Lactose and dairy free?

ktcoil

Hi, my parter has been told they are lactose and dairy intolerance and to stop having these items, I have tried to good and looked at different items that can and can't be eaten but it doesn't seem to say much about which items? Has anyone else the same and know a cook website or forum for ideas? Thanks

redfox

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janb5

Has he/she been told by a doctor/consultant? If so they would have given them a list of foods to eat and maybe referred to a dietician. HTH

jenniewb

If you look in the ingredients of items they normally list any ingredients to be wary of. If it's dairy and lactose, that is what your looking for. Dairy is milk, lactose is a protein found in dairy. Lactose free milk is not the same as dairy free milk, so in that situation you'd be looking for a dairy free milk such as soya milk or oat milk or any of the nut milks (hazelnut, almond...etc or coconut milk...etc.


If gets easier the more you know what your looking for (no lactose, no dairy, no milk, none of the derivatives such as cheese, butter, cream...etc. Be careful to check the packets for most other types of processed foods as lactose tends to be added to many things from sweets and crisps through to freeze-dried meals and cereals. It wont always be a case of needing to weed through the ingredients of everything you eat but once you get used to it, you learn what is/isn't OK.


Best way around it is to make your own food.

THIRZAH

The "Deliciously Ella" blog has lots of lactose and gluten free recipes. She has a book out too. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall also has also written a dairy and wheat free recipe book-"Light and Easy"so it might be worth seeing if there are recipes on the River Cottage site.
You could try the library for the books.

june89

I have been dairy free for over a decade.

The easier way to look at it is to look at what you eat now, and whether it needs to be changed. As an example, meals like spag bol are usually fine if you skip the cheese on top. This is true of most tomato based pastas, it is usually only the cream ones that need to be avoided. If you're using a ready meal or jarred sauce though, be sure to read the ingredients list as sometimes they add the cheese in.

Where is the biggest struggle is packet foods. Milk powder is used a lot as a base for seasoning mixes so it can be in a lot of items you wouldn't immediately associate with dairy, e.g. flavoured crisps, cereals, soups, etc. A lot of margarines still contain some butter for flavour, so make sure to get a truly dairy free one - I use Vitalite. But the good news is that as milk is a common allergen, UK labelling laws require it to be obviously declared. It will either be in bold on the ingredients list, or in an allergen warning box below that.

As the poster above said, you will need to read labels a lot at first but you'll soon get to know which of your favourites are dairy free. But it's worth checking from time to time as recipes do change. As an example, After Eights used to be dairy free but they now contain butterfat. But some own brand mint thins are still fine.

When eating out, ask your server as they should have been trained on how to handle dietary requirements. Usually there is an allergen guide available, particularly at the larger chain restaurants. I don't find it too difficult to eat out, apart from desserts - I just got used to skipping them!

hanb

I've been lactose intolerant for years now and thankfully it is lactose rather than dairy.. So I can use the lactofree range (milk and cheese!) which is a little more expensive, but often on offer, and because it's just normal milk with the lactose removed it tastes the same - for me that was a lifesaver as I really don't like soya or nut milks etc in my hot drinks. It's also great for cooking. So worth checking, if you don't already know, if it's the lactose that's the issue or full on dairy!

fairy_lights

My dad is lactose intolerant and substitutes milk for soya milk - he has used lactose free milk before but it can be quite expensive so he sticks to soya. There are some cheeses he can still eat - goat and sheep's milk cheeses have a lower lactose content so cause less problems. Fortunately my parents are pretty old school in their eating habits and cook almost everything from scratch so he doesn't have to worry about their being lactose in pre-prepared foods so much.
It's actually my Mum who suffers from his lactose intolerance more than my dad because she's a glutton for cheese, cream and butter but has to substitute these things in most of her meals so they can eat together. She does buy lacto-free cheese to make cauliflower cheese etc but because it's a bit more expensive it's not ideal for everyday use.


