First things first, did you see that I was featured on the Lifestyle Accountability Show yesterday?! Wellllll, I WAS! Go give it a listen and give those guys some love.
Now onto today’s post:
When I was 14 years old, I started going to the gastro doc. I was gaining weight when I shouldn’t have been and my stomach was hurting constantly. Each time I went, the doctor’s said the same thing, “It’s probably just stress.”
What the what?!
I’m 14 – what the heck do I have to be stressed about? An algebra test? Nope – I was surprisingly good at math. A softball game? Nah – we weren’t good enough to stress over (sorry, coach). Whether or not the photo collage in my locker needed updating? Please, I kept that shiz on point. I was 14. Life was good and totally stress-free.
After years of visits and many rounds of being told I was pretty much a hypochondriac (I’m not), my Jewish mother finally demanded that they run some tests or at least DO something – rather than just poke my belly and send me on my merry way like the Pillsbury Doughboy.
So the tests commenced and low-and-behold when I was 20 (yup – it took 6 years!) they found I’m severely lactose intolerant. The doc told me I should pretty much just stay away from all dairy.
So that’s what I did. No more milk in my cereal. No more grilled cheese sandwiches. No more cheeseburgers. No more schmear on my bagel (what’s a Jewish girl to do?!). I did that for about 3 years.
Then, the world seemed to catch up with my dairy-free diet. Soy cheese, veggie cheese, and almond milk became readily available. I tried it all. Some brands were better than others. But a lot of products were full of fake things and tasted like it.
Then, a few months ago, I was visiting my grandparents. My grandpa has become lactose intolerant but discovered that aged cheddar cheese is lactose free. For real, grandpa? Sounds to me like it’s experiment time.
So I picked a day, a day where I didn’t have any plans in case the Cheddar Cheese Experiment didn’t go in my favor. The result? Success! I felt fine!
Then, the greek yogurt trend was on the rise and I heard that it was ALMOST lactose free. Time for another experiment
I went out and bought some Lactaid tablets, had one with my first bite, and voila, digested that Chobani with no problem.
Then my dad found Cabot cheese and saw on the labels that they were lactose free. Then I found Kraft Shredded Cheeses and saw that they were labeled as lactose free. I tried them all and my tummy wasn’t troubled.
Aged cheddar cheese? Real yogurt? All kinds of Cabot and Kraft? Could it be that my world was opening up to dairy again? Encouraged by the results of my experiments, I started doing more research.
According to my professional Google searching, the fewer the grams of sugar on the label of a dairy product, the lower the lactose. Since lactose is the sugar found in milk, this makes sense. So if a label on a cheese, for instance, has a sugar listing of 0 grams, than it contains virtually no lactose.
Hold. The. Phone!
This is a BIG deal, people! If I can handle plain Greek yogurt, which has 4 grams of sugar (if I take a Lactaid tablet with it), a huge chunk of the dairy aisle could be my friend again.
So let’s take a virtual peruse down dairy lane and find out what items a lactose-challenged individual such as myself can have with these new found discoveries.
Natural, aged cheese. This means things like cheddar, parmesan, and swiss. These cheeses have less lactose because a lot of the lactose is drained out with the whey during the aging process. Get more info on that process here.
Mozzarella cheese. I’ve found multiple brands of both block mozzarella cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese and all have 0 grams of sugar and leave my tummy feeling a.ok. What does that mean? Homemade pizza with REAL cheese! The pizza heavens are looking down on me!
Greek yogurt. Chobani greek yogurt (the plain flavor) has 4 grams of sugar. If I consume this with a Lactaid tablet I’m ok probably 85% of the time. The other 85% of the time I might get a tiny bit of bloating or gas (whoopsies!) but it goes away within a few minutes. I can deal with that!
Lactaid milk. Lactaid takes regular milk and adds the lactase enzyme, which is basically lactose’s counterpart. It breaks down lactose into simple sugars so the lactose-intolerant can digest it.
MAYBE cottage cheese. I haven’t tried cottage cheese yet, but most packages I’ve seen have 4 grams of sugar (the same as Greek yogurt!). Sounds like I have another experiment on the horizon.
MAYBE ricotta cheese. Most brands of ricotta have 2-3 grams of sugar, so ricotta should be even better than greek yogurt. I see lasagna in my future…
There are still many a dairy product that I won’t even venture into experiment land with. All these babies are still high in lactose (aka grams of sugar):
Regular milk
Cream
Cream Cheese
Processed cheese spreads
So quick summary:
- Any dairy product that has 5 grams of sugar or less should be ok for most lactose-intolerants to digest (this is most cheeses!!!).
- If something has more than 2 grams of sugar, I’ll probably take a Lactaid tablet with it just to be safe.
I still have some experimenting to do (my tummy is pretty much a lab now), but I’m so excited that my world has opened up to new foods, especially now that I have to be wary of so many others.
Come celebrate these new findings with me! I’m thinking of hosting a wine and cheese party 😛
(Source)
Are any of you lactose-intolerant?
If yes, did you know all this stuff, or have I just been living under a rock?
What can you/can’t you tolerate?
Oh this is music to my ears (or whatever the equivalent is when one is reading). A life without cheese would be awful. Bring on the pizza!
