Managing Your Dairy Intolerance
Have you found out you have a dairy intolerance and you’re not sure how to manage it? Read on to find out our top tips for coping with an intolerance to dairy.
After you’ve received the results from an intolerance test to show you have an intolerance to cow, goat or sheep milk, it’s time to consider what this means for your diet moving forward.
Your Dairy Free Diet Plan
If you are experiencing dairy intolerance symptoms, it is recommended that you remove dairy from your diet for a set time period.
By following an elimination diet, if you remove the problem food from your diet for 4-6 weeks then begin to slowly introduce it, you will be able to see for sure that dairy is the cause of your symptoms.
Removing dairy from your diet can be difficult when it is an ingredient in many common foods, but it is a necessary step for tackling your intolerance.
Foods That Contain Dairy
To have a dairy free diet, it is important to consider the possible foods that could contain dairy. The most common foods with dairy to avoid include:
- Milk.
- Cheese.
- Yoghurt.
- Butter.
- Ice Cream.
- Cream.
Apart from this obvious list, there are many items in the supermarket that you wouldn’t expect to contain dairy but they do. Because of this, it is important to read all labels for food items to ensure they don’t have dairy in them.
Some surprising items that contain dairy include tomato sauces, processed meats like hot dogs, cereal bars and crisps.
There are many health benefits of dairy as it contains great nutrients such as calcium, protein, phosphorus, riboflavin and more. This is why it is important to find a way of supplementing the loss of vitamins and minerals when dairy is removed from your diet.
Alternatives to Dairy
There are now many dairy alternatives in our supermarkets as the vegan diet is consistently gaining popularity. This means it’s easier than ever to follow a dairy-free diet, because there are great dairy substitutes that are readily available.
Alternatives to Milk
You don’t have to miss out on putting milk in your cuppa or having cereal for breakfast as there is a great range of milk alternatives to choose from, including:
- Soy milk.
- Almond milk.
- Rice milk.
- Coconut milk.
- Oat milk.
- Nut milk.
In terms of butter, cheese, yoghurt and ice cream, there are countless products available on the market now that are dairy-free. These items might be located in a ‘free from’ section in your local supermarket.
Living With a Dairy Intolerance
Managing a dairy intolerance nowadays has never been easier with the great amount of dairy substitutes available in supermarkets. By removing dairy from your diet, you’re on the path to living without any uncomfortable food intolerance symptoms.
If you want to learn more about how to manage your intolerance or if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our helpful advisors.