I've got a friend who is lactose intolerant too and pretty much just ploughs ahead and eats what she wants anyway, which results in lots of embarrassing and urgent trips to the toilet.I hope she's not doing herself any long term harm by eating like this.

meritaten

My son was Dairy intolerant and I soon learned the buzzwords to beware of in ingredients lists (which back in his day were sketchy compared to now). Labels now have dairy ingredients in 'bold' usually. but in case they don't - Lactose, Whey Powder, cheese powder can be in the minor ingredients.
my son could tolerate Sheeps Milk but not Goat - so look for Ewes milk cheese or ice cream or yoghurt - available online as well as in many supermarkets now. if not easily available, then Sorbet is a good alternative to ice cream.
After Eight chocolate didn't used to contain ANY dairy - but recipes change over time, so don't take my word and CHECK ingredients lists. also Jaffa Cakes - he loved those!
Carob is dairy free and many supermarkets stock it now - a good chocolate substitute.
now beware foods you couldn't imagine they would put dairy products in - Baked Beans, Ravioli, Tinned Spaghetti - some firms use Whey powder or cheese powder or both to bump up the Protein content. some pastry products contain skimmed milk and so do some breads. the message is to READ the ingredients list - and be grateful that many supermarkets now have 'Dairy free' shelves!

meritaten

fairy_lights wrote: »

My dad is lactose intolerant and substitutes milk for soya milk - he has used lactose free milk before but it can be quite expensive so he sticks to soya. There are some cheeses he can still eat - goat and sheep's milk cheeses have a lower lactose content so cause less problems. Fortunately my parents are pretty old school in their eating habits and cook almost everything from scratch so he doesn't have to worry about their being lactose in pre-prepared foods so much.
It's actually my Mum who suffers from his lactose intolerance more than my dad because she's a glutton for cheese, cream and butter but has to substitute these things in most of her meals so they can eat together. She does buy lacto-free cheese to make cauliflower cheese etc but because it's a bit more expensive it's not ideal for everyday use.


I've got a friend who is lactose intolerant too and pretty much just ploughs ahead and eats what she wants anyway, which results in lots of embarrassing and urgent trips to the toilet.I hope she's not doing herself any long term harm by eating like this.

Yes she is - but right now she is lucky its just urgent trips to the toilet. for my son it was urgent trips to A&E with the 'Blues and Twos' going.
She will either 'desensitise' herself or make herself more intolerant to the point of 'allergy', in which case it can be life threatening.

LolaLemon

http://www.kellymom.com/store/freehandouts/hidden-dairy01.pdf
List of buzz words to look out for.

I personally would not recommend soya milk - reports from around the web say it has a high level of hormones which could have an imbalance - but then the Japanese use soya daily and have no effects. If you are going down the soya route, do your research and see if you are ok with the possible side effects.

Milk in any form is as others have said, found in mnay foods you wouldnt think of, what shocked me was that it was in thngs like bernard matthews turkey ham that i used to put on my sandwiches! (stopped bread too as many have milk added as well)

I also need to say, that it can be helped. have a look into GAPs and paleo and also juicing (read the reviews for JAson Vale and Joe Cross books/apps etc) . Juicing is a kick start, GAPs is around 2-3 years and Paleo is just great (haha - ive done all 3 and they mix and compliment each other too after a while) . After a few years of floundering around and being food depressed because just about everything (at the time it felt like it) has milk added.
I breastfed my son and he had severe cows intolorance - i couldnt eat beef without him reacting. I stopped all cows dairy and after about a year, i introduced it and took severe reactions too. I almost needed an epi pen (my throat swolle up whilst on a broken down train in the middle of nowhere, didnt close, but enough to have me worry, by time a replacement train came along - 2 hours later, my breathing had retuned to normal - then i got the flu/ibs symptoms for weeks after Dr said if it happened again i was to get straigt to hospital and they would then issue me with epi pen, oh it was a cupcake that i bought at a charity stall, the girl assured me it had no dairy in it ). I completely re-evaluated my relationship with food and health - im by no means a health nut, but we do now pick health over junk more times than not, it is still a work in progress.

I tried soya milk - disgusting it also has apple juice added for sweetness, oats, rice & coconut milk and was struggling , looking back my food was making me depressed, and i ate mostly healthy before so it wasnt as if i was missing the junk food. i think it was lack of knowledge in my food and lask of trust in the big companies. Then someone said to me to try goats milk, as the protiens are smaller and the lactose is slightly different , i tried it and we where both ok with that, son couldnt have live goats yoghurt, but was fine with milk and cheese and ice cream when we could get it.

I then read up on GAPs, and attempted my version of it - it can be very restrictive, but you are wanting to heal your gut and it takes time, and it works for most people (i would say it works for all, but the time it takes to heal differs so people give up with it) and then we moved to paleo type diet, which i currently try and do along with juicing every so often, as well as some down right crap junk (not processed meals just junk snacks )

after doing GAPs/Paleo, we can now both tolorate cows milk, just not hundreds of it . it makes going out to eat with family that bit easier, lets my son fit in at school etc etc etc. he's 8 now.

our wee food motto is - its not a treat if it makes you feel ill afterwards.