Going dairy free - advice

trash.heap

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice, and I think that a lot of people here really know there stuff, so I thought I'd ask!

I'm beginning to think that my son (2years) has a bit of a dairy intolerance - he has had a very phlegmy cough and runny nose all winter, but doctor check ups never show a chest infection. So, I want to start cutting back his dairy(he's a bit of a milk and cheese monster) and increasing other foods that would make up for the nutrients he would normally get from his dairy...just to see does it help reduce the mucus problem.

So, before I start, I want to research exactly what he'll be missing when he's off dairy, what foods will help replace these nutrients and the best way to go about supplements(or not)

I know now that these forums are against any sort of unauthorized medical advice, so I guess what I'm asking for is suggestions from people about what books/websites would be a good place to start learning about how to best approach the problem.

Any good info on Soy milk would be appreciated too - as I know there is an argument against soy, but I don't know enough about it.

Thanks for any replies

El_Dangeroso

Any countries that don't eat dairy have a high intake of bone broth. Both dairy and bone broth contains the most absorbable form of calcium and other minerals.

Homemade bone broth is so packed full of nutrients that it's practically a supplement. Use it as a base for homemade soup and stews. Here's a good guide to making it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_13810_make-beef-stock.html

I'm making some pork stock at the moment which shall be simmering for the next 24 hours!

The taste is gorgeous I'm sure you'll have no trouble getting your little one to eat it.

Coconut milk makes for a reasonable milk replacement taste wise too.

trash.heap

Thanks for that...I've actually made my own chicken stock before but never realised how good it is for you. I'll start simmering this weekend - I presume the longer you simmer it for the more concentrated the flavour?

And, coconut milk? Is that like the cocunut milk you get in a can, for curries? Might try that with some fruit and porridge, and see does he like it.

Thanks again:)

enda1

You cut him off dairy and he will lose his tolerance to lactose.
This is quite a large amount of foods you will stop him being able to enjoy later in life.

Make sure he IS lactose intolerant before you diagnose him as.
Can be done by a gastro-enterologist I think.

El_Dangeroso

trash.heap wrote: »

Thanks for that...I've actually made my own chicken stock before but never realised how good it is for you. I'll start simmering this weekend - I presume the longer you simmer it for the more concentrated the flavour?

And, coconut milk? Is that like the cocunut milk you get in a can, for curries? Might try that with some fruit and porridge, and see does he like it.

Thanks again:)

Yep, canned is fine! Full of really good fats too.

The larger the animal the longer it needs to simmer, chicken should be good to go in about 6 hours. Beef can take up to 72hrs! The best quality stock is really concentrated and jellified. Then just pop into individual containers, freeze and use like a stock cube as needed.

EileenG

enda1 wrote: »

You cut him off dairy and he will lose his tolerance to lactose.
This is quite a large amount of foods you will stop him being able to enjoy later in life.

Make sure he IS lactose intolerant before you diagnose him as.
Can be done by a gastro-enterologist I think.

What? You don't a food for a while and you can never eat it again?

Most Irish people eat far more dairy than the rest of the world. There is no health problem with reducing the amount of dairy.

My middle child used to have an asthma attack after eating dairy, so we went strictly dairy-free for several years. She now appears to have grown out of it, and is eating an ice-cream as we speak.

EileenG

trash.heap wrote: »

Thanks for that...I've actually made my own chicken stock before but never realised how good it is for you. I'll start simmering this weekend - I presume the longer you simmer it for the more concentrated the flavour?

And, coconut milk? Is that like the cocunut milk you get in a can, for curries? Might try that with some fruit and porridge, and see does he like it.

Thanks again:)

If you are on the Northside of Dublin, JC Savage in Swords is stocking a dairy-free coconut milk for drinking. I just got a carton and it's very nice. I don't think you would have any problem using it for cereals etc.

Iristxo

My son drank rice milk for a long time but it has a lot of natural sugars. One really doesn't know which is the least of -a few-evils (cow, soya, rice, goat...). Almond milk is good but really expensive.

Sapsorrow

Iristxo wrote: »

Almond milk is good but really expensive.

