Lacto/dairy free - has anyone tried and how have you got on?

kjmtidea

I'm lactose intolerant and a few of the things that I like are:
Almond milk, alpro forest fruit yogurts, nakd bars, this chocolate sauce is lovely, lactofree soft cheese, lactofree mature cheese is much nicer than the normal one.

Like someone else said, a lot of crisps have some form of dairy in so you really have to check everything. I also take lactase tablets on the odd occasion for meals out etc.

Anoneemoose

Hi all! I have not started today as hoped. Had lots of appointments and been feeling very fatigued so put off the prep.

I notice a lot of you mention soya stuff. I have read (far too much about eating, diets etc etc) that soya isn't good for you so have always been reluctant to have anything with that in.

I looked at the fodmap info and it mentioned excluding soya on there too. Like I said, far too much reading and not enough doing!:eek:

theoretica

trigger2 wrote: »

I was a huge cheese eater so guess it's not going to do any harm to have a break from it.

Once you are sure milk is causing you a reaction you might want to try non-cow cheeses and see if you can eat a bit of them. Some people react to cow but not goat/sheep/buffalo milk.

CapricornLass

Hi, everyone, read through this with interest as food allergies are a serious problem in our family - son is casein/gluten, I'm gluten and nuts, and other son's partner is egg. Mealtimes can be interesting in our household to say the least. Still, I think the worst allergy I've come across is sugar!

Anyway, I've gathered up quite a bit of experience over the years on dairy-free cooking. One thing I will say is that you will end up cooking a lot more for yourself. This is usually through desperation, as shop bought free from stuff is diabolically expensive, lacks imagination and is very limited in range.

1. Use your diary free substitutes for dairy elements in recipes. I tend to use Pure sunflower, and rice milk in baking - its lighter than soya and seems to give better results. However, Mr T does a veg oil baking margarine which is useful for pastry. Also, you don't have to use milk -use fruit juice instead.

2. Look at other cultures cookery for inspiration. There's no dairy in Thai cookery, and there are lots of Indian curry recipes that don't use dairy either. Its also worth looking at vegan recipes.

3. Ditto the internet. There are dedicated sites which will provide dairy-free recipes, its a matter of trawling though and having a go. Some will be naff. Others will be wonderful.

4. Read the labels of everything. That includes medicines and toiletries. Son no 1 got seriously ill once through taking two paracetamol - because the tablets had milk in them.

5. Supermarkets and major manufacturers maintain lists of their own products and the allergens they contain. You may have to hunt for them on their websites, or phone them up to lay your hands on a copy.

6. Chocolate - Kinnertons do a dark chocolate which is free of the major allergens - I've bought this in Sainsbugs and Waitrose. Plamil is the other brand that I use- buy off the internet. Its wonderful but not cheap. They do a chocolate spread as well, which is yummy.

7. Look out for cookery books dedicated to dairy free cooking. You could borrow from a library if there's one near you to start with, but if you end up permanently on a dairy-free diet, it may be worth investing in some of your own. I have two I use all the time -Allergy free Cookbook by Alice Sherwood, and How to cook for food allergies by Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne. The latter has a chapter on why an ingredient is in a recipe and how to substitute it for something else - very useful.

8. I'm afraid I can't really comment on diary free cheese. I've bought various sorts over the years for Son no 1, and he's gone 'Bleeuuugh!' every single time, so now I save my money.

I hope this is useful to you. Good luck with the diet - it will be hard at first, but it does get easier over time.

nearlyrich

I have Fibro and have suffered with chronic sinusitis for most of my life, my son was lactose intolerant when he was a baby and he was fed on Soya milk but I never thought it was my problem too. I cut the amount of milk I drink always buy Lactofree, yes it's expensive but it keeps for weeks and is often on offer at £1 somewhere. I carry the triangles of long life lacto free for when I am in customers/the office/hotels. I have been much better with less dairy and I have been on Lactofree for around 2 years maybe more, I have less Fibro symptoms too but I have been taking Amytrip for just over a year I used to manage with just painkillers but wasn't sleeping and I work FT so needed sorting out as I was exhausted.

terra_ferma

Katiehound wrote: »

Just to tell you that some crisps are not dairy free!!!!!!!! Came as a surprise to me, and the amount must be minimal but a packet I have here (salt & vinegar)says in the list: "lactose (from milk)! ........so crisps need sugar!. I think you are fine with plain ones.

Yes the ones I had were plain
Actually my OH didn't buy popcorn because it had some dairy products in it, so you are right it can be in unexpected places (like my chorizo sausage, had to go and buy another one, not as nice as the usual one...)

trigger2 wrote: »

Hi

I've been following this thread & had some useful info from Jenniewb. I initially cut out lactose, so had Lactofree milk and cheese but my stomach problems continued. So I have bitten the bullet and for the past 2 days have had no dairy at all. I have tried Alpro Almond milk which I find ok in hot drinks but I wouldn't choose to drink it by itself, so I'm still going with that. In the mornings I have cereal with a dairy free yoghurt mixed in, current favourite is Tesco Free From Mango. For lunch today I had a peanut butter sandwich, and I'm trying to eat more fruit to replace the choccie biscuits !
I know it's only been a couple of days but I noticed today I didn't have any stomach problems at all. So I am feeling hopeful that this will continue. But I am missing cheese :-(

trigger

Great to hear that it's helping you :j
This morning I woke up without a bloated tummy (and no associated noises that would let me OH know I'm awake... )
however I've also been eating only white bread for the last few days, will have to eat some brown bread again just to be sure that is not the reason, but happy not to have to rush to the loo either, for once

terra_ferma

Would like to report back that after the first week I see very little benefit from being dairy free, a very slight improvement but not enough to show I'm intolerant to dairy products.
Will finish my second week just to be certain, so it's done and dusted.
On the up side I've discovered almond milk, which I love and will continue to use, so I'm happy
And this morning I had a half-decent cup of coffee thanks to soya milk, much much better with my coffee than the other drinks I tried

Anoneemoose

terra_ferma wrote: »

Would like to report back that after the first week I see very little benefit from being dairy free, a very slight improvement but not enough to show I'm intolerant to dairy products.
Will finish my second week just to be certain, so it's done and dusted.
On the up side I've discovered almond milk, which I love and will continue to use, so I'm happy
And this morning I had a half-decent cup of coffee thanks to soya milk, much much better with my coffee than the other drinks I tried

Thanks for sharing! At least you know now.

terra_ferma

Yes I'm glad I know, in theory I should go on a dairy&gluten free diet now, to be able to eliminate both, but it's too much for me right now, will do that when my OH is away so don't have to worry about eating out, socialising etc. while I do that. It needs a lot of thought to do it and still eat properly.

Going back to the FODMAP diet, it seems actually quite difficult to follow, and also to do the challenges on your own.
I don't have any further suggestions, because that's not what I need to do either so haven't looked into it any further.
Hope you find the right diet for you

trigger2

Hi terra ferma

Well I completed 7 full days of being completely dairy free. Last night (day 7) I attempted a sprinkle of cheddar on top of my spag bol, just as an experiment. Cue probably 15-20 mins later (dont know exactly as didnt check the clock), the most awful cramping stomach pains I was doubled over. So my plan is to continue on dairy free for the present and give it another 10 days or so and then try some lactose free cheese and see if that gives the same response or not.

regards
trigger