Soy Milk Drinkers Not Welcomed

News.com.au published a story about SOY coffee drinkers being shunned by Sydney cafes with no-soy policies.

personally, I don’t like the taste of Soy and would prefer taking a Lactose tablet in order to drink the coffee with real milk. I would also be understanding if the reason for not selling Soy-milk coffee would be of a business nature – not having enough customers that ask for the special milk.

But to refuse Soy milk drinkers under the pretense of “keeping to tradition” is pure snobbery, or even worse – discrimination. If you want to keep to tradition, then don’t sell coffee with milk, since, as any true Barista should know, the traditional coffee is not served with milk at all.

With the growing prevalence of lactose intolerance – this decision may even prove wrong for business reasons as well…

Dairy Free Market – Online Food Store

Introducing Dairy Free Market: A Unique Online Food Store Specializing in Foods Without Dairy

Philadelphia, PA (October 12, 2009) – An estimated 50 million Americans are lactose intolerant. With them in mind, Free-from Foods, LLC announces the opening of Dairy Free Market at www.dairyfreemarket.com. The online food store exclusively sells food without dairy, including baking ingredients and mixes, cereal, cheese alternatives, non-dairy chocolate, cookies and snack/energy bars.
Many products sold are also free from other common allergens, such as egg, gluten, nut and soy – perfect for anyone with a food allergy, intolerance, or special diet (e.g., celiac, gluten-free/casein-free, kosher and vegan).
“Our site helps take the guesswork out of grocery shopping,” said Founder Jeff Eder, who himself is lactose and potato intolerant. “I created Dairy Free Market for people like me, who want to buy foods that meet their dietary needs without the hassle of shopping at multiple stores, or the frustration of settling for the limited choices on local grocery shelves.”

The site offers brands such as Cherrybrook Kitchen, Enjoy Life Foods, NuGo and Road’s End Organics – popular among adults and children alike.
Dairy Free Market ships everywhere in the U.S. and currently offers free shipping on orders over $100.

* * * * *
For more information:
Jeff Eder
Free-from Foods, LLC / Dairy Free Market
215-850-1326
info@dairyfreemarket.com

List of Lactose Free Medicines

Although lactose is present in almost 20% of prescription drugs as well as OTC, compiling a list of lactose free medicines is one of the hardest things I ever attempted to do.

Many of the medicines add lactose as inactive ingredient which makes it much more difficult to find. More often than not, inactive ingredients are not written in the consumer leaflet, and if they are it is usually at the bottom of the 6 page document.

I am therefore pleased to find the list of lactose free medicines provided by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. It is updated as of May 2009 and is categorized according to the British National Formulary.

Should you Manage your Lactose Intolerance by Limiting or Avoiding Dairy?

The Lactose Intolerance in Multicultural Communities Survey was conducted on behalf of LACTAID last July. The research found that 77 percent of Latin women reduce the amount of milk or dairy in their diet as a way to manage their lactose intolerance.

You can read more about this survey here.

It is very important not to limit your daily intake of dairy product, and certainly not to avoid it altogether. Dairy products are our main source of calcium and vitamins A and D. Lack of sufficient sources for these vitamins is known to be the cause of serious health problems at later stages in life.

Apart from the serious health issues raised by this survey, I want to point out the importance of proper education about lactose intolerance. If find it incredible that in 2009 lactose intolerance is still regarded as a disease and is therefore not mentioned in the ordinary curriculum at school.

When I was a kid, there were tv and media campaigns encouraging daily intake of milk. It would have been easy to add few words about the safe intake of dairy products for lactose intolerant.

Now that research is beginning to show that lactose intolerance is in fact the way our body is supposed to be, I hope that popular opinion will also change and that governments will issue public campaigns to educate about this condition.

There are many ways in which you can safely consume dairy products, even if you are lactose intolerant:

• Take small portions of milk with every large meal you have (the food will help digest the lactose)

• Try drinking goat or sheep milk, as well as soy, almonds and rice alternatives.

• Yogurts and cottage cheese are especially easy on the digestion.

• The harder the cheese the less likely it will affect you.

• Look for supplements, such as Lactaid, Lactazin and the like.

Whatever you do, don’t avoid dairy – just find the right way to consume it.

