More about Lactose

Some time ago I discovered that I don’t react well to lactose (like 60% of adults in Poland, apparently!). I eliminated dairy completely, but after a while my body started demanding it. Additionally, there came the matter of compensating for the deficiencies caused by the lack of dairy products in my diet. I don’t just mean calcium or vitamin D, but I was also starting to get worried about bacterial flora, so I stocked up on probiotics, which I have also mentioned in THIS article.

However, I also started looking into this subject, as I have read that some dairy products don’t have that much lactose in them, and adults like me, who have lactose intolerance, can eat small amounts of milk sugar! They are, of course, individually customized amounts of lactose tolerance; usually one dose is around 5-10g of lactose. It’s worth checking it personally, though!

So you don’t need to give up a 100% of dairy products, as there are a few products that lactose intolerant people can reach for without any worries.

The first one is cottage cheese, as well as other milky products that have to undergo a process of fermentation, such as kefir, because… here are two theories I found on the internet, I will give up a kidney for reliable information about this subject;P

1. The probiotic bacteria that it contains supports distribution of sugar lactase, apparently creating lactase
2. In the process of fermentation, it’s thanks to lactose that fermentation is conducted, which is why there is barely any of it left in the finished product

There is a possibility that both are correct! They alternate between sites for people with lactose sugar intolerance.

Anyway, regardless of what it is, I tried it on myself and, in fact, with good cottage cheese, from a good shop “not improved”, that didn’t go through any additional thermal processes (extending the expiry date of the product! WARNING, in the meantime they murder our lactase producing bacteria!), I feel extra amazing. While after ingesting cow milk, I have acne and other, less pleasant symptoms that appear in food poisoning:/. I also don’t have any problems after clarified butter.

Additionally to that (I just found this out, probably embarassing;P), you can safely eat hard, ripened cheese such as cheddar, gouda and parmesan, as they barely contain any lactose, it’s below 0,1g per 100g!!! Of course, provided that they are real cheeses, not improved by e.g. additional milk powder (I recommend looking at the table below!!! Shocking). In this case, it’s also really important to read the labels. Pay special attention to make sure that the product doesn’t contain powdered milk and anything saying “milk added” (even I don’t fully know what it means). Especially when it’s concerning medication!

Below, I provided a table with dairy products and the amount of lactose they contain:

www.dietetycy.org.pl

For trivia I will tell you, that eggs have 0,1g/100g lactose and a broccoli has 0,2g :D, which is more than yellow cheese;P

It’s also worth mentioning, that a lactose free diet means it’s easy to get a calcium deficiency, especially when we don’t care for the proper intake of it in meals and supplements (RECOMMENDED!). This is why it’s important to add kale, beans, parsley or barley groats to your diet. HERE you will find a full list of products full in calcium.

In summary, people with partial lactose intolerance, like me, don’t have to resign dairy completely, especially yellow cheese and fermented products.

I would still avoid milk, because lactose is just one of the reasons to eliminate it from the diet, especially because it can easily be replaced with vegetable milk, coconut milk or almond milk.

However, most importantly, look at the labels and CHOOSE THE MOST REAL FOOD!

Kisses,

Karola Kocięda <3