Newcomer to dairy-free and the forum!

[PinkyPrincess]

Hiya,
Not sure where to start so I thought I would create a new post.
I recently took the York Test and have found I'm intolerant to:
dairy, wheat, gluten, yeast, oats, carrot, garlic, and can only have vanilla and egg white every 4 days or so.
It's been a total nightmare to be honest, as I love chocolate and cakes and anything I can't have basically, but isn't that always the way. I'm learning that there is help out there, I'm joining forums and getting free from lists and recipes, but I have yet to find any that cater for excluding ALL of these items, as I think it's quite unusual.
Anyway it's not too bad today so I'm staying positive, but when I get down I get VERY bad :(
Just thought I would say hello, and look forward to meeting everyone.
Pinky

[cnc]

Welcome to the site.
Chocolate and cakes shouldn't be too difficult to sort out, but you'll probably need to make your own cakes using dairy free margarine- many on here seem to use Pure, egg replacers (depending on how regurlarly you want to have egg whites) and gluten/ wheat free flour- doves farm flour is quite popular with the wheat intolerant people that I know of.
Green and Blacks dark chocolate is free from dairy and probably the other ingredients as well, and tastes quite nice once you get used to the taste!
Don't give up, there are alternatives for most products, its just a matter of experiment ing and being prepared to try new foods.
Good luck, hope you're going to stick around and chat/ share useful infor you find.

[Copper]

Welcome to the site. I don't have the same intolerances as you so I am not sure that I will be much help. There are a couple of members here who have the same or similar intolerances, so they should be able to help.

[PinkyPrincess]

Hi, thanks for your welcome.

I've raided the health food shop and picked up some dairy free margarine which is fine, although I've not found any cream yet.
I've also tried the dark chocolate and I know it's supposed to be good quality etc etc but it just does nothing for me. The 'free from' Tescos bars were equally disappointing, obviously it's just a matter of taste but I feel like shops are taunting me when they display twixes and rolos!
I did find a nice chocolate cake in tescos which I've been having with dairy free alpro custard - my only treat!
Thanks for the words of encouragement, it's so good to know that there are other people out there who are going without as well, for whatever reason.
I don't actually know anyone with food intolerances or allergies in 'real life' so it looks like I'll be spending more time on the PC comparing notes with others on here! B)
Pinks

[Pen]

Welcome Pinky

It can be really tough when first changing the diet, but from my own experience, it does get better.

Being unable to have gluten, you might want to read the lists of foods you can and can't eat on these helpful websites. Scroll down on each site to find the tables and info.
http://www.gicare.com/pated/edtgs06.htm
http://www.dietsite.com/dt/diets/foodsensitivities/glutenfreediet.asp
http://www.gluten.net/diet.html

I wish I could offer you some useful advice regarding cakes and chocolate, but I can't eat either (am sensitive to gluten, cocoa, vanilla, sugar, baking powder, etc).

As for dairy, can you have goat or sheep products? Many people who cannot tolerate cow milk can tolerate these other products. I am able to buy goat milk, yogurt, cheese and butter, but not sure of the availability in the UK. If you are using rice milk, be careful because some of them are processed using barley and therefore contain traces of gluten.

Good luck with getting happy with your diet. :)

[cnc]

Pinkyprincess, whats the cake?? I'm obsessed about chocolate cake, and am too much of a student to cook unless I have to!!

[Nic]

Hi!

On cream, you can get non-dairy single cream from most supermarkets and all health food shops. Its the Alpro brand usually, in little 250ml cartons, though some places have an own brand. It works well as pourable cream, or to make chocolate mousse.

On double cream, its much harder to find but there is a brand out there (available at a few health food stores and and veganstore.co.uk) which is available either as a whippable liquid (not tried it) or in a pressurised container (which I've tried and is good). I did a post on it a while back in dairy free products, if you're interested.

Hope that helps - and good luck.

Nic

[matt]

welcome to the site no point saying sae thing over and over.


try to forget what the stuff tasted like that your replaceing! the replacements are different and are not the same. but are ok when you get used to them.

what symptoms did you have prior to the york test?

[goose]

hello newcomer, like you im also new, still trying to find my way about. just started taking dairy free foods due to having ibs, any i need help on what the best products to get and where from. can any one help.
from up hear in aberdeen
goose.

