Lactose intolerance and diarrhea

Hi @catstx, I am sorry you are having a difficult time with lactose. I wanted to invite @sandyabbey, @astaingegerdm, @hopeful33250, and @pdilly to the conversation to share if they have any other suggestions.
What have you been doing to avoid lactose so far? Lately, with this becoming more of an issue with people, a lot of super markets are catering to different intolerances and allergies. Have you searched in your are for health food stores?

Hello @catstx,

I'm sorry to hear that you are finding it difficult to find lactose-free food products. At one time it was more difficult than now. There are many dairy-like products now that taste pretty good. These include almond milk and other kinds of nut milk. Your local grocery store should have these products available. You can generally use these in cooking, baking, etc.

Here is some information on eating lactose-free. Just click on the link, https://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health/best-diet-for-lactose-intolerance.aspx.

The one problem with being lactose intolerant is that your diet lacks calcium that is needed for strong bones. So you will want to eat lots of calcium-rich foods that do not contain lactose. There are several of them listed in the article above. Also, you will want to maintain adequate amounts of Vitamin D which also can help keep the bones strong.

I hope you find enough information to help you adjust to this new way of eating.

What has your doctor suggested for you?

Thank you for that link; it has good information. I do take a good calcium and D3 and my last bone scan was excellent— whew! I’ve found a good selection of lactose free products at Whole Foods so I’m happy about that. Also, the Kirkland brand of Lactaid seems to work for me. Again, thank you.

@catstx - I’m lactose intolerant too. I find enough dairy products now that are Lactose free. Milk comes in all different fat content. I use fat free. Lactaid also has cottage cheese that I eat frequently. Same with ice cream, most stores carry the Lactaid brand.
I also eat Greek youghurt, pretty much lactose free.
Cheese is OK in small amounts. I started taking a Lactaid tablet when I eat pizza, regular ice cream and cakes. I always carry some when I’m out.
I think it is important nutrition we get from dairy products- like the calcium and protein.
It takes some time to learn to use lactose free products. Good luck!

@catstx I have been lactose intolerant for about 2 years or so. I never found Lactaid tablets to help but I have gotten some help from Digestive Advantage, Lactose Defense formula. Even with that though I could not have things that @astaingegerdm mentions, like regular ice cream and pizza.

I also have no trouble with any aged cheeses, they only have a very small trace of lactose in them, it drops out in aging. The lactose is actually in the whey. Just remember though, if you eat a lot of anything that has a non-measurable trace, those traces can add up and cause a problem. As I said above, I cannot eat regular pizza so I have taken to making my own and I use provolone cheese. We actually like it more than we like it with mozzarella, it's more flavorful. There is also a pizza with no cheese, Amy's vegetable pizza. I have purchased that too and added my own aged cheese before baking.
As mentioned, Whole Foods does have some good lactose free dairy products under the name of Green Valley. There is also a yogurt brand that used to be carried by a store around here. It was Good Belly I believe.

I have changed to Fairlife milk. It's free of lactose, has high calcium, and high protein! It tastes good too.

The thing I miss most is Caprese salads, they of course have fresh mozzarella in them. I also miss Italian foods that have ricotta, like lasagna.
JK

Contentandwell and all..thanks for the useful info.
I find aged cheeses to be no problem. If the label says "0" sugar on it, you should be ok. Also I substitute kefir for yogurt, it's a bit more tart, maybe an acquired taste for some. It has wonderful probiotics and is great in smoothies.
Apparently the good bacteria in it digest the lactose.
I now find milk in my lattes too "filmy" anyway. The many milk alternatives are lighter..oat, almond, hemp, coconut milks, etc.
Also..I know there are milk allergies, but not real clear on the difference between allergies and lactose intolerance. Maybe we can count ourselves lucky, because I'm pretty sure all dairy must be eliminated from their diet.
Happy holidays everyone😁

@musicinme2 - Kefir is a great choice.
Milk allergy is an immune response to the protein in milk. It can be extremely serious, leading to a anafylactic reaction, especially in infants and children. Some may later in life tolerate milk.
Lactose intolerance is a relative lack of the enzyme lactase that breaks down the lactose sugar in milk - causing bloat, gas and diarrhea.

Thank you for the explanation Ingegerd 🙂

Thanks for the reference to Fairlife. Didn’t know about it will take a trip to Walmart to buy some.