Beware of Hidden Lactose

When we think of lactose intolerance we immediately think of milk. However, lactose is often added to foods and if you are intolerant you should learn to read the label carefully. I often find I need to defend myself when my doctor is prescribing a medicine claiming the amount of inactive lactose is so small that it I wouldn’t even know it’s there.

Common foods that contain hidden lactose include:

• Bread and other baked goods
• Processed breakfast cereals
• Instant potatoes, soups, and breakfast drinks
• Margarine (other than kosher)
• Lunch meats (other than kosher)
• Salad dressings
• Candies and other snacks
• Mixes for pancakes, biscuits, and cookies
• Powdered meal-replacement supplements.

Obvious products that should light a warning sigh are powdered coffee creamer and whipped toppings.

Label headings you should be wary of:

• milk and lactose
• whey
• curds
• milk by-products
• dry milk solids
• non-fat dry milk powder.

Pharmaceutical inactive ingredients

Lactose is also used in more than 20 percent of prescription drugs and about 6 percent of over-the-counter medicines. Many types of birth control pills contain lactose, and even (would you believe it) some tablets for stomach acid and gas. Now it is often claimed that these products will only affect highly intolerant people, but I can tell you from first hand that, although I have no problem eating a family size pizza, I need to take lactose supplement in order to digest my birth control pill every morning.

Remember – always read the small print…!!

Everything Lactose Free Cookbook

Jan McCracken,  the author of Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies, published last year The Everything Lactose-Free Cookbook, with more than 300 low-lactose recipes.

The list includes delicious offerings such as:

• New York Style Cheesecake
• Grilled Salmon with Creamy Tarragon Sauce
• Passion Fruit Smoothie
• Tofu Lasagna
• Creamy Apricot Mousse
• Veggie Omelet

I make it a point to promote cookbooks specifically geared to the lactose intolerant community. I believe they do a great service to a large population (research suggest  75% of the world’s population is lactose intolerant in varying degrees) that is often neglected. The fact that lactose intolerance is not a disease, and is therefore not life threatening like milk allergy, has kept this particular digestive problem out of the public’s eye. It amazes me just how few people actually know what it means to be lactose intolerant, especially in the food business.

So I was happy to read the title of the book, but a little disappointed to find that the recipes are, in truth, more low-lactose than lactose-free. Though the severity of intolerance varies from one individual to another, putting such a title on a cookbook could be considered misleading at best, if not deceiving.

Still, the cookbook is beautifully designed with a considerable list of possible recipes. Just be sure to read it carefully if your intolerance is really high. Remember, you can make the necessary adjustments yourself most of the time, substituting the dairy product with a non dairy one.

Healthy Eating !!

How To Tell If Your Baby Is Lactose Intolerant

If your baby is lactose intolerant it means he cannot digest the sugar in milk – where as if he were allergic to milk he would have had a reaction to the protein.

Lactose is present in almost all kinds of milk – even breast milk has 7% lactose. Mothers who are lactose intolerant are likely to have babies who are lactose intolerant. Many infant formulas also contain milk ingredients and you should pay attention to the label. Even Lactose-Free formula has a low dosage of lactose and, although doctors will tell you it is too low to cause any reaction, my own baby couldn’t eat it.

So how can you tell if your toddler is lactose intolerant? The most commons signs include lots of gas, bubbles, burps, and flatulence following feeding. My son used to cry in high pitch voice and would almost always have smelly diarrhea after feeding.

This does not necessarily mean your baby is lactose intolerant. You still need to follow a process of elimination to narrow down the cause of the symptoms.

1. Try different bottles until you are sure his gas is not bottle related.
2. Try a different formula – there is a difference in ingredients between them and he might be able to better digest another version.
3. If no change occurs, switch to lactose-free formula.
4. If all else fails, switch to soy formula.

I left the soy formula as last resort even though, as I mentioned, lactose-free formulas are not really lactose free. Many studies have shown that the use of soy formula, especially with boys, can delay the onset of puberty because of the high levels of estrogen present. I don’t allow my sons to eat soy products at all, but since I couldn’t breast feed, and they couldn’t tolerate the lactose-free formulas, I had to give them the soy version.