[PinkyPrincess]

Hello again, thanks very much for your replies!

To answer some of the questions:

1) I can have some products from other animals I think, but they recommend that you don't substitute this or you can become intolerant to it as well, i.e if you're intolerant to cow's milk there's a fair chance this could develop with goats milk too. I'm mainly trying to use soya instead, which is ok when you get used to it.

2) Thanks for the links and the tips about rice milk Pen, I hadn't realised about the barley related processing so I will definitely check.

3) cnc - The chocolate cake is from Sainsbury's 'Free From' range and it's really nice, especially with the soya custard. It comes in a log type thing, rather than being round. I can't find the cake online but the link to the custard is : http://www.sainsburystoyou.com/index.jsp?bmUID=1124556384479

4) Nic - Thanks for the help with the cream, I had no idea they did a pressurised one, that sounds like a great idea so I will keep a look out!

5) Matt - I definitely think you're right about not trying to replace the missing foods with direct subsitutes, they are never going to taste the same.
I was suffering with bad IBS before the York Test, and through elimination diets I had pretty much discovered that the only thing that didn't set me off with symptoms were chicken, salad and veg - so I had already become quite used to not eating bread. I've found that the symptoms are a lot better now, and although sometimes I get bloating and feel uncomfortable (probably because of not realising I'm eating something I shouldn't) it's nowhere near as bad as it was.

6) Does anyone know about alcohol and IBS/intolerances? I have a feeling that on the rare occasions I do drink, it doesn't help. But I'm not sure whether for instance wine has yeast in it, obviously beer is out of the question, but bottles never seem to contain ingredients and I'm just not sure what they contain?

Thanks all! Hope you're having a good weekend.

Pinks ^_^

[goose]

drink aint too good if you have ibs. not in large amounts, in small quantities its ok but they do advise to stay away from it
goose:drool:

[PinkyPrincess]

Great!

What I wouldn't do for a pizza and a vodka right now....

:(

[PinkyPrincess]

Does anyone else fantasise about what foods they would just love to eat constantly?

Or is that just me?!

[goose]

yeh, proper cheese. and eggs, how i miss a good egg mayonaise sandwich. and a hot cheese tostie.!

[PinkyPrincess]

Oh god cheese toastie!!

*salivates*

[goose]

cant you just feel the taste. not sure what i think of the dairy free cheese. bit of a dodgy taste by its self.

[Amanda]

Sainsbury do a dairy free mayonaise!!! Also Lidl mayonaise is dairy free

[goose]

thanks for that. didnt know lidl did mayo in free from. i didn't realise that there was so many free from range. now im sowly getting the foods i love so much back into my life.

[PinkyPrincess]

I really like the dairy free mayo, it's just as nice as the normal one I think.

But I did have some 'cheese' slices (you know the imitation fake cheese in squares) on a gluten and wheat free burger last night - wasn't impressed, tasted a bit chalky and had a funny after taste. It's the first time I've eaten red meat since I was 13 (am now 25) because I figured I was missing out on so many foods and losing weight quickly, and should probably eat meat again. They were quite nice actually.

The only snack I've found to be at all interesting is the really thin square rice cakes with dark chocolate you can get from Tescos. Most other stuff has corn starch etc which I can't eat so it's hard to find stuff to eat when you just fancy a snack.

It's really nice to be able to just discuss this stuff; in real life I feel like I'm boring people if I mention my intolerances and I don't want to go on about it, but it's such a huge part of my life now, having to think and check ingredients before I eat anything...

Have other people lost weight since going dairy free?

[goose]

i know what you mean, my boyfriend thinks im loopy i keep going on and on. i dont think people realise how important it is until they are in that situation.
im pleased to loose a few pounds as i can now get into that skirt but i feel a lot healthier now that im on the dairy free diet. although i think we need to invent taste changes to that dreaded cheese, anyone got any ideas.

[cnc]

Most of my friends have been really good about it, especially those who have seen the huge change in my health when training, and have realised that I'm being serious. Additionally my boyfriends mum is a GP, so hes fairly understanding of medical problems.

By the way I miss Mars bars and Kitkats- Mars bars particularly after a heavy training session when I want some quick energy food.

