Lactose Intolerance Advice Needed

General health and lifestyle
1

Hi all,

I have just been diagnosed with lactose intolerance. After, literally years of suffering, I finally have an answer to my problems. I was just wondering if anyone else out there has this and what you suffered? I mean, this seemingly little thing has caused me to become bedridden! I ate a diet LOADED with lactose prior to diagnosis and honestly felt like I was dying over the last two years in particular. I had severe diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, brain-fog, anxiety attacks...the list goes on... I had my appendix out in Oct 2013 too, which I can't be sure was related, but it was horrendously painful any way!

The symptoms I had, I put down to various things and was convinced I had parasites, which I don't have. I just could not fathom why I was so ill. I had a food intolerance test and eggs came up positive, so I eliminated them from my diet at the time, but I had little relief as I was still eating a high-lactose diet, not knowing that I was intolerant. 

I have now eliminated all lactose AND eggs from my diet and in one day, I felt better. I had no abdominal pain, no urgency to poo, and no headache - which I have literally, constantly had for years. It's remarkable. I also didn't suffer bad dreams, which is so weird, as I have actually become used to my dreams being bad/negative and it became normal for me. It's such a relief to be able to rest without disruption!

Did or do any of you suffer with really bad symptoms down to lactose intolerance? Also, as I am new to this and have had to overhall my diet, does anyone have advice on foods I should avoid, etc?

Thanks!

2

anything proccesed tinned frozen in packets your find lactose in most of these , and dont forget chicken your find it in chicken .to.

my friend only had to eat a chicken sandwich and within minutes she would be desperatly looking for the loo . keep it fresh ,you can see what your eating ..i dont know if any chicken is lactose free , your have to look into it . good luck 

3

you will also find lactose in bread 

4

Thanks for that advice. I wouldn't have thought of meat products, I just read that 'some proteins' have it in. I am being really careful now and reading the ingredients list. It's just annoying when ingredients are listed under names that don't suggest lactose!

Cheers smile

5

lactose is sweet so its used in a lot of products .

and meat is pumped full of so much stuff today its a minefield 

it sounds simply at first avoid dairy , untill you start reading labels

my brother is dairy free its really hard .

i would think red meat would be ok . but check anything that comes in pack bacon ,ham etc you cant be to carefull

but would stick to organic , sauces even things like casserol mixes etc will state lactose as an ingredient . tescos has just launched a chilled dairy free range . might be worth looking at vegan diet because theres defo no dairy in that .

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Yeah, I will do that actually. I sort of started a vegan diet yesterday and, like you said about your brother, it's very hard to be dairy-free. I did eat some beef for dinner, but I checked it. Still, I can't be sure, so I think that I will be as vegan as possible in case of the risk of lactose. I do take a high quality b-complex supplement, with food-sourced folate, etc, so I doubt I will suffer any nutrtional deficiencies caused by a lack of meat. I am looking at 'free-from' food ranges online, stores that specialise in it, etc. It's amazing how much food contains dairy/dairy derivitives. I am quite shocked by just how much I was eating. No wonder I felt so ill!

Thanks

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By the way, do you know anything about casein? I have seen it before in foods ingredients lists, but never knew what it was. Thx

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...and thanks for letting me know about Tesco, I shop there, but didn't know they did a chilled selection. smile

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iv seen it advertised might not be launched yet next time your

in ask at the info tesco 

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go to www.webmd.comallergiens/guide/casein-allergy-overveiw

its a protien found in milk as is whey people can react very badly to 

swollen lips and hives 

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i think iv missed the . out between com and allergians

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my brother is grain and sugar free to so its really hard

he basicly lives on 

white fish , small amount of meat , buck wheat bread that he makes himself and veg .

his working on making vegan butter .

keep soya products to a small amount to its not as good for you as you have been lead to believe and avoid vegatable oils as these are to high in omega 6 omega is 3 the one you need  . rememember that the industry is very powerful .

you could look into coconut spreads  

look at biona on line. but only use these spreads in small amounts daily because they have a high vegatable oil in as well

 you can buy coconut oil for cooking and baking  

that is  deodrised coconut oil so you get the goodness and not the taste of coconut flavour .

13

Food should be good for you and it's shocking to find out that something that is part of an everyday diet for most people doesn't agree with you. Thank goodness that you've identified lactose as the problem. You are now entering a dietary minefield and you would be wise to arm yourself with high-quality information. Just be aware that so much of the advice on the internet is marketing in disguise. .The problem occurs when our bodies do not produce enough of the enzyme lactase which breaks down the lactose into simpler digestible sugars. Milk is the only natural source of lactose and even in countries like Japan where the majority of people are lactose intolerant babies can digest lactose. They lose this ability as they grow. Lactose does not occur in meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and cereals despite what some ill-informed people might say. The problem is that lactose is used in many processed foods. Check the labels and look for lactose, whey, dried milk powder for example. Take a look at NHS Choices and similar sites that do not have an axe to grind. By the way, caseins are a group of milk proteins. I think that it is best to be pragmatic about this issue. If you are intolerant of egg protein then things get even more difficult. It's really up to you now to educate yourself about foods that could lead to intolerance. Just checked and the nation's favourite biscuit, KitKat, contains lactose. Looking on the bright side you'll be a lot fitter if you remove all the problem foods from your diet. Sadly, chocolate is on the forbidden list. Good luck.