I know what a shame! Oatmilk is good too and I think it's fairly easy to make yourself. I think which is evil depends on the context, I did a lot of research on soy and soy phytoestrogens last year for a lit review and research project in college and I didn't find any strong eidence for it to cause any harm in the amounts vegetarian/vegan westerners consume it in. To reach a biologically significant amount of the active chemicals in the blood you have to consume a hell of a lot of soy which no one here does (probably as it's too expensive). Also your lifestage has a lot to do with it, pre-pubescent children are more snesitive to it (it seems to be protective to girls against breast cancer in later life when consumed regularly right before puberty) and more dangerous after the menopause (making one more susceptible to breast cancer when the bodies endogenous estrgeon synthesis has dipped), so for now i have no problems drinking a cup or two a day. Cows milk however seems in a lot of people to trigger intolerance like symptoms like mucos and sniffliness even at very low doses (it does for me anyway) in sensitive individuals like asthmatics. Not very many people can tolerate dairy with impunity though apart seeminlgy from some northern European populations, can't remember the stats now but intolerance to dairy is very widespread worldwide.

El_Dangeroso

khrystyna100 wrote: »

I know what a shame! Oatmilk is good too and I think it's fairly easy to make yourself. I think which is evil depends on the context, I did a lot of research on soy and soy phytoestrogens last year for a lit review and research project in college and I didn't find any strong eidence for it to cause any harm in the amounts vegetarian/vegan westerners consume it in. To reach a biologically significant amount of the active chemicals in the blood you have to consume a hell of a lot of soy which no one here does (probably as it's too expensive). Also your lifestage has a lot to do with it, pre-pubescent children are more snesitive to it (it seems to be protective to girls against breast cancer in later life when consumed regularly right before puberty) and more dangerous after the menopause (making one more susceptible to breast cancer when the bodies endogenous estrgeon synthesis has dipped), so for now i have no problems drinking a cup or two a day. Cows milk however seems in a lot of people to trigger intolerance like symptoms like mucos and sniffliness even at very low doses (it does for me anyway) in sensitive individuals like asthmatics. Not very many people can tolerate dairy with impunity though apart seeminlgy from some northern European populations, can't remember the stats now but intolerance to dairy is very widespread worldwide.

Hate to disagree with you there Khrystyna, I agree if you are lactose intolerant or have any issue with dairy then it is best that it is cut out, but I really think processed unfermented soy is not a viable alternative.

The soy lobby is incredibly powerful, far more than any dairy lobby, and so spends vast amounts of money publishing biased studies to muddy the water so they can call the data 'conflicting' and 'inconclusive'.

The phyto-estrogens non-withstanding, the phytic acid load in soy milk alone is good enough reason to avoid it. Milk provides your body with calcium. Soy starves your body of calcium by inhibiting its absorption, which is the last thing you need if you can't have milk in your diet.

Iristxo

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Hate to disagree with you there Khrystyna, I agree if you are lactose intolerant or have any issue with dairy then it is best that it is cut out, but I really think processed unfermented soy is not a viable alternative.

The soy lobby is incredibly powerful, far more than any dairy lobby, and so spends vast amounts of money publishing biased studies to muddy the water so they can call the data 'conflicting' and 'inconclusive'.

The phyto-estrogens non-withstanding, the phytic acid load in soy milk alone is good enough reason to avoid it. Milk provides your body with calcium. Soy starves your body of calcium by inhibiting its absorption, which is the last thing you need if you can't have milk in your diet.

See that's the thing you two disagree on this and you two are some of the very knowledgeable people in this forum, and also if you go into the internet you find the same, arguments pro and against both of them. I have also (personally) heard a few people whose health inproved considerably when they started avoiding all dairy.

As i said I had my son on rice milk for a while trying to avoid either of the above but I was worried about a few things including how much calcium was he actually absorbing (like the calcium is not part of the rice milk, it's added to it so for that matter I might as well give him a supplement?) and the amount of natural sugars in it. It seems that there's no perfect solution.

Right now we're gone back, at least for the time being, to organic cow's milk. I do not like to think of the poor cows being "milked to death" (figuratively) but sure, what can you do.

trash.heap

So, I soaked some porridge oats in coconut milk overnight, then added blueberries for my little lads mid morning snack - he had a few spoonfuls, made a lot of faces and then upended the bowl onto the floor:eek: I'll keep trying him though, cos it did taste lovely so he's probably just too used to sweetened yoghurts.

His morning porridge is now made with water...might try adding some of the coconut milk to that, along with the usual honey/cinnamon.

He's starting to get into a picky phase with his veg at the moment...so I'm going to have to be inventive with his meals to try and get as much goodness into him.

