Dairy free diet

Alpha Dog 1

So as the title says I am looking to drastically change my food habits and cut dairy from my diet as much as possible.

I'm not exactly looking for substitutes as such, more so food alternatives.

I've pretty much always eaten cereal for breakfast such as cornflakes etc.

If anyone has any tips it would be greatly appreciated.

Stench Blossoms

Eat eggs for breakfast or porridge.

You might as well ditch processed foods while your at it as well.

Post up a current diet.

The stickies have some useful information in them as well.

GAAman

I started this a few months ago myself and to be honest was wary of soya alternatives. I tried the Alpro soya milk and have not looked back. I eat a lot of cereals too so it was ideal for me.

Alpha Dog 1

Current diet (in general)

Breakfast @ 7: cereal, usually cornflakes, cheerios etc. Along with coffee, I generally drink 5 cups per day. I do acknowledged that I have a problem with coffee and will be giving it up.

Dinner @ 1: including 2 veg, mash and meat usually chicken bacon etc.

Evening: something small, sometimes cereal, weetabix, ham sandwich, sausages. Might also cook some pasta!

I'm only ever cooking for one so find it hard to put in the time or give consideration to food.

Slydice

paleo / primal is fairly dairy free. There's a thread on primal here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056501032

google for paleo breakfasts and you'll get dairy free recipies

candle_wax

I just gave up dairy eight days ago.

I'm getting on grand. I suppose I'm lucky in that I don't like coffee at all, only drink herbal tea, and don't like cheese (only melted, on pizzas/quesadillas etc..) or creamy sauces really. I haven't had any major daily cravings.

Even when I used to run out of milk I'd think nothing of putting apple or orange juice on my cereal, which is what I'm doing at the moment (my OH thinks it's gross, I don't even notice...). I use a bit of olive oil instead of butter. I have a sunflower oil spread too.
I've just cut out yoghurts completely so can't comment any of the dairy alternative stuff, or alternative milks.
Most of my meals are almost the exact same - I've only had to cut out some stuff like pesto, and the melted cheese..


To be honest I think I could live dairy free happily, APART from desserts. I absolutely love baking and the thought of never making cheesecake, buttery sponges, chocolate brownies, creamy scones, etc, ever again is what gets me!

I was contemplating the more severe full elimination diet, but thought I'd give dairy a go first, so aiming for four-five weeks and seeing how I feel then.

Zombienosh

Try to avoid soya milk if you can, There are better alternatives, Coconut milk, Almond Milk, Oat Milk or Rice Milk.

Alpha Dog 1

So tomorrow is the first day that I'm starting this diet. In the morning I'm planning on avoiding cereal altogether and just make some scrambled egg, which I presume is dairy free?

Dinner will be along the lines of my usual food as there is no dairy products involved.

My biggest concern is having to do without coffee which I think will be very difficult for me.

Zombienosh

Black coffee is awesome.

Alpha Dog 1

Zombienosh wrote: »

Black coffee is awesome.

Haha not possible for me I think, anyway the break should do me good as I've a slight addiction.

nice_guy80

I did this last year

started on soya but then dropped them for coconut milk

much better in my opinion

Alpha Dog 1

nice_guy80 wrote: »

I did this last year

started on soya but then dropped them for coconut milk

much better in my opinion

Do you think you benefited from it?

cailleach an airgid

I really like almond milk, it's slightly nutty tasting - porridge is lovely made with it.

Bumpkin22

I cut out dairy 4yrs ago as a result of discovering that I was lactose intolerant, and while alternatives can be hit/miss & costly, I've noticed massive improvements in my skin, weightloss and no more bloating, less colds/sinus infections etc!

Here are a few alternatives I've tried and liked:

Pesto: Zest (available from Nourish for about €3 for the small jar)
Yoghurt: Alpro Soya (all flavours are yum and cost about €1.90 for a four Pk)
Cheese: Redwood brand, all types (Down to Earth on George's St for about €5). Tesco (and other places) sell a version of Parmesan but I can't remember it's name (can be found in the free from section in a little drum thingy).
Pizza: Fire House Pizza in Ballymun make mean pizzas using Redwood mozzarella or buy the Redwood frozen pizzas from Down to Earth (about €5 for frozen pizza)
Cream: dessert cream SoyaToo isn't bad but the squirty cans clap out after a few goes so the cartons are a better buy
Chocolate: there are soooo many nice dairy free chocolate varieties available. My favs are those by Celtic Chocolate (Irish company) and can be found in most stores.
Ice cream: Swedish Glacé (Nourish or Superquinn)
Biscuits: my current faves are those chocolate covered ginger biscuits by Supervalu (own brand)- I polished off a whole packet tonight!!!

