Lactose Intolerance and Yoghurt

ascot64

Posting this here as making yoghurt is OS but feel free to move somewhere else if more appropriate.

My DS is Lactose Intolerant and I am concerned about the amount of calcium he is getting and as well as taking a supplement would like him to get as much as possible from his diet.

My initial thought was I can use Lactofree UHT milk to make him Lactose free yoghurt using an EasiYo maker and a starter rather than the sachets.

But on buying the maker I notice they recommend their sachets for people with LI saying that the lactose has been broken down by the active enzymes.

Now the Lactofree UHT milk costs £1.31 a litre which at that price isn't a great deal less than buying the EasiYo sachets.

So I am wondering if anyone has anything to report on the yoghurt made with the sachets as regards LI before I try him with it?

thriftmonster

Pricewise I have been here. The cost of a litre of lactofree milk is higher than buying the big tub of plain lactofree yoghurt - I stock up when it's on offer at £1 a tub - but it's usually about £1.20 so not worth making.

Haven't used the sachets so can't help there - sorry

onetomany

when my oldest was was allergic i used buy him soya yogurts from the health food shop have yu had a look in there?

germish_se

ascot64 wrote: »

My DS is Lactose Intolerant and I am concerned about the amount of calcium he is getting and as well as taking a supplement would like him to get as much as possible from his diet.

Soyamilk and soya yoghurts (they are yummy too!) from the supermarket contain plenty of calcium, do you not use those?
Yes I do know they aren't cheap but it looks to me like making your own may not work out any cheaper....

ascot64

I have considered soya yoghurts and he does like them however I would prefer to give him homemade yoghurt as it is live and there are many beneficial aspects to the cultures being as fresh as possible.

It is also a fair bit cheaper. eg 4 Alpro ie 500g = £1.48. I can make 1kg for that even using the Lactofree milk.

thriftmonster

The flavoured lactofree are also £1.59 for 4 - but the plain big tubs are cheaper. However lactofree does make ok HM yoghurt - I use a tsp of goats milk yoghurt as a starter

Zziggi

As i understand it, lactofree milk isn't 100% lactofree. It is actually reduced lasctose content in the milk (only <5% lactose). You may want to double check this.

My DS & DD both have an intollerance to cows products. The lactosefree milk also disagreed with them but yet goats milk/products are fine for them as well as soya products. They aren't keep on soya products because of the strong taste. Goats milk has a less distinctive taste. I make HM yogurt from goats milk. I buy natural goats yogurt (£2.09 in tesco) but freeze it as soon as a ibuy it in ice cube containers in the freezer. When i make yogurt i get 1 pint of goats milk (varied from 76p to £1.26 a litre), couple of cubes of yogurt starter out the freezer and add a couple of tablespoons of dried goats milk powder (bought from heath food shop). Then use the yogurt maker over night. This make perfect HM yogurt and is following a similar reciepe to cows milk.

Ask me if you need me to clarify.

ascot64

Thriftmonster - sounds like you are LI too.

Do you get a reaction from yoghurt or do you find you can tolerate it. Everything I read says many people with LI can tolerate yoghurt because the lactose has been broken down by the yoghurt cultures.

I was wondering what peoples actual experiences were on this mainly.

I plan on trying it out on him once he has had a sysmptom free week but we have had a bit of a bad weekend due to some Paracetemol tablets he took for a LI induced headache when he 'accidentally' ate some Doritios! - Why don't manufacturers list all the ingredients in these things? (the paracetamol that is not the Doritos)

ascot64

Zziggi - the Lactofree stuff is less than 0.05% lactose which is considered to be a trace level. Ordinary milk itself is less than 5%! (4.8% I beleive)

Thanks for the suggestion with the goats milk - he doesn't like the taste unfortunately.

Badger_Lady

ascot64 wrote: »

Do you get a reaction from yoghurt or do you find you can tolerate it. Everything I read says many people with LI can tolerate yoghurt because the lactose has been broken down by the yoghurt cultures.

Oh that's interesting! I'm LI but I do indulge in a Total greek yoghurt every so often and have never had a reaction from it... whereas cheese, butter, milk... never knew why though

Ishtar

OH is lactose intolerant and occasionally has Lactofree - if I recall correctly, it's reduced lactose milk, but has lactase enzyme added to help people digest the milk sugar.

Anyway, I'll be watching with interest as I have an easiyo yogurt maker and wanted to experiment with soya/lactofree yogurt....I'm not a big lover of yogurt TBH, but OH has the Alpro ones from the chiller. If I can make a litre of the stuff it'll be cheaper than buying those little pots (4 x 125g for £1.50 ish).

He can eat cows milk yogurt, but prefers not to as sometimes it affects him, other times he's fine