Must google how to make my own oatmilk...sounds interesting!

enda1

Iristxo wrote: »

See that's the thing you two disagree on this and you two are some of the very knowledgeable people in this forum, and also if you go into the internet you find the same, arguments pro and against both of them. I have also (personally) heard a few people whose health inproved considerably when they started avoiding all dairy.

As i said I had my son on rice milk for a while trying to avoid either of the above but I was worried about a few things including how much calcium was he actually absorbing (like the calcium is not part of the rice milk, it's added to it so for that matter I might as well give him a supplement?) and the amount of natural sugars in it. It seems that there's no perfect solution.

Right now we're gone back, at least for the time being, to organic cow's milk. I do not like to think of the poor cows being "milked to death" (figuratively) but sure, what can you do.

Better the cows being milked to death (figuratively), than the Thai women and children being worked to death (literally) no?

Anyway. I still content that in the Western world it is a shame to not maintain the tolerance for lactose that can benefit a person through enjoyment and ease of life unless you are making a well informed responsible decision.

Iristxo

enda1 wrote: »

Better the cows being milked to death (figuratively), than the Thai women and children being worked to death (literally) no?

Yes you got a point there

El_Dangeroso

Iristxo wrote: »

See that's the thing you two disagree on this and you two are some of the very knowledgeable people in this forum, and also if you go into the internet you find the same, arguments pro and against both of them. I have also (personally) heard a few people whose health inproved considerably when they started avoiding all dairy.

As i said I had my son on rice milk for a while trying to avoid either of the above but I was worried about a few things including how much calcium was he actually absorbing (like the calcium is not part of the rice milk, it's added to it so for that matter I might as well give him a supplement?) and the amount of natural sugars in it. It seems that there's no perfect solution.

Right now we're gone back, at least for the time being, to organic cow's milk. I do not like to think of the poor cows being "milked to death" (figuratively) but sure, what can you do.

I know some people too who's lives have been transformed by giving up dairy, hence my recommendation that everyone with any issue with it to give it a very wide berth, especially anyone with any kind of auto-immune condition.

I don't think it will harm an otherwise healthy person though. But if you feel great without it, then definitely listen to your body.

But even if you don't have dairy, don't compound a calcium deficiency with soy milk, especially given the shocking rates of osteoporosis in this country.

Oat, rice and coconut milks are good alternatives without all the problems of soy.

trash.heap

Didn't mean to start a moral or health argument with this query!!

I'm not going to get my son to give up dairy altogether...I just want to cut it out of his diet for a couple of weeks to see does it help clear up his cough and snotty nose. And if it does, then when I do go to the doc about it, I'll have evidence as to what could be wrong(essentially cutting out the visit where the doctor suggests cutting back on diary and charges me another €50!)

At the minute, I have no faith in the 'businessmen' they call doctors! This year alone, one doc said ds could have asthma and put him on an inhaler...turned out to be a very mild chest infection. A weekend doc put him on an adult strength antibiotic for an ear infection, and made him violently ill for days! Another doc, after being told about ds's persistent chesty cough, said that there's nothing wrong with him, give him parecetemol and he'll be fine. If I followed that advise, ds would still be taking parecetemol three months later and still coughing snots! And I have to give them money for every follow up visit they tell me to make - just so they can ask me if he is better!

There's my contribution to the ethics dilemma developing here:o, but in the meantime, I'll be taking a slightly more holistic approach in trying to clear this cough up!!

El_Dangeroso

trash.heap wrote: »

Didn't mean to start a moral or health argument with this query!!

Sorry trash.heap! A lot of threads here delve into discussion of the wider issues, nothing to do with your specific case, which seems fairly cut and dried that giving up dairy seems the way to go for your little one.

Hopefully it will make a difference. xx

Red Cortina

Here is my 2 cents worth!
Think you are right to try and pursue the dairy free diet with your son to see where that gets you. I can only speak from my own personnel experience but since I have avoided dairy I have noticed that the mucus which always seemed to be present at the back of my throat has mysteriously disappeared and I rarely (touch wood!) seem to get colds and snuffles any more. Best of luck with it!

trash.heap

So, my son has been totally dairy free since Saturday...and it's already making a difference.
His nose no longer has two big green 'candlesticks' hanging out of it:o And his cough is getting softer.
So fingers crossed that I've found the solution...going to give him two weeks without any dairy and then I might re-introduce a little bit of milk and maybe a yoghurt once or twice a week.
Just wondering, which would be the lesser of two evils...cheese(hard cheddar) or yoghurt(natural)?

