New to the dairyfree life

[Sparky]

I had an allergy test recently after having stomach problems for a while and it came up as I had a dairy allergy, so I am now going to be cutting out all dairy and see how I get on. Thing is, dairy is in a lot of things, isn't it! Milk, Ice cream, cream, cheese, butter, some breads, chocolate, some mayonaises... blimey!

I'm gonna have a walk around the 'free from' aisle in the supermarket but I've always thought that stuff that was dairy free looked kinda unappetising :( Can anyone tell me otherwise? I had some Alpro soya milk earlier and it didn't really taste quite right. I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

Cheers and beers (thankfully I'm not allergic to that!)

Sparky (aka Mark)

[jill]

Hi Mark and welcome. Yes dairy is in alot of things, milk is known by alot of other names which are listed somewhere on the site. Once you get used to reading labels you will be able to choose foods that aren't only on the free from aisles, and if you are able to cook then that will be good.

The soya deserts are ok which are a bit like yoghurts, you can get flavoured ones in packs of 4 of, strawberry, peach, raspberry and forest fruits in large tubs. These are all made by Alpro/Provamel and can be found in the chilled section. Normally in the free from sections you can get long life deserts that come in chocolate, vanilla and caramel. There are also ice creams made by Swedish Glace, vanilla and some flavoured ones. If you put a search for any particular foods like cheese then lots of threads should pop up. Chocolate is one of our specialised areas. Soya Milk is an acquired taste and they all taste different particularly whether it is sweetened or unsweetened. Alpro Longlife in the blue carton also tastes different to the chilled. From what i have tried Alpro Soya is the nicest - and it didn't take lon to get use to - but I know alot of others on here go for oat or rice milk.

It does get easier and if it helps with your symptoms then it is worth it. Hope this helps for starters.

[rebecca c]

Hi Mark, welcome to the site. It does get easier and the first 2 to 3 weeks is the hardest. I am lucky as I find once I giver something up I dont miss it too much but I know other people find this harder than me. I just hate being ill so much I am prepared to make big sacrifices to stay well.

Good luck and keep posting

[Copper]

This is the list of alternative names for milk

http://www.dairyfreeuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=738

It does get easier. It took me about 2 years to stop missing cheese.

I used to use the chilled soya milk until I developed an intolerance to soya :mad: I now use oat milk.

[Sparky]

Hmmm, funny you should mention an intolerane to soya as I think I might have that too after today. I had soya milk on my cereals this morning and started to get pains in my stomach later in the morning. Without going into too much detail, I had to run off to visit the toilet quite a few times today :( Damn allergies! LOL

Sparky

[Copper]

I tried very hard to not have too much soya in my diet and I still managed to become intolerant to soya :mad:

I can eat some chocolate which contains soya lecithins but I have to ration my intake.

I use oat milk which is not too bad in coffee and would go well with cereals in the morning I imagine.

[rebecca c]

Montezumas do a soya free chocolate but it is very dark. I had one square last night and didnt get much reaction (first time in years!)

[Sparky]

I don't like dark chocolate unfortunately :(

[Copper]

It grows on you :) Others here like Swiss Organica which tastes like Galaxy chocolate.

[jill]

I didn't like dark chocolate when I first went dairy free but as Copper says it grows on you. About 60% is the strongest I can have. You don't need as much of the dark stuff either. I remember being stuck in a traffic jam is asda carpark once and ate a full bar of dark chocolate that I had just bought out of boredom - I felt rather rough afterwards.

[cnc]

The problem is when you start getting used to it, you need to eat stronger and stronger stuff, in greater quantities to get the same nice bitter taste. I eat very little chocolate these days as a result of this. It's a bit like pringles to me!!

[jarael]

hi and welcome, its so hard isnt it giving up milk totally, im so upset my body has let me down on that lol, i cant have lactose or milk proteins. i am managing just with rice milk. i dont like soya milk to drink but can handle it in cakes, meat or yoghurt etc.

wat i miss is cheese and ice cream.

totally cant eat dark chocolate, i cant stand it lol, but thats a good thing as i got a few stone to lose lol

[Trina]

Hi i made a lovely choc cake dairy free of course and guess who ate it on me Ha Ha my son he said mum that was lovely, orrr, well can't have anthing can i.
Hi All i have just gone dairy free 100% for two weeks due to all the usual probs, and cut all the dairy out and i feel great will never eat anything dairy in my diat again, all my symtons pain sickness the lot gone for good i hope! I keeped a diary and new what it was that was causing the probs well not any more, also there are lots you can replace and there are lots of sites to go on for recipes, also i have the unsweetened soyo long life milk from asda i find this one is nice. Cheers

[Copper]

It is good to hear that you are feeling better. Going dairy free does not mean we have to starve or worse still give up chocolate :lol2: