Made a Revelation!

[RosieRoo]

My Mom and I talked it over and decided that I was going to go dairy free. Now, I don't mean that when baking I'm going to be replacing milk with soy or anything crazy like that, but no cheese, no milk outside of baking, no ice cream, no yogurt, no dairy. I've had slight problems with it since I was little, if I drank too much milk I'd be constipated forever, and in the last year or two if I had a big bowl of ice cream I'd get a real gassy tummy ache. I've gone probably four days without milk/cheese/ice cream/butter and I can honest to goodness say I feel better! Normally after I eat, I belch a lot and my tummy feels a little off, and I figure its because I eat too fast or suck in too much air in between bites, but, I think it must be the dairy, because I've had no tummy aches after eating, and only a little bit of post-meal burping. I'm going to go a couple more weeks without to seriously see how it goes, but as of right now, I am a happy girl. If it really is the lactose that's been bugging me all this time, it's easy enough to eliminate. On the flip side, I love love love cheese and ice cream, and can only think of every single dairy product I can never consume again if it does prove I'm lactose intolerant. I know they make the almond and coconut milk ice creams, which I have already sampled and loved, now it's just to find a cheese substitute and a sour cream and onion dip substitute... lol
Just kinda an accomplishment I feel, because my tummy feels better and I'm not as worried about throwing up after I eat because I haven't felt sick after a meal in four days
that's all, thanks for listening!

[cdelcourt827]

That is a great idea. I think that I might also be lactose in tolerant (my dad is), but I LOVE cheese and milk and everything that goes along with them, I really don't want to give them up!! Maybe I should, it would be wonderful to know that I am not making myself feel sick everyday and that it is actually the lactose that it doing it to me.

[asianeko]

I'm so glad you're feeling better!! I know the feeling. I'm mildly lactose intolerant (I can have a pizza but not a glass of chocolate milk) and found that Lactaid is amazing. I think Lactaid tastes better than normal milk personally. There are lactose free dairy options if you want to continue eating them

My little sister is very lactose intolerant, a dairy frosting on a cake will make her double over in pain and be bedridden. She takes pills before she eats dairy and so far she can still eat whatever she wants. Maybe that's an option too!

[Cynna]

My son is CF/GF due to health issues. Smart Balance has a butter that is non dairy. It is good, but does not melt quickly. It just does not melt the minute you put it on toast. Almond milk is good. Trader Joes has good prices on it. Walmart also carries it. I have tried chicken broth in mashed potatoes. It tasted less creamy and rich, but was good. Coconut ice cream is really good. McDonalds fries are not gf/cf. I called the company, sorry to say. If you only have mild reaction you still may be able to eat it. Wendy's fries should be safe (except for possible cross contamination from things like chicken nuggies fried in the same grease.)

Lactaid pills or something is good. I used to have mild intolerance. It helps when I drink lowfat/ff milk. Papa Murphy's cheese gives me the painful poops. I do better with other pizza places. Maybe you could keep a food diary to see what affects you and what does not.

Casein is the protein in milk that bothers people. You may want to try to avoid as much of that as possible. There is a lot of info on the net about this.

Watch out for spag sauce. Traditional spag sauces usually has cheese in it. You have to start reading all of the labels.

Sorry, got excited. We have been living GF/CF since August. I hear that there is dairy free chocolate. I am still looking to try it.

[RosieRoo]

it's certainly interesting and new.... from what I know I'm not extremely lactose intolerant, just the more prominent things, glass of milk, milkshake, ice cream, lots of cheese, butter. If there's a tiny little bit baked into whatever I'm eating I don't have a problem. I'm thinking about lactaid pills to see how they change my reactions to milk stuffs. I'm still having cookies and chocolate (that have milk in them when made) and its fine by me. I am noooot a fan of lactaid or any of the milk substitutes, but it's fine by me, I haven't had a glass of milk in probably 7 years and I don't miss it. My one conquest is the dairy free ice creams.... I've had and loved the so delicious almond milk ice cream and the trader joe's coconut milk ice cream, however, the tofutti ice cream tastes terrible despite it's perfect custardy texture such is life, I just need to figure out how to rearrange my eating. Surprisingly my jerky Mom is okay with the diet change, unlike other things I try to do in the house so this is good too. I'm off and hoping to explore the dairy free cheese substitutes and fake sour cream next, because those, I can't live without :P

[Cynna]

As you get older, make sure you get plenty of calcium and Vit D either from vitamins or other sources of food. Cheese substitute sounds evil.

[spilled_milk]

Many adults turn lactose intolerant as they age, especially those of European descent. I am not intolerant, but my stomach sure doesn't like it! I do indulge in cheese though, as cheese substitute is disgusting! You might think about getting an intolerance test to see whether lactaid will help or not. It's super simple and painless.

[Puppydog]

I'm lactose intolerant. Yogurt is actually fine for me and thats how i get some calcium in my diet.

[RosieRoo]

I'm looking into some calcium supplement pills, because even with all the ice cream I used to shovel down, I wasn't getting enough, according to my crazy doctor. I took a lactose intolerant test when I was little and it came back negative, but I was still quite dairy sensitive. I might take the test again with my doctor, or I might not, because I've found things that she says to not be true every time. I've heard there are some fake cheeses that are actually pretty good, and there are some cheeses that are so aged that the lactose is "molded" out of them in the drying process, another thing to look into I guess

[Cynna]

I know allergy tests are only 50% accurate. Non diary cheese, scary. I am going to have nightmares. I think Caltrate is supposed to be good.