Btw, he's loving coconut milk now...mixed into water as a drink or with oats soaked in it overnight and mixed with fruit

Thanks to all for the advice(both sides!)

EileenG

Probably hard cheese, as it will have very little lactose in it. Yogurt has a lot more. Butter should be okay too.

You might start with goat milk or cheese, see if that produces any reaction, and very gradually work your way back to cow's milk products.

cbyrd

Hi i'm actually relieved to have found this thread, i'm lactose intolerant now probably since my teens but only diagnosed myself 2 years ago after a severe allergic reaction that launched the intolerance into outer space:(..

it's different with everyone as to the level of intolerance that you have, i can eat some chocolate but if i so much as look at butter milk cheese icecream or yoghurt i'm looking at 2 days extreme pain (like appendicitis) bad bad wind:D and a lot of bloating.
It's not unusual for a child to be lactose intolerant and then grow out of it, adults however when they get it it doesn't right itself, you don't start producing the lactase again,
So it may be worth while getting him tested for it.

The bacteria in yoghurt can help digestion so this should be ok for him and i'd lay off the cheese as it can be a big mucus producer.

Interestingly enough i've found that when i was pregnant last year, i could eat more things with dairy...strange .. and now obviously the hormones are decreasing i'm getting bad again:( poor me no bikkies again:(
i find it really hard to eat out too cos unlike a gluten/wheat free or vegetarian/vegan, lactose intolerance is not really taken seriously.. and there's so many foods that are restricted.. cream in the soups, butter in the mashed potato, milk in the breads cream or butter in the sauces.. butter cream icecream in the desserts, it's very limited..at least dominos will do pizza without cheese:D
I'd be really interested to know how other's cope or if there's even a cookbook out there that i could get, and please don't frighten the bejeebus out of me about the soya milk cos it's the only way i can eat brown bread or pancakes..:eek:

El_Dangeroso

Have you tried the lacto-free milk they have in tesco? I personally can't tell the difference in the taste between that and normal milk.

Other than that coconut milk is quite nice when you get used to it, it might need a bit of watering down first.

Blue8439

Hi, Just discovered this thread and found it very interesting. I have been suffering very badly with bad headaches and very bad stomach problems for about two years now. I went to the doctors several times about it and it was just a waste of time completely. I was told that it was all 'in my head' even though i suspected that I may be lactose intolerant.

So about two weeks ago I went for a food intolerance test. I found out that I am dairy intolerant. However, it was very interesting to find out that it is not the lactose in dairy that I am intolerant to, it is the fat. I can't drink lactose free milk but I can drink completely skimmed milk, in small amounts as it is 'fat free'. All other dairy products are out though, cheese, yoghurts, butter and because of this type of intolerance I can't eat beef either. I also happen to be extremely intolerant to eggs too!

I would recommend to anyone who may think they have an intolerance to get a food intolerance test done. It has been the best thing i have done. I have been off the bad foods for one week now and i feel great! It's great to know exactly what it is I am intolerant to

lord lucan

Blue8439 wrote: »

I would recommend to anyone who may think they have an intolerance to get a food intolerance test done. It has been the best thing i have done. I have been off the bad foods for one week now and i feel great! It's great to know exactly what it is I am intolerant to

Where did you get the test done Blue8439?

I've suffered with bloating for years and i've only recently decided to do something about it. I've cut out milk as a starting point and within 3 days i can see a difference already. I suspect i may be Lactose intolerant but i'd like to get it confirmed.

Blue8439

lord lucan wrote: »

I've suffered with bloating for years and i've only recently decided to do something about it. I've cut out milk as a starting point and within 3 days i can see a difference already. I suspect i may be Lactose intolerant but i'd like to get it confirmed.

Hi Lord Lucan, I got this test done in the fitzwilliam food test clinic. It's a bit expensive at €255 but several weeks on i can definitely say it has been well worth the money! Especially when I think off all the money I wasted going to the doctors and they didn't do a thing :mad: No more bloating or cramps for me, which I had everyday of the week for two years! I hope you can figure out what's been causing your bloating because I know how it feels

El_Dangeroso

Emm, don't want to contradict your test and it does seem to be working for you, but there's no such thing as being allergic to fat. The fat in milk is:

Palmitic acid
Myristic acid
Stearic acid
Oleic acid

And to a much lesser extent:
Palmitoleic acid
Linoleic acid
Linolenic acid

These are incredibly common fats, in practically any other food that contains fat in varying quantities. Do you have issues with other fats too? (sorry, just saw the beef comment) If so it might be something to do with the gall bladder.

