When I was small, I was very sensitive to dairy. I was premature so they gave my mother something to dry up her milk, because she obviously wouldn’t be doing THAT! But then I apparently couldn’t tolerate any of the substitutes.
Not sure when I began drinking cows milk, but I’ve been enjoying cheese, ice cream and yogurt until recently, when I decided to stop dairy in an attempt to improve my arthritis and other ailments.
( after practically o’ding from a dinner of Mac & cheese followed by hot cocoa)
This was just supposed to be an experiment, and I’m having a great deal of mixed feelings about feeling so much better without dairy after only a few days.
How can I go without ice cream?!!
I am not a big soy eater, and I am planning on getting a blender so that I can make my own nut milks and smoothies, but I would love some direction towards ideas of what to eat.
I make this in my vitamix and add frozen cherries, cocoa powder and a tiny splash of vanilla. Oh, yeah! Haven’t missed ice cream one bit. Cheese is another story. Still miss that. Over the holidays I ordered some vegan cheeses from Miyoko’s Kitchen. They were delicious, but I wouldn’t order them just for me. Homemade almond milk is delicious and easy. And I try not to eat too much soy, but I love homemade soy yogurt. I can give you the details if you are interested.
When D was in vocal performance in high school, the director encouraged everyone to go non dairy.
Vegan cheese, is kinda like tofu bacon.
Not the same. ( my lab, wouldn’t even eat tofu bacon. She looked at me like ?)
I’ve heard that a Mac & cheese recipe using Brewers yeast is really good though.
After taking some really heavy-duty antibiotics, D developed lactose intolerance. Since she’s already vegetarian, that meant that she was forced into what was essentially a vegan diet. While it’s gotten better with some probiotics, she still can’t handle very much dairy (something that had been a huge part of her diet before). I’d love to start collecting more recipes and tips for dairy substitutes. For my sake as well as hers.
I’m from Wisconsin. I never, ever thought I could live without butter and cheese, or would want to. Ever. This year I tried it as an experiment to lose weight. (Also eliminated the rest of the few meats and eggs I was eating.) I felt so good, and the weight dropped off so fast, that I’ve kept it up.
I don’t like the vegan cheeses too much, except for Kite Hill “Brie” style - (let’s not have another “Just Mayo” argument) - which is delicious. Whole Foods sells it - expensive. For ice cream, I mix up all kinds of stuff with frozen banana, and the So Delicious brand of coconut milk frozen creams are really yummy (not low in fat however). All grocery stores have it.
Too much soy can cause some issues, too… I use a lot of almond milk in smoothies & coffee drinks & hot chocolate, on cereal, etc. I can eat some cheese, and some kinds of ice cream don’t bother me (so you might try some different kinds). Breyers - nope. Edy’s half fat - yup.
About 5 years ago every time I ate cheese or dairy I would get an instant sinus infection - every single time. Have no idea why it happens but to this day I cannot eat dairy. But I have come to love coconut mill and almond milk in my coffee and cook with these instead of milk - I read that it is healthier anyway. Coconut milk as a base makes very rich and delicious sauces. I do miss my cheese! I can do goat cheeses and have found a hard goat cheese that gets me through my cravings.
I have no issues with dairy but have been buying Trader Joe’s coconut beverage for mixing “green” smoothies etc. It’s pretty good. I buy just the plain but it also comes in vanilla.
It may be worthwhile to experiment to see whether your problem with dairy is with the cow’s milk proteins (in which case all dairy except maybe butter will give you grief) or the lactose (in which case hard cheeses should be fine because they contain very little of it, and some people are fine with yogurt because the bacteria in it help to break down the lactose).
Unfortunately, in either case, ice cream may be a problem.
Look for things that are marked Kosher Pareve. Trader Joe’s has some great pareve / dairy-free desserts and snacks. I like to use almond milk as a substitute for regular milk and oil instead of butter. I’ve found that most things can be made dairy free, although I do love Haagen Dazs.
OP- those #12 jerseys are the wrong colors! Hope you enjoy the Super Bowl this year.
Does frozen yogurt give you the same problems ice cream does? There can be active cultures- Kemps has them (vanilla tastes good and is available here in Florida!).
Odd immune response perhaps, but here is my dairy story. I avoided dairy for years as it made my allergies far worse. Any great quantity of cheese, milk, yogurt would make my nose run like a fountain, at the worst times, despite daily allergy medication. But I stopped eating wheat as a trial several years ago. Suddenly my allergies were gone! I started eating more dairy and for the first time in decades am able to eat yogurt, not to mentioned cheese and so on. When my wheat intake increases, the runny nose is back and I don’t feel well.
Now lactose intolerance is different from dairy allergy, which is my problem. But my immune system has settled so much after giving up wheat, and the dairy, after years of avoidance is a pleasure.
A quick caution, regarding dairy substitutes. Look at the protein and calcium content of the various milks. Almond milk is very low protein. Soy milk far better, and the calcium is added to be make rather high quality food, though needs to be taken cautiously for those tending towards estrogen based cancers.
Be careful with adding soy to your diet. Almost all soy is GMO (just an fyi if you have concerns with GMO foods).
Also, if you subsititute margarine for butter,then you are trading one problem for another as scientists are now realizing that harm that can come from hydrogenated fats.
Another possible solution might be to try raw milk instead of the homogenized, pasturized milk that you get in the grocery store. They are actually quite different and many have found that they can tolerate raw milk while they can not tolerate store-bought milk. Not all states allow the sale of raw milk, so you’ll have to google where to buy it. I have to go out of state to buy it.
If raw milk works fine for you, then you’ll be able to make many of the foods that you are accostumed to.
H has also done slightly better with lactose since minimizing gluten in his diet. This was a happy side effect another woman mentioned she experienced when eliminating gluten to help eliminate her migraines. H is pleased he can now have tastes of gelato without the usual gastric distress.
@emeraldkity4, are you sure dairy is the problem and not just lactose? If it’s lactose, you can have hard, aged cheeses, and also anything made with sheep’s milk or goat’s milk.
My D2 is also vegetarian and lactose intolerant. She’s found some delicious faux ice cream made with coconut oil or even hemp. Daiya cheese is good for a mozzarella substitute. She uses Earth Balance, a vegan margarine, and I bake our Thanksgiving pies with that in the crust. I also made my own condensed milk using Lactaid milk for pumpkin pie (just heat until it reduces by half). I’m sure you could do that with rice, soy, or almond milk too.
Edy’s half fat - yup. 