Best of luck with the dairy free diet! It can be tough eating out but when in doubt opt for vegan

judgefudge

Zombienosh wrote: »

Try to avoid soya milk if you can, There are better alternatives, Coconut milk, Almond Milk, Oat Milk or Rice Milk.

Genuine question - what's wrong with soya milk? I recently changed from cows milk to soya milk. I only put a drop in tea maybe twice a day. Is it bad?!

Zombienosh

Well there are loads of articles saying it can mess up for hormones for men, it can play havoc with estrogen levels because of phytoestrogens, but on the flipside it's great for women.

Just google soya milk estrogen, There's loads of articles, I generally try not to have too much processed soy.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/518337-why-is-soy-milk-bad-for-men/

Also I just never liked the taste of it.

judgefudge

Zombienosh wrote: »

Well there are loads of articles saying it can mess up for hormones for men, it can play havoc with estrogen levels because of phytoestrogens, but on the flipside it's great for women.

Just google soya milk estrogen, There's loads of articles, I generally try not to have too much processed soy.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/518337-why-is-soy-milk-bad-for-men/

Also I just never liked the taste of it.

Oh well I'm a woman so I guess it's ok

I like it in tea but not coffee. Does anyone know what milk tastes good in coffee?! Almond and soya dont, in my opinion. My mornings are ruined

Selfheal

Mostly GM is one reason to avoid Soya.

Alpha Dog 1

Anyone still doing this?
I've only got going properly in the last few weeks.
Milk is the biggest issue for me and trying to figure out which type I prefer.

Didn't really fancy the rice milk but the alpro and coconut milk isn't bad.

I've restricted my diet a lot though and tend to eat the same stuff each day. Have increased the fruit and vegetables intake big time.

Mysteriouschic

I'm part dairy free at the moment trying to go full I don't really like the other milks I'm using skimmed at the moment. Almond milk isn't too bad in tea but I only use a small amount the others rice dream or oat milk I don't really like in tea. I tried soya milk in tea it tasted too thick and I hated it.
For cereals I've been using vanilla alpro soya yoghurt .

Zombienosh

When I did use milk in tea I found coconut milk to be pretty good.

Alpha Dog 1

Zombienosh wrote: »

When I did use milk in tea I found coconut milk to be pretty good.

I've tried a few of them and didn't really like any of them. I have resorted to drinking black coffee which I have gotten used to now and quite enjoy!

candle_wax

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

Anyone still doing this?
I've only got going properly in the last few weeks.
Milk is the biggest issue for me and trying to figure out which type I prefer.

Didn't really fancy the rice milk but the alpro and coconut milk isn't bad.

I've restricted my diet a lot though and tend to eat the same stuff each day. Have increased the fruit and vegetables intake big time.

I did it for five weeks. Missing out the "core" dairy stuff didn't really bother me at all - milk, yoghurts, cheese (well, not having my weekly slice or two of pizza was the thing I missed most).

I drank coconut milk, not as a replacement as such, but just to get some calcium as my mother had me terrified that all my bones would break within a few weeks :rolleyes: I'd drink it by the glass and found it grand.
I thought almond milk was a bit gross, but didn't try the sweetened version.
I don't drink coffee or "normal" tea at all, just herbal, so didn't need any replacement there. I switched to juice on my cereal (which I do a lot anyway). And good dark chocolate became my favourite dairy-free treat. Mmmm.

Anyway, blah blah blah, basically I realised dairy isn't an issue, and now I'm actually having more of it than I used to - but I still wouldn't really have that much.

Malibu Stacy

Alpha Dog 1 wrote: »

I've tried a few of them and didn't really like any of them. I have resorted to drinking black coffee which I have gotten used to now and quite enjoy!

I used to use creamer made specifically with almond or coconut milk, but I stopped because there was a lot of added sugar in those. I've drunk my coffee black now for years, and as long as you are getting good quality beans, it is fine. If you can get your hands on some peaberry coffee, do - it is incredibly smooth with a great flavor to it.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

you can get tins of coconut milk in aldi/lidl for a euro or so each. just pour them into a bottle and use them in your coffee's if you want. only lasts about 3 days though once out of the tin.. and you really dont want to let that stuff go bad