Blue8439

Temple_Grandin wrote: »

Emm, don't want to contradict your test and it does seem to be working for you, but there's no such thing as being allergic to fat. The fat in milk is:

Palmitic acid
Myristic acid
Stearic acid
Oleic acid

And to a much lesser extent:
Palmitoleic acid
Linoleic acid
Linolenic acid

These are incredibly common fats, in practically any other food that contains fat in varying quantities. Do you have issues with other fats too? (sorry, just saw the beef comment) If so it might be something to do with the gall bladder.

It's not an allergy that I have it's an intolerance, my body just cant digest the milk fat and often it would be hours and sometimes a day before i would start getting the symptoms. It is definitely not lactose intolerance because I drink skimmed milk without any problems, and the lactose count in skimmed milk is even higher than in full fat milk! And even though butter (for some reason) has only small amounts of lactose in it, some people who think they are lactose intolerant have bad reactions to butter. Butter is about 80% fat so it would make sense that it is the fat causing the problems and not the lactose considering most people would only have a small serving of butter at any one time. I'm not too sure why this is but this is what the intolerance clinic told me and it's working so I believe it!

Pembily

I thought it was either the sugar or the protein in milk that people were intolerant to?!?!

El_Dangeroso

Blue8439 wrote: »

It's not an allergy that I have it's an intolerance, my body just cant digest the milk fat and often it would be hours and sometimes a day before i would start getting the symptoms. It is definitely not lactose intolerance because I drink skimmed milk without any problems, and the lactose count in skimmed milk is even higher than in full fat milk! And even though butter (for some reason) has only small amounts of lactose in it, some people who think they are lactose intolerant have bad reactions to butter. Butter is about 80% fat so it would make sense that it is the fat causing the problems and not the lactose considering most people would only have a small serving of butter at any one time. I'm not too sure why this is but this is what the intolerance clinic told me and it's working so I believe it!

Try some ghee, that is pure butter fat, then you'd know for definite.

I dunno, a quick google couldn't find anything about anyone having a fat intolerance to milk fat. Correct me if I'm wrong.

cruhoortwunk

Pembily wrote: »

I thought it was either the sugar or the protein in milk that people were intolerant to?!?!

Yep, it's either lactose or caseian intolerance. Casein is the protein in milk, and casein intolerance is much more rare than lactose intolerance.
I found out 6 weeks back that I'm intolerant of everyhting relating to milk/dairy.
I was off the scale for casein, whey, milk, goats milk, cheese. My symptoms are eczema, dry skin, large pores, ingrown hairs.
I would debate the point made above about soy having a mass lobby behind it. It may in the US, but in Ireland the dairy farmers have all the power.
Also, the whole point about milk being so good for calcium seems to be exaggerated a lot. It its so good for the bones, how come osteoporosis rates are so high in Ireland and other countries with high dairy intake.
Have a google, you'll find plenty of studies that say milk actually causes osteoporosis
http://www.tbkfitness.org/Osteoporosis.html

kaykay27

cruhoortwunk, i have the exact same problems as u-rash etc but i learned about my intolerance the hard way...lets just say scoffing my flake easter egg has result in an unslightly rash all over me face:mad:

Going dairy free from today (got my results) just wongering if its possible to get dairy free ice-cream or even sorbet (searched tescos last night and cant find sorbet anywhere)

Also has any out there tried dairy free cheese? is it nice? where can i get it

Thnaks!

EileenG

If you mean goat and sheep cheese, then yes, it's nice and you can get it anywhere with a good cheese counter. Superquinn is very good for this.

If you mean imitation cheese, it's available in health food shops, but it's disgusting.

kaykay27

kaykay27 wrote: »

Going dairy free from today (got my results) just wongering if its possible to get dairy free ice-cream or even sorbet (searched tescos last night and cant find sorbet anywhere)

Lidl has sorbet's.
There are some nice diary free ice creams. HB had a lovely ione, and there is a brand swedish glace.
I try and avoid the ice cream section but you should be able to find these in a decent supermarket.

cruhoortwunk

EileenG wrote: »

If you mean goat and sheep cheese, then yes, it's nice and you can get it anywhere with a good cheese counter. Superquinn is very good for this.