[Pen]

Pinky

For info the gluten content of Rice Dream--check out the FAQs at http://www.imaginefoods.com/pages/products/ricedream.php.

But for gluten-free rice milk check out 'Alpro Organic Rice Drink', and 'Alpro Rice Drink with calcium and vitamins' at www.alprosoya.co.uk (http://www.alprosoya.co.uk/).

[goose]

oh god dont get me started on the chocolate i think we may be hear all night.
mind you the dairy free choc aint that bad at all

[cnc]

I know I know, but I thought I'd tell you what I was missing the most!! Actually I probably miss cheese the most, but I'm slowly getting over that.....
Had real milk today- reasons are explained in another thread, and realised that it doesn't taste that nice on its own anymore...

[goose]

i actually prefer the soya milk i work in a milk factory all day and i was sick of the sight of it. i wasnt a great lover of it anyway, so the taste of soya milk was not so bad.

[Copper]

It took me about 2 years to stop missing cheese. I have now found Scheese which Matt and I agree is nice. I get mine from my local health food shop. I gave a small sample to my youngest daughter who loves cheese and does not have lactose intolerance, she agreed it was nice.

[matt]

some good news for you.


if you have a wheat problem then it could be casuing the other intolerances. the gluten irritates the little hairso n inside of intestines and prevents food absorbtion hence ibs. so cut out wheat and you may well find the others abate and the diet can be expanded.

be carefull with cheese slices as some do contain milk!

i have to say the worst is walking past any food outlet making hot cheese toasties....:drool:

but then the thought of sitting down with kingsize bag of minstrels or twix...

alcohol all from yeast so not clever with ibs. not for a little while anyway let the new diet have some effect then try in small quantities.

[Nic]

I agree about missing cheese toasties - but I've now found a subsitute (from this Uncheese cookbook thatkeep going on about) which makes really nice ham and cheese toasties. It has exactly the right texture, and the taste is pretty much secondary, as long as I use some decent ham.

The thing I really miss is the big, bendy, white choc chip cookies - the sort you can buy freshly baked 5 for £1 in most supermarkets. Not found those yet, though I have found non-dairy double choc chip cookies, which a pretty good.

Nic

[goose]

:notworthy thats the thing about cheese, you use it alot in cooking,i bought cheese from the local health food shop and made macaroni, god it was bad. Has anyone found a really good dairyfree cheese to cook with.

[Lan]

Hi all,

The best substitute cheeses I can recommend for cooking are Tofutti soft cheese, parmazano powdered cheese and melting cheesley. May get a few lumps in the sauces, but still nice and tasty. :drool::drool::drool:

Lan. :D

[goose]

thanks for the tip. being so new to dairyfoods i need all the help i can get. the problem i find is how to use soya milk in cooking, such as sauces etc as its not as easy as cows milk to work with.;) ;)


:bleh:

[PinkyPrincess]

Lan - can you let me know where I can get those cheeses you mentioned?

I went to Sainsburys today and got really depressed - their range seems so small, still can't find any decent yoghurt, ice cream or cream. I got some mango sorbet instead of ice cream and just had it with some fruit, which was ok. But don't know where to look for the Tofutti, parmazano, cheesley or Scheese.... There wasn't much in my local health food shop but I guess maybe I might need to go to a bigger town and try there...

Pinks

[Pam]

Tofutti spread goes well in a toastie, it is a bit like philadelphia and comes in a few different flavours.

Wine - yes it is made with yeast. Since wine starting giving me headache I have changed to cinzano with soda and don't seem to suffer the same headaches but yesterday I suffered from a very irritable stomach after downing a whole bottle of the stuff on Saturday night.

Chocolate - I never liked dark either until I was forced to change. Dark chocolate is better savoured and allowed to melt in your mouth rather than having a quick munch as you would with milk chocolate. Try some of the different flavours like G&B mint or maya gold (orange). Have Tesco gone back into production with the free from bars now? They had stopped using their supplier a while ago and I doubted whether they would ever come back.

Rice milk - only certain brands contain gluten. Provamel (Alpro) rice milk is gluten free.

Anyway, welcome to the site both Pinkyprincess and Goose, hope to see you around lots.

