Right, so I'm lactose intolerant... now what?

From personal experience, living with lactose intolerance really isn't that bad. Sure it is extremely annoying, especially for a college student where pizza is often the go-to food, but it's not impossible to live with. The best way to deal with it is to learn to cook. Over the years, I've made almost everything, from Broccali Cheddar Soup to Pizza to Eclairs to Pumpkin Pie. With the right ingredients and the many cheeses, margarine and milk products that are lactose free, it is possible to satisfy almost any craving. The hardest thing is often waiting for the food to cook. There is no more running to the corner pizzeria or ordering out late night after a night of drinking (with the exception of chicken tenders and fries). You learn to control cravings and not binge on certain foods because, well let's face it, no diet I've ever heard of makes you sick if you don't follow it. You learn control because you have to or you will pay the price.

Other Options:

Of course if you don't have it that bad yet, then you are in luck. Lactaid makes a pill that contains the lactase enzyme to help those with lactose intolerance break down the milk proteins. This enables most people with lactose intolerance to enjoy whatever meal they would like. There are many other Lactaid products for people with lactose intolerance, such as Ice Cream (I know! you can still have it!), in Chocolate, Vanilla, Cookies and Cream, Strawberry Cream and Butter Pecan, Cottage Cheese, Milk and even Eggnog. The great thing is that Lactaid is no longer the only company that makes Lactose Free products. Most Kraft cheeses are lactose free. Cabot Cheese and Finlandia Cheeses are almost all lactose free. There is a great butter substitute, that actually has a buttery taste rather than the oily taste left by margarine, called Earth Balance. With all these products it is possible to enjoy almost all the food you could before becoming lactose intolerant.

What is it?

Lactose intolerance is the inability to breakdown lactose. But I'm sure you could have gotten that from the name. So let's go a bit more in depth. Lactose is the sugar found in milk and milk products. Once broken down, it turns into galactose and glucose. In order to break lactose down, you need lactase, which is a digestive enzyme. People who have low levels of lactase, have lactose intolerance. It can sometimes be hard to diagnose this but if you find yourself often feeling bloated and uncomfortable, as though you ate a huge three-course meal, rather than just a yogurt, there is a good chance you are lactose intolerant. These symptoms can be mild to severe, depending on how bad your intolerance is. If it is bad enough to avoid diary all together, I suggest claiming a milk allergy at restaurants. They often hear lactose intolerance and think it can be cured with a pill or a bit of cheese or milk can be tolerated. While this is true for some, it is not true for all.

But what is the difference between milk allergy and lactose intolerance? A milk allergy has very similar symptoms to lactose intolerance. The major difference is that a milk allergy is when the immune system doesn’t recognize one or two of the milk proteins, whey and casein, and lactose intolerance deals with the digestive system.

If you suspect you have either of these reactions to dairy, it is best to get them checked out. The easiest way to check is to keep track of what you eat, using a food journal. Then you can look back and see when you ate what and when you were sick. This is the first step. Next cut out diary from your diet for a couple days then reintroduce it. If you don’t have any adverse reactions during the diary-free days then start feeling sick again, there is a good chance you are lactose intolerance or have a milk allergy.