Once you switch to non-lactose formula you will notice immediate change in the baby’s reaction: no more gas (at least back to normal levels) and the stool will be solid and less smelly. A word of warning though: soy-based formulas tend to be smelly too, but in a different kind of odor…

Luckily, baby feeding guidance today encourages early trial of solid food so your baby will not be feeding on the formula for long.

Staying Healthy with Lactose Intolerance

Though we may not be able to enjoy the full range of dairy products, it is important to have a daily intake of calcium which is best absorbed by our body from diary. Research  suggests that people with lactose intolerance can easily enjoy the recommended number of dairy foods per day without discomfort. For some people, the best thing is to learn how to enjoy dairy differently.

I hope the following tips will help you to enjoy once again those dairy products you grew up loving.

Taking Baby Steps

Take small portions of milk throughout the day. Wait a couple of weeks and then slowly increase the portion.

Two’s a Company

Drink your milk with other foods, preferably carbohydrates, and never on an empty stomach.

The Cheeser The Better

The harder the cheese (Cheddar, for example) the better it is tolerates since it has less lactose.

Healthy Yogi

Yogurt, such as other cultured milk products contains bacteria that helps digest lactose.

Think Out Of The Box

Try non-cow dairy products. Opt for dark chocolate rather than milky ones. Look for kosher parve foods – they do not contain any dairy ingredient.

Keep trying and experimenting. I am sure you will discover a whole world out there of lactose friendly food.

Lactose Intolerant no more!!

I keep telling everyone (who is lactose intolerant) that it is not a disease – rather this is the normal way of life.

Finally, someone with authority has agreed with me.

USA Today is citing a paper written by University College London and published in the PLoS Computational Biology
The research examined the gene mutation responsible for allowing humans to continue to drink milk even as adults. This is the REAL mutation – not the inability to digest lactose…

From now on say no more Lactose Intolerant, say Lactose Persistent!

Getting your lactose intolerant kid ready to school

The school year is about to start and many families are getting ready. The school bag is shining again (thanks to much scrubbing), books and note pads are wrapped and tagged and new shirts are waiting in the cupboard. But wait a minute, what about the lunch box?

Research estimates that approximately 70% of the population suffer from some degree of lactose intolerance, including kids.

For these kids, going back to school also means getting far from the watchful eye of their parent.

Here are some tips to help you – worried parent – to get your lactose intolerant kid ready for school:

1. Inform the teacher and other relevant staff of the kid’s intolerance. This is especially important if the kid is just starting a new school or a has a new teacher. Adult responsible staff should be aware of the kid’s health situation. Even though lactose intolerance is not as life threatening as milk allergy, it could still have health consequences for the child.
2. Remind the kid to eat only what you prepared for him at home. Kids are known to push the boundaries just for the sake of experimenting. This could have serious consequences when it comes to health issues. School is not the place to try a new meal, a new snack from the vending machine, or taking a bite from his classmate’s sandwich.
3. Remind the kid not to let other kids touch his lunch box. Depending on the level of intolerance, some kids might react even to a single touch of dairy product, transferred by the careless finger of a good meaning friend. “Hey, can I see whatya got in your sandwich…?”.
4. Make sure the kid knows what to do in case he is feeling ill. This is important as some kids would feel “too adult” to go and complain to their teacher for every tummy ache they get. Since tummy aches could also happen due to a “legitimate” cause such as exam anxiety, the child might not want to expose himself to the ridicule of this fellow classmates. Though I will admit, lactose intolerance is not life threatening, but try to fix the kid’s humiliation after he suffered from diarrhea and couldn’t get to the bathroom in time. So, sit down with him and write a list of actions to be taken in case of…
5. Remind your kid (and yourself) how special he is and how being lactose intolerant is in fact the true way nature meant for us. This will help him when other kids try to use his intolerance against him. It is not easy to know that you are different from others and feel good about it. When I first started saying no to food offerings, telling the kind sole that I am lactose intolerant, I usually got the eyebrow treatment – “wow, what is that?” – or, my favorite – “really??!! you don’t look like it…”. So please, remind the kid that he is special, and in the very best meaning of the word.

Going back to school is not easy, for so many reasons. Don’t let your child’s lactose intolerance be one of them.