Day 1: Lactose-free living
Yesterday was very eye-opening. I never knew that lactose was in so many non-dairy foods! You can find some form of lactose in commercially available bread and baked goods, salad dressings (even ones that aren't creamy) and sauces, breakfast cereals, non-kosher deli meats, and even in margarine which I would have considered as a substitute for butter! I've already learned that reading the labels of foods that would seem to be a no-brainer is necessary.
It kind of reinforced my resolve to make as many food products as possible at home, from scratch. I'm already pretty good at reading labels, but there are at least a few products I keep around for convenience, that now, after this close inspection, I won't be getting again, not even organic versions. Cereal and bread are big ones!
I got through my first day, with a little inner fight. Like thinking, do I really need to go this severe? Why not just reduce the amount of lactose products I eat (or drink)? Why not just take more Lactaid, or buy lactose-free products? Well, the argument back is that I need my tummy to repair itself. I am not going to avoid lactose this strictly longterm (unless necessary), this is a healing stage.
In 2 weeks, I'll start to add some low-lactose products back to my diet and see how I react. Some people react to ANY lactose in food, others have reactions only with certain types of foods and still, more commonly, the reaction is to foods that are high in lactose, like ice-cream, or sour cream. Hopefully, I am part of the latter group.
Posted by Thrifty Table at February 2, 2012 
Categories: Dairy-free Diary, Shop Talk
Tags: Shopping Cheese dairy-free
Categories: Dairy-free Diary, Shop Talk
Tags: Shopping Cheese dairy-free
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