14

Just thought of a couple of things. Whey is the liquid that's left from the manufacture of cheese. Because lactose is soluble in water whey contains a lot of lactose. It depends just how intolerant you are of lactose but bear in mind that lactose is also used as a diluent in many medicines, tablets and capsules An important point that I missed is that milk is a very important source of calcium. If you try soya milk check that has added calcium. I would advise you contact the Vegan Society for information. Personally I would not be a Vegan because you are making a rod for you own back. It's a potential dietary nightmare. To illustrate, capsule shells may be made of gelatin.

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Hi Tiswas!

Sorry for my late response - I haven't been online in a bit, getting used to this diet is kinda strange lol

Thank u so much for all your advice! I was pondering whether to avoid Soya, so I am so glad you mentioned that. I couldn't seem to find any definitive 'yes/no' on it and the articles I read, I didn't understand, being new to the whole thing! I am usually quite savvy when it comes to nutrition, but this is harder than I thought. I am getting used to it though. My stomach was a little sensitive for a few days so I was very tired and basically unable to get out of bed. Partly due to the fact that I was very hungry, not knowing what I could eat, and so had little energy. I think I will naturally lose the excess weight I am carrying with this diet overhall, which I am happy about as I need to shed 3 stone. The best thing though is that my stomach problems aren't ruling my life anymore! I mean it was constantly hurting and I was even referred to a pelvic ultrasound (still waiting...), which I will attend as I am curious as to whether there is any damage there caused by my diet loaded with lactose and dairy, prior to me finding out I am lactose intolerant. 

Thanks for the advice re the coconut oil too - I wasn't sure if my food would taste of coconut if I used it, despite me liking coconut a lot. I drink coconut water most days, but I can't have too much potassium as it causes me to have symptoms associated with pernicious anemia, which I do suffer from, so take a high strength, food sourced B12 supplement each day.

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Hi homo dieticus!

Thanks so much for your advice! Like I told Tiswas, sorry for my ate response - getting used to this diet over the past week or so has been hard given my diet previous to the overhall!

You've given me a lot to go on. I checked all my supplements and they are okay. I have bought some lactase enzyme supplements, just in case I accidentally eat lactose, though I am being uber careful now. Do you have any thoughts on this supplement? I have yet to take it.

What you said about being fitter - I am happy about that aspect! And, to be honest, I actually like this new diet, despite it being hard to navigate at times. It's only been a short while though, so I am sure I'll figure things out. smile

Thanks for the advice on whey and casein too! I was eating a lot of both, hidden within my meals.

I did worry about the lack of calcium, but I am drinking a lactose-free milk and eating leafy, green veg so I think I am getting adequate amounts. Do you think I should take a supplement just in case? 

The good thing is I never really ate a lot of butter-type spreads and only had milk in tea, twice a day, but it was the hidden ingredients and my love of cheese products that was my downfall. I read that hard cheeses don't contain lactose, which confused the flip out of me then! I just avoid them entirely though now. My stomach is settling down quite rapidly and energy levels are better.

I also found a dairy/lactose free chocolate which I bought as I like a little now and then - it's no Cadbury's though lol It reminds me of 'Christmas' chocolate, as I call it - the stuff you get in shiny foil and Advent calendars lol Not much of a fan, but I find the magnesium helps during certain times. If I take magnesium as a supplement, I get side effects, weirdly.

Any way, thanks again! I am armed with the info I need to proceed through this minefield now and it's getting easier. smile

17

you have to remember that we are by natrue hunter gatherers are bodies are meant to eat meat fish and berries and fruit . 

grain to come into our diet untill we started farming .and we are the only 

mamals who drink  other mamals milk does sort of sound yuk when you put it like that .you can buy deodurised coconut fat that dosent taste of coconut for cooking in .. avoid to much omega 6 to thats it nuts and grains and vegatable oils ,omega 3 is what you need .

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grain didnt come in to 

 

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Yeah, funnily enough I was watching a documentary on human evolution on YouTube this morning, being interested in anthropology, etc, and it obviously mentioned our diet. I also think it's a bit weird that we drink another animal's milk, but if I avoid soy milk (I don't want to intake that much oestrogen), what can I drink to get the calcium? Or what would I use in my tea? I have tried almond milk and I do like it, but it's very expensive. I suppose, considering I don't drink a lot of milk, it might not be that expensive in the long run though.

In this documentary, the new findings were that, because we learnt how to cook meat, our guts shortened and there was less need to constantly graze on the vegetation - berries, etc. I personally like fruit, but eat vegetables instead because of the natural, yet high sugar content in the fruits I like. 

Still, I am intrigued by how meat plays a part in our diet, considering our ancestors hunted and ate gamey meats, yet we don't digest it very well. It's a strange paradox that the protein in the meats helped our brain development and evolution, yet we evolved with shorter guts unable to fully digest red meats...? Do you have any thoughts on that?

20

Slow down Bobbs, you are trying to do too many things at once. You've tracked down your digestive problem to lactose so you've made progress. Why are you worried about phyto-oestogens in soy? Why are you taking Vitamin B10? And what has magnesium got to do with chocolate? What is this business about humans not being able to fully digest red meat? Check out the NHS Choices website for dietary advice and look out for Reference Intake values. You can educate yourself on food and diet.