Help Please - new to lactose avoidance

[froglets]

Hi All,

Going through the process of changing my diet to remove wheat and lactose ( and fatty stuff in general) to see if I've developed intolerances to them.

Can anyone pass on some good lactose free recipe & info links ( save me trying to work out which are useful & which are net trash).  Ta very much.

Silly starter question - since I can't have cows milk cheese, is buffalo mozzarell an option?

Redbush tea and soya milk is now my drink of choice with the added benefit that no one at work helps themselves to my stuff - see, glass half full ;)  I've also been trying aloe & pepermint drink to help reduce the reactions - that is foul, but seems to help.

Life is never dull.

Thanks.

[froglets]

[supersprout]

Brave froglets :o Definitely worth investigating Japanese cuisine then - effortless avoidance with nicely balanced, healthy and tasty grub. Try googling, lots of Japanese food fans out there and probably something in the library?
SSx

[froglets]

Thanks SS,

There are worse problems to be coping with & it's all a lot less frightening now I know all the things it isn't! - and it may be only transitory while things settle down after all the mucking about and large doses of anti biotics.

I almost had the energy to laugh when the docs suggested I didn't get enough fresh veg & fibre - wot?  standing in the veg patch eating raw spinach leaves sprinkled with small quantities of soil..........

Cheers

[triffid]

I had a feeling I'd read something recently about this so I've dredged it up for you (from Waitrose's website, which also has lots of good recipes) -- even though I'm a veggie, barbecued mackerel with a spicy coating sounds good !

http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/nutrition/specialdiets/factsheetsandlists/milkandlactosefactsheet.asp

it may all be stuff you know, but this

Some people only react adversely to cow's milk and are able to drink both sheep's and goat's milk without any symptoms. In these cases, it is generally a protein called casein, found only in cow's milk, that affects them, rather than the lactose.

seems to hold out some hope re the buffalo mozzarella!

[froglets]

Really useful,thank you

[triffid]

Back again, froglets! Have you checked out NHS Direct's pages? This, too, sounds as if things may be less grim than expected -- cheese-wise, anyway!

The symptoms can be prevented by being careful with your diet. Generally, young children with lactose intolerance should not eat or drink foods containing lactose (i.e. dairy products). They should eat non-dairy butter and cream, and use soya-milk.

Older children and adults may be able to tolerate certain amounts. It is best to try this by gradually introducing into the diet.

It should be noted that most hard mature cheeses, ricotta, cottage and cream cheese contain only very small amounts of lactose and are usually well tolerated. Yoghurt also, often causes few problems as the lactose in the milk has been fermented.

For adults, lactase enzyme is available in tablet form as a food supplement from many health food shops. It can be taken before a meal and can be effective in helping your digestive system to digest the lactose in the meal.

from
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=515&sectionId=12978

[manicscousers]

as someone who is lactose intolerant, i can use goat's milk, if you have no problem with sugar, there's a fantastic ice cream in asda that's milk free, from sweden lovely for a treat, I use goat's cheese and asda also sells lactose free parmesan substitute, no doubt others will have more ideas, I can make a nice cheese sauce for broccoli dishes and the goats milk and chees don't upset me, mozzarella, as long as it's not made with cow's milk, as some are, is also fine for me, I've been like this for 4 years now and it's just been try it and see, I don't like soya milk apart from in fruit smoothies  :P

[Barnowl]

Don't forget sheep's milk cheeses and Feta:

"Feta is traditionally made of sheep's or goat's milk, though today large commercial producers often make it with cow's milk. The curdled milk (curdled with rennet) is separated and allowed to drain in a special mold or a cloth bag. It is cut into large slices (feta means 'slice') that are salted and then packed in barrels filled with whey or brine.

Imported feta cheese is usually made with goat's or sheep's milk, as is the original Greek feta cheese.

Most people that are allergic to cow milk products or who are lactose intolerant can use goat and sheep milk products. The lactose or protein in the milk is what usually causes the allergic reaction or intolerance. Goat & sheep milk both have lactose and protein but it is of a different make up that doesn't bother most people. "

.... and there are some "cracking" (© Wallace) sheep's cheese.  I recently had some Beenleigh Blue which was great.

[manicscousers]

thanks for that, is it available easily ?

[Barnowl]

Proper Feta is in most supermarkets and the label is meant to tell you if it's made from sheep, goat, cow or a mixture. 

We're lucky enough to have a dedicated cheese shop locally so I'm afraid I don't know about the Beenleigh Blue.

[bennettsleg]

For Beenleigh Blue try phoning a few delicatessens - it won't be in the supermarket.  There's also goat butter, goat milk, buffalo milk is available in some Waitroses and is very easy to digest, can be frozen, tastes increadible creamy while being lower in fat than cow. We spoke to a buffalo farmer before opening the deli and the upshot is: commercial milk production wants predictable big yield.  Big yield cows were bred. Big yield cows produced a milk lacking a particular enzyme or "body" (sorry, it was over a year ago!) that humans can digest but containing an alternative "body that we can't digest.  Low yield cows produce milk with the easy-digest "body" in it.  All milk comes from big yield cows without the "body" hence more humans reacting to cow dairy.

I stopped having dairy when I was 16 - probably too young but, hey, I was young, impressionable and had read a book! - but came off the soya milk last year. Since then I have learned that I do actually have an intolerance towards cow's milk that causes a chronic form of psoriasis (nice!).  The milk is different to the fats - ie: milk is bad, butter & cheese are fine and cause no reaction.

After half my life has been spent completely dairy free I would suggest the following: try sticking with soya milk or rice milk and no cheese or butter for about a fortnight then try taking in some goat milk for a fortnight..  See what happens. Nothing? Excellent.  Now add goat's cheese & butter for another fortnight, then onto the sheep etc.

