The Safe Foods and the Not So Safe Foods

Lactose intolerance brings a certain sadness with it as you realize that your life (well, at least your diet) has to change dramatically to avoid getting sick all the time. Then even when you think you're doing well avoiding certain foods, you still seem to get sick, which only adds to the frustration.

I learned to scan food labels within seconds to know if they contained any of the dangerous ingredients, such as milk, lactose, whey. Nowadays, food labels have "Contains: Milk" at the end of ingredients, which makes things a whole lot easier.

I was so excited when I found out that I could eat yogurt and not get sick. That was also the first time I found out that there were live bacteria cultures in yogurt. But who cares? I was willing to let little bacteria swim around in my stomach if it meant I could eat some more dairy products.

There are many foods out there that are made from milk, but are safe to eat for the lactose intolerant. There are also many foods that have lactose hidden within them.

Safe Foods:

• Yogurts (with lactobacillus and acidopholus). - Really pretty much any yogurt. This does not include yogurt covered raisins and such.
• Frozen Yogurts. I recommend Edy's or Dreyer's (same product just different names in different parts of the country. This brand has the texture, consistency and flavor of regular ice cream.
• Sorbets and Italian Ices - Yes, dairy free.
• Gelato - Many gelatos are made without any milk. Others do have milk. Just have to ask.
  
• Butter - Butter is almost entirely lactose-free. Many labels can be misleading about this. They say "Contains: Milk"... which is partially correct. It's a milk related product, but has only traces of lactose at most. This wouldn't affect most people unless you ate tons of butter, ... and then you'd be sick for other reasons. It's only dangerous for people who have a milk allergy, because of the milk protein.
  
• Hard Cheeses - The harder the cheese, the less lactose. You may be able to get by without a pill if your don't eat much.
• Dark Chocolate - You do want to check, of course. Some dark chocolates have milk added to smooth it out, but other are lactose free. The cocoa butter is not a milk product at all.

Not So Safe Foods:
You know to watch for milk, but did you know that whey (a by-product of cheese production) has lactose in it as well? Well, milk, whey, and even straight lactose are added to all sorts of foods... Make sure you read the labels.

• Sherbet - Yes, it's made with milk.
• Chewable Vitamin C. Yes, you read that correctly. At least one brand I know of uses lactose in their chewable vitamin C tablets... at least in the bottle of orange flavored ones.
  
• Cookies - More cookies than not have milk in them. Maybe not enough to make you sick immediately, but it does build up.
  
• Crackers - It's not just the cheese ones that have milk in them.
  
• Chips - Sure, sour cream, cheese, or ranch have milk, but so do some salt and vinegar chips and others.
  
• Breads - Many breads have milk in them, so make sure to read those labels.
• Margarine - Although made from vegetable oils, many margarines are mixed with milk and do contain lactose.
  
• Sauces - Not just the cheese sauces, you also may find cheese in red pasta sauce, pesto sauce, etc.
• Soups - Watch for the cheeses and milk in there.
  
• Candy - Did you know that sour straws have straight lactose in them? So do some other candies that wouldn't seem obvious to have dairy.
  
• And more - Trust me, you'll find lactose in the most surprising of foods.

So, what's the take-away? READ the labels. Know your limits. Sure, you can get away with a cookie or two, but how about 2 cookies, a few chips, and some pasta sauce. Is that enough to send you running to the bathroom when you least expect it? The build up is the hardest to deal with, because it seems to sneak up on you.