If you have lactose intolerance, it means that your body has trouble
breaking downlactose, the natural sugar in milk. You may be
able to tolerate some dairy products, but you will also want to stick to a safe
lactose intolerance diet. "Avoidance is the best treatment for lactose
intolerance, but you need to be sure to get enough calcium in your diet,"
says Amy E. Barto, MD, a gastroenterologist at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington,
Mass. "You can do this by supplementing your diet with the right food choices." Find out about the
smart — and delicious — food swaps you can make that will help
you avoid lactose intolerance symptoms like gas, bloating, and diarrhea.
1. Drink Milk Without the
Lactose
If you like cow's milk splashed in your cereal or served along with a plate
of cookies, you can still include it in your lactose intolerance diet by buying
milk that has lactase added to it. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down the sugar in milk — the enzyme that
you don't make enough of if you have lactose intolerance. Lactase-added milk
and milk products are available in most supermarkets. This type of food for lactose intolerance
has all the nutrition of regular milk, but it may taste a little sweeter.
2. Try Soy Milk
The National Academy of Sciences recommends that both men and women 19 to
50 years old should get about 1,000 mg of calcium every day. That translates to
about three glasses of milk a day. Since milk and other dairy products
account for the majority of calcium in the typical American diet, what can you
do if you have lactose intolerance? One option is soy milk
fortified with calcium, which may have up to 500 mg of calcium in a serving.
However, if your child has a milk allergy — which is different from lactose
intolerance — he or she may also be allergic to soy milk. Avoid using soy milk
as a substitute for anyone with a milk allergy.
3. Explore Other Kinds of
Milk
Drinking goat, sheep, or buffalo milk will not help your symptoms because
all milk from mammals contains lactose. There are, however, milks for a lactose
intolerance diet if you don't like soy milk and still enjoy milk in your
morning cereal or coffee. These dairy-free foods typically don’t
have natural calcium, but they do have lots of vitamins and antioxidants.
Almond milk is loaded with magnesium and vitamin E. Rice milk has almost no
saturated fat and plenty of vitamin B12. Coconut milk tastes creamy like cow's
milk, but one drawback is that it has a lot of saturated fat. Other vegetable
milks include oat, hemp, and cashew. However, these alternatives to cow’s milk
don’t work well as substitutes for cooking, such as in soups or desserts that
call for dairy.
4. Eat Yogurt for Less
Lactose
If you have lactose intolerance, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans
recommends that you choose dairy products with less lactose, such as yogurt
with active bacterial cultures. "Yogurt may cause less bloating because much of the
lactose has already been broken down by its 'good' bacteria," explains Dr.
Barto. However, frozen yogurt does not have active cultures, so it may not fit
into your lactose intolerance diet.
5. Say Cheese
Fermented cheeses have less lactose than other dairy products, and you may
be able to tolerate them in small amounts. They are worth including in your
lactose intolerance diet because they are good sources of calcium and protein.
Examples of hard or aged cheeses that are low in lactose are Swiss, Parmesan,
and blue cheeses. These cheeses typically have less than 2 grams of lactose per ounce,
compared with 11 grams in a cup of milk. Try simple cheese and crackers for a
boost of calcium, or make these easy Roast Beef and Blue Cheese Spears for an
elegant appetizer.
6 .
Substitute Sherbet for Ice Cream
If you crave ice cream for dessert, you might be able to substitute sherbet
in yourlactose intolerance diet. Sherbet does contain some dairy, but it’s a
low-lactose food — one cup has about 4 to 6 grams of lactose, about
the same amount as a cup of yogurt and half as much as a cup of ice cream.
Sherbet is a good example of a hidden source of lactose because you probably
don't think of it as a dairy product. "Other hidden sources of lactose
include soups, salad dressings, and processed breakfast foods," says
Barto. Be sure not to include too many of these foods in your diet on a given
day, since doing so may bring on lactose intolerance symptoms. If you’re
looking for a frozen dessert without any lactose, choose ices or sorbet, which
are dairy-free foods.
7. Increase Dairy-Free
Foods With Calcium
"If your lactose intolerance is severe and you need to avoid all dairy
foods, you can get plenty of calcium from leafy green vegetables,"
suggests Barto. Vegetables high in calcium include rhubarb, spinach, broccoli,
and certain greens like kale. For example, one cup of cooked spinach has about
250 mg of calcium. Other foods for a lactose intolerance diet include
pinto beans and calcium-fortified orange juice.
8. Go Fishing for
Calcium-Rich Foods
"It's important to remember that lactose intolerance increases with
age," says Barto. Unfortunately, you also need more calcium as you get
older. The recommended daily intake of calcium for people over age 50 is 1,200
mg — which is more calcium than is recommended for a younger adult (1,000 mg).
If you’re in this age group and have trouble tolerating dairy, you should take
extra care to eat calcium-rich foods without dairy. One way is by
eating plenty of seafood. Small fish with soft bones like sardines
are especially high in calcium. For example, 3 ounces of sardines with bones
serve up more than 300 mg. Other high-calcium fish to include in a lactose intolerance diet are salmon and
tuna.
Article source :
http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health-pictures/food-substitutes-for-lactose-intolerance.aspx#01
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