Yes it's boring, Yes it's tedious and yes, soon you will hate all those selfish s*ds in your family/at work who can still have milk-based products from any beast that can be milked and how dare they contribute to your self inflicted agony and and and! I hear you, froglets, and stand by you.

The main thing is, if your health is being affected by something medically undiagnosed, then you can take the matter into your own hands by taking a few months to scrutinise what goes into your body.  Keep a diary of how your body and mind feels each day and what you have eaten.

Be aware though, that the body has particular enzymes that deal with digesting dairy (especially & mostly cow) and if you spend a while without ingesting this food then your enzyme production will drop significantly.  When you have worked your way up the scale to trying cow again, be prepared for an upset stomach while your body rebalances. The more you eat, the more the enzyme production, the less..side effects!

Good luck and stick with it. Hope you feel better soon.

[LILACSPLASH]

Lactose intolerance... a lot of, somewhere??? Asians suffer this intolerance to milk. Tis 'cos after breast feeding milks not in the diet, causes lots of stuff inc. bad wind, tummy pain + sickkies... need to introduce slowly and regularly.

[Emagggie]

I have lactose intolerance too, no dairy of any animal. :(
I use 'Pure' spread and Alpro soya yoghurt (plain and fruit) and good old soya milk,unsweetend,(fine in tea but curdles in coffee) and soya cream and custard.The ice cream is called Swedish Glace. All to be found in most Supermarkets. There is a cheese substitute but it isn't good. You just get used to it in the end.
Have you thought of being allergy tested to see if this is definately the reason for your ailment? (just a thought).
Best of luck.

[froglets]

Thanks for all the replies and support.  This is after a lot of recent hospital time and is hopefully the last little bit of getting back to being friends with my tummy.  I'm hoping it's just a hiccup and if I give the old digestive system a bit of TLC, I can start reintroducing things again.  Thanks for all the info on cheese.  I know at the moment if I have anything with melted cheese on it's very painful, but I think that's the fat content and form after cooking.

Luckily I live withing walking distance of one of Waitrose's Northern outposts, so can get most of the things you have all mentioned.  I've just been avoiding cheese ( which I love), I'll try a small bit of some of your suggestions maybe next weekend as I'll have had a month of plain safe stuff by then.

The one thing I can't do without is my morning cup of loose leaf assam with "yikes" a splash of real milk ( fallen off the wagon already) so that's my only dairy, but maybe just enough to keep a little of the enzymes going Bennetsleg.

The info on yoghurts has been really good as I stopped drinking those +ve bacteria thingies.  I tried one yesterday & had no ill effects so that should help me build up a "normal" set of bugs again.

I stayed with an old friend for a few weeks when I visited Australia & he has to work very hard to keep his colesterol (sp) down, so got used to soya etc & I have to say, this episode is making me pull my diet back to a healthier state than it had slipped into.

Thank you again for all your replies, there really is no substitute for real experience.

A happier Froglet.

[calendula]

just a slightly different angle - there's a fair bit of myth around lactose and dairy intolerance and I picked up on the fact that you've had a lot of antibiotics?? - there might be a connection here as many who are 'allergic' to dairy, i.e. cow dairy, it is because of the massive amounts of a/b they receive to prevent mastitis and then some enzyme is added to the milk to counter that, yuk, so it is easy to see why people develop intolerances - maybe truely organic cow's milk would be ok for you

adults don't need milk, it's a baby food but very difficult living without - good luck  :)

[manicscousers]

my lactose intolerance causes my joints to ache worse, have osteo arthritis in all major joints and feet and hands and neck, so that makes it unbearable,
also, I can put 1 stone on in 3 weeks, all to do with holding water, apparently,
that's as well as the awful backache, etc, it really eases it when I stopped and the weight just dropped off,
mind you, it took 2 months to get rid of the extra

[bennettsleg]

Have you thought of being allergy tested to see if this is definately the reason for your ailment? (just a thought).

Would this be homeopathic allergy testing or Medical allergy testing?  I was tested homeopathically last year - and deliberately decided not to reveal that tea & oranges caused migraines and milk caused occasional upset stomachs.

I tested "all clear" to tea, oranges and milk, then I told her of my dietary problems and was told, "yes, you'll be fine on those now, your body has had long enough to recover". Went back on the milk and Hello chronic psoriasis. Had a fruit tea that had orange as in ingredient of many - hello migraine.  It was a waste of £50.

I know of a lot of people who have homeopatihc testing when they are healthy and feel fine. More often than not they are told to cut out various,  foods - wheat, dairy & yeast are the most popular - because they are "intolerant" to them.

I used to be very pro homeopathy, now I am a sceptic. If you are worried about your diet or any particular symptoms, go for a medical allergy testing: it's more thorough and based on science and chemicals instead of holding phials of liquid and being pressed with a metal pen.

[calendula]

got to jump in here as a homeopath to say - there is no such thing as a homeopathic testing for allergy and whoever is offering it is not to be trusted, you should report them, they are just using the name of homeopathy without even understanding it just to take and make money - shame on them

there is no way that anyone could do a homeopathic allergy test, it doesn't make sense

please do not lose your faith in homeopathy - allergies and the like are very deep seated conditions and ones that allopathy (conventional medicine) cannot cure, only palliate with drugs which bring their own problems

Just to say also that I am not here to promote homeopathy on an allotment forum  :) but if you want to email me privately for friendly advice please feel free - Joy

[Bramley]

This is a good company that has all wheat free and milk free products, amd

some recipes on the site to.

http://www.orgran.com/

have you tried the liberay. Rita Greer, does a lot of food tolernt books.