If you mean imitation cheese, it's available in health food shops, but it's disgusting.

My tests show I am just as allergic to Goat's milk as cow's milk. As far as I can see, they are very similar, they all contain casein and lactose of some variety. May be worth avoiding all animal milk.
Try soy or almond milk instead.

cat_rant

When I hit my ealy Twenties I suddenly had lots of problems with migranes and Sinus pain and had constant head colds....

I came off the dairy as recommeneded to me by my doctor and pharmasist. I also have IBS and its a trigger food that sets me off.

Sometimes I will have a sneaky bit of cheese or chocolate but you know its not wort it as it just upsets my tummy.

I drink soy milk - organic unsweetened so its not full of sugar and a small bit is ok. I was also told by a dietician that there is enough calcium in a can of tuna to supply you with a weeks recommended level. I have no facts on this but it's just what I was told.

With Children I would be reluctant to take them off Dairy as they are still growing - but perhaps use skinny milk and reduced fat cheese as they have lower levels of lactose in them. Have you tried him on the lactose free milk?

It didn't work for me - but might work for him....

cat_rant

Moonbaby wrote: »

Lidl has sorbet's.
There are some nice diary free ice creams. HB had a lovely ione, and there is a brand swedish glace.
I try and avoid the ice cream section but you should be able to find these in a decent supermarket.

Some health foods with freezer sections have soy icecream I get it as a treat every once in a while and I actually think its more flavoursome than normal icream. There is a brand called Swedish Glaze and they do a yummy vanilla soy iceream for about a €5

I can't seem to find the HB one anywhere any more Tesco in Tallaght use to stock it but no more

cat_rant

kaykay27 wrote: »

cruhoortwunk, i have the exact same problems as u-rash etc but i learned about my intolerance the hard way...lets just say scoffing my flake easter egg has result in an unslightly rash all over me face:mad:

Going dairy free from today (got my results) just wongering if its possible to get dairy free ice-cream or even sorbet (searched tescos last night and cant find sorbet anywhere)

Also has any out there tried dairy free cheese? is it nice? where can i get it

Thnaks!

I have never really found a nice cheese substitue - Tofutti do an "I can't believe its not phillidelphia" call smooth and Creamy but its kinda lush and you wouldn't want to eat a lot of it and at the same time its goes off quickly so I just don't really bother any more.

Pembily

cat_rant wrote: »

Some health foods with freezer sections have soy icecream I get it as a treat every once in a while and I actually think its more flavoursome than normal icream. There is a brand called Swedish Glaze and they do a yummy vanilla soy iceream for about a €5

I can't seem to find the HB one anywhere any more Tesco in Tallaght use to stock it but no more

Yup I love the Sweadish glace - totally not a fan of the much hyped Booja Booja - thought it was kack to be honest :eek::eek:

The sweedish galce is amazing in a milkshake - mmm would love a milkshake now!! Tts animal free as its made with soya beans!!!

EileenG

cat_rant wrote: »

With Children I would be reluctant to take them off Dairy as they are still growing - but perhaps use skinny milk and reduced fat cheese as they have lower levels of lactose in them. Have you tried him on the lactose free milk?

Low fat dairy products like skinny milk have higher levels of lactose in them. You could try lactofree milk.

Hard cheeses like cheddar or gouda have a very low level of lactose.

But dairy is not nearly as essential for children as we think. Very few children in other countries eat the amount of dairy that Irish children do.

kaykay27

hi pembily, where do you get that swedish glaise ice cream- had a good scout round tescos earlier and still cant find it

EileenG

I've seen it in Superquinn. And health food shops with freezers usually have it.

Pembily

kaykay27 wrote: »

hi pembily, where do you get that swedish glaise ice cream- had a good scout round tescos earlier and still cant find it

Yup as EileenG said most healthfood shops do it!!! I love the vanilla one a heated gluten and dairy free muffin from Dunnes Or with aftereight as a milkshake!!!

K I defo have a sugar addiction :eek:

cat_rant

EileenG wrote: »

Low fat dairy products like skinny milk have higher levels of lactose in them. You could try lactofree milk.

Hard cheeses like cheddar or gouda have a very low level of lactose.

But dairy is not nearly as essential for children as we think. Very few children in other countries eat the amount of dairy that Irish children do.

Thanks I totally did not know that- well looks like I was misinformed and I agree with you on the high dairy in take of irish children.