the reduced amount of lactose could account for. Also helping digestion is the relatively small size of the fat dispersed in goat’s milk. The smaller globule size of fats allow more access to your digestive enzymes in your gut combined with a softer curd can allow your body to digest the milk easier, which can ease the pain and discomfort of lactose intolerance.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
    Lactose intolerant here. Goat and sheep based cheese work fine for me, no reaction at all. Hard cheeses like Parmesan are OK too, in moderation. Anything made out of cow milk, nope, never. I think it's just a matter of trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn't. In general, older, harder cheese OK, younger, softer cheese, not OK.
  • Beverly2Hansen
    Beverly2Hansen Posts: 378 Member
    My daughter is dairy intolerant which is a step above just lactose intolerant however no goat cheese causes her problems. Its something worth trying IMO.
  • Fuzzipeg
    Fuzzipeg Posts: 2,297 Member
    In my previous post talking about types of casein. I was saying cow/bovine dairy is type 4 dominant but the 4 went missing, very sorry.

    So bovine is type 4 dominant, goat and sheep along with human is type 3 dominant which generally makes it easier to digest. From my nutritionist and more reading of my own, more people are casein intolerant than lactose because someone is more likely to react to protein.
  • SLL1803
    SLL1803 Posts: 49 Member
    A lot of people who cannot tolerate cow milk can tolerate sheep or goats milk cheeses but not all.

    Vegan cheeses are also worth looking at. I can make specific recommendations but they are only useful for the UK.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    Fuzzipeg wrote: »
    In my previous post talking about types of casein. I was saying cow/bovine dairy is type 4 dominant but the 4 went missing, very sorry.

    So bovine is type 4 dominant, goat and sheep along with human is type 3 dominant which generally makes it easier to digest. From my nutritionist and more reading of my own, more people are casein intolerant than lactose because someone is more likely to react to protein.

    Yes, casein intolerance is often miss diagnosed as lactose intolerance.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited September 2021
    SLL1803 wrote: »
    A lot of people who cannot tolerate cow milk can tolerate sheep or goats milk cheeses but not all.

    Vegan cheeses are also worth looking at. I can make specific recommendations but they are only useful for the UK.

    What is a UK? If it means United Kingdom, why would that be?
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    SLL1803 wrote: »
    A lot of people who cannot tolerate cow milk can tolerate sheep or goats milk cheeses but not all.

    Vegan cheeses are also worth looking at. I can make specific recommendations but they are only useful for the UK.

    What is a UK? If it means United Kingdom, why would that be?

    I assume they mean specific brand recommendations that are only available in the UK.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,808 Member
    edited September 2021
    Oh, right. Thanks.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,334 Member
    edited September 2021
    Kefir is supposed to be friendly for people with lactose intolerance. I may be totally misremembering this, but I think the process of fermentation caused the doodlebug thinggybobs to feed on the lactose, eliminating most of it. I made mine with cow milk, it’s also made with other milks.

    It’s very easy to make a soft cheese by making kefir (which is super easy to do- too easy. I had to stop because production was more than I could possibly consume by myself) and then draining the kefir to make labneh.

    I got a super draining basket off Amazon that worked well for making kefir and labneh. I use it now to make paneer.

    (I’m obsessed with farmers type cheeses after visits to rural Eastern Europe. OMG, the soft cheeses right from the field !!!)