Just starting...

[Rosie]

Hi everyone,

I was put on a dairy-free diet by a dietitian about a month ago, to try and see if that's what's causing all my stomach problems and so on. Going OK so far (at least, once I'd found there was dairy free chocolate), but I hadn't realised how many things have dairy-derivatives in! Feeling very fed up and imagining the worst - never going out to eat again and so on.

Will be reading the website and hopefully feeling better soon! If this doesn't work, I have to try a fibre-free diet as well. Soon I'll be down to eating cardboard and nothing else...

Rosie

[Copper]

Welcome to the club :) I remember when I first started a more or less dairy free diet just how depressing I found it. The foods I missed most were chocolate and cheese. I now eat Green and Blacks chocolate and scheese, the latter tastes nothing like cheese but is very nice. I am lactose intolerant but I am still able to have lactolite milk in my coffee. Eating out is still a problem for all of us here.

If you want to know anything about alternative foods just ask as somebody here is bound to be able to help.

[Pam]

Hi Rosie and welcome to the site. My daughter had been following what I considered to be a dairy free diet for months until I went to see a dietician with her, then I got a list of milk derivatives and realised how many things contained milk. It all seems a bit daunting at first but you will soon get used to it (you do get the odd cravings for things that you can't have though). I went dairy free 3 years ago and mostly don't miss milk, though I have the occasional lapse and usually end up with a streaming cold (being dairy free somehow supresses my colds).

There are lots of nice things that don't contain milk and I'm sure you will find them in time. If you need any suggestions just ask, there are enough of us here to come up with some ideas.

Chocolate - Tesco and S*in*bury both do a free from bar that is more like milk chocolate. Otherwise there are some very nice dark chocolates - particularly Green and Black. (You will see from other threads that we are anti-Sainsbury here because of their misleading labelling and lack of care with their free from range.)

Become a regular at your local independent health food shop (not a chain like Holland and Barrett) you will find that in most cases the owner will bend over backwards for you, offer advice and be willing to order products especially for you. Apart from soya milk (supermarkets are cheapest for that) they tend to be comparable with prices of specialist foods.

Welcome to the site again, I hope you stick around and join in the banter.

[matt]

a hello from me aswell and welcome to the crowd.

try not to let it worry you, it's not easy but you should be able to find someone with the answer to any question on the site.
keep visiting and chatting.

[Mac]

Hi from Mrs Mac too! When I first went dairy free I felt totally depressed about the prospect of it, but I have found alternatives for absolutely everything from cheese to dairy free jaffa cakes to puddings and cakes, you are definately in the right site, it really is the best one. Good Luck!

[cnc]

Hi, I've only been dairy free for a few months, and felt quite down about it, until I realised I felt better without consuming dairy!!
Regarding eating out, its quite possible, I eat out most weekends (I'm a student and too lazy to cook), and have found most places very good with telling me what I can and can't eat.
There are plenty of foods readily avaliable which are already dairy free and then specialist ranges as well. Enjoy trying them all out!!