Angela recently posted…ready for NYCM training and a thank you.
Amen to that! Especially NY pizza!
This is fabulous, and I think a great post for LI people to see. (also, that Pillsbury Dough Boy, omg I just died. Best morning image ever).
My mother, my husband, and I have all gone through periods of lactose intolerance/sensitivity, though I would not classify us as full LI. The three of us have IBS, IBS, and IBD, respectively, so you can imagine with flares and things that sometimes our bodies just get overloaded. Luckily, for me, I have never really cared for cow’s milk, but I have always been a yogurt and ice cream eater. My husband (and mom) both ADORE cheese, so that is rough for them, and we just are having to transition my husband over to almond milk, because it looks like he is going through it again, and the lactase pills aren’t even helping.
But I love love love cottage cheese, greek yogurt, vegan cheese/laughing cow, almond milk, and lighter, slow churned ice cream. The rest of the stuff I could take or leave! But thank goodness their are so many options for people with LI, like there are for people with Celiacs. It is just important to ask questions, because milk/cream/cheese/butter are used so much in professional kitchens, and in places you wouldn’t expect!
Susie @ SuzLyfe recently posted…Why I Blog : Blog Writing Process Tour
That’s a lot of tummy troubles under one roof! I’m so happy there are so many good alternatives now-a-days. IBS is a whole other beast, though! I hope you all can figure it out and still enjoy your favs! I LOVE LOVE LOVE ice cream, but that is one thing my tummy will not agree to. Luckily, coconut milk ice cream is pretty darn good and I like fruit-based “ice creams” as well – so happy alternatives 🙂
My sister and one of my best friends are lactose intolerant so I’ve been on the extra old cheddar cheese train for a long time.
Everything else on this list is news to me tho!
One giant step for (most) lactose intolerant people everywhere haha
Thanks for sharing 🙂
GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth recently posted…5 Things on my ‘Make-from-Scratch’ List
haha of course! I hope this helps your sister and your friend explore other dairy options!
I may not be lactose-intolerant, but this post definitely helped me learn something new! I had no idea lactose was directly correlated to the amount of sugar in those dairy items – good knowledge to have!
Lauren @ Lauren’s Glass Slipper recently posted…2015 Disney Princess Half Marathon Registration
Glad to help you with the old adage, “learn something new everyday!”
My hubby is lactose and this info is amazing! Love, love, love this post!!!
Annmarie recently posted…Healthy & Fit Travel: Get Your Groceries!
Hooray! I hope he can explore more dairy delights now!
I’m dairy free right now and i feel great so far! I’m going to miss my ricotta. It’s ridiculous how people have food allergies and doctors merely dismiss them! In fact most people who have a gluten allergy don’t realize it until very much later!
Linda @ Fit Fed and Happy recently posted…WIAW #3 / Friday 5 #3 – NO CARDIO?! + Summerlicious + Keto-Paleo diet
Going completely dairy free definitely has it’s benefits, but this foodie is all about the options!
And definitely agree on the doctor front. I’d like to think doctors are getting better about looking into allergies now that they are so prominent, but that wasn’t the case with me. We should all just get checked every few years – save us all a lot of tummy troubles!
As a child I was diagnosed with a dairy intolerance, which I never really thought much about then. I was too young and all I knew is that I wasn’t allowed to drink milk and ice cream was a rare treat. Now as an adult who has cleaned up her diet and became a runner, I wish I knew if what I have is a lactose intolerance or milk protein intolerance because I can’t handle Greek yogurt, cottage cheese or any of the usually okay things for lactose intolerance. So now I eat cheese on occasion, treat myself to ice cream once in awhile, and have switched from whey protein to plant based. I’m trying to avoid dairy as much as possible since it makes my body happier, but am sad to miss out on Greek yogurt and more cheese!
Have you tried Lactaid pills or dairy items with the lactaid enzyme (like Lactaid Milk)? If you can tolerate things that are labeled as “Lactose Free” even if they are dairy than you are probably lactose intolerant. If they still bother you then it’s more likely an intolerance to the protein – but gastros and allergists can run food allergy tests for you to find out! – have you tried coconut, soy, or almond-milk based ice creams? They’re pretty delicious!
I just wanted to let you all know too that Lactaid brand also has cottage cheese and ice creams (5 flavors!)
Thank you! I have actually had their cottage cheese, and it’s great! I can’t have the ice cream because of corn syrup, but I bet it’s delicious!
Yes!! So glad they’ve expanded their offerings!
Just discovered that I’m now lactose intolerant and Lactaid pills aren’t working. I also suffer from IBS so my gastroenterologist wants me to avoid all dairy. I’m so upset because I eat dairy everyday! What am I going to eat now? Thanks for all your suggestions! I did try Silk Almond Vanilla milk and love it so at least I can have cereal. I’m going to try Cabot’s cheese next so wish me luck!
Oh dear! I wish you all the luck! I hope you can find things that work for you!
What tests did the doctor run in order to know you were lactose intolerant? I think I might be but I want the doctor to run a test, but I’m not sure what tests they do.
I did a blow test. I had to drink something and blow into a tube every hour or something like that. It took quite a while. That said, this was 15+ years ago, so the test they do may have changed.