[Pam]

Ooops, just read the other 2 pages that I didn't see at first glance.

I think parmesano has yeast in it, so it won't be much good to you. Health food shops are better for cheese than supermarkets and if you get friendly with the owners they will often order things in especially for you.

Alpro Yofu is the most readily available dairy free yoghurt and comes in various fruit flavours as well as plain. You can find it in most supermarkets and health food shops.

[cnc]

The tofutti slices work well in a cheese sauce, parmazano is also ok, although the smell of it is quite off putting!

Lan, if you get a lumpy sauce, either whisk it whilst making it-instead of stirring, sieve it or blend it, depending on how lumpy it is. Having experienced cheezly I'd probably suggest whacking it in a blender!

[cnc]

Oh sorry Pinky Princess, missed this bit before. I was in Sainsburys today a reasonably big one to be fair and they've just started stocking the Swedish Glace in Vanilla and Chocolate flavours, plus the Swedish Glace Choc ices on a stick, that I've not seen in any other supermarket, but are meant to be stocked in many of them, so you might discover that this stuff moves to some of the smaller Sainsburys soon. Sorry I couldn't remember whether you could have the Swedish Glace or not!!
I agree with Pam, make friends with the health food shop owner :)

[PinkyPrincess]

Ah so it's a new product then, OK well hopefully it will arrive in Warwickshire soon! I don't know if I can have Swedish glace either; depends what the ingredients are I guess!!

I'm off for a big mooch around a bigger town on Wednesday so will go spend some time chatting up the health food people and get some sympathy from them ;)

[cnc]

http://www.fayrefield.com/gallerySwedish.htm
Try this site for the free from stuff- click on the photo and it comes up with a list.

It can be found in some really bizarre places as well- I found the ice cream in a farm shop in my boyfriends village a few weeks ago. I'm amazed that they stock it- and it was in a variety of flavours, and they had the alpro Yo! milkshakes as well!!

[Lan]

Hi there.

Parmazano is available from Tescos and Sainsburys. Tofutti i have only seen in Holland and Barrett and Cheezly has been found in Tescos and Holland and Barrett.

I hope this is helpful. If you have any problems, please let me know.


Lan:D:D:D.

[Bet]

PinkyPrincess - in the york test info I got they specify wine, cider and beer as ones to avoid as have yeast in. Of Course these are the 3 alcoholic drinks that I like! Not sure if all other alcohol has yeast in as well but having phone interview with York this wednesday so this will be top of my question list. Will let you know!

[matt]

all alcohol is made from yeast unless your drinking industrial ethanol!

[alexx]

Hi there PinkyPrincess, I also am an IBS sufferer who did the York Test, my allergens are milk and kidney beans - very random!
Don't know how you feel about online shopping but I found this site
http://www.wheatanddairyfree.com/index.htm
very good!
Good luck.

[PinkyPrincess]

See I was having a quick moan at work and they said 'don't be silly you can have vodka' but I didn't have any evidence to explain why I couldn't, other than 'matt told me' lol.

Bet - yes please do let me know what they say, I've got my chat in a week's time.

Hi Alexx - that is quite random, and a lovely short list, nice one! Thanks very much for the link, I've been spending a lot of time researching (what did people ever do without the net?) so I will add that to the list of sites to check out.

Hope you're all doing well today, I'm eating a rice cake with soya spread on it and it's gross and everyone's taking the mick at work. GRRRR.

[Copper]

I have tried rice cakes and they didn't do much for me. They were err boring :)

[Lan]

Hi there,

Have you tried the corn cakes? They are very tasty, especially with some soft dairyfree cheese on.

Lan.:D:D:D

P.S. Rice cakes are also nice with soft cheese on.

[Nic]

My best bet for random non-dairy stuff is www.veganstore.co.uk (http://www.veganstore.co.uk). They are very friendly and helpful, though occasioanlly you do get a somewhat random selection, but they never charge for the wrong stuff. Their non-dairy fudge is particularly good.

Also, independent health food shops (ie ones with more food than pills, rather than the Holland & Barrett approach of more pills than food) are usually better than chains. I can recommend tons in London, but I'm afraid that's not much use.

Nic

[cnc]

Maybe we should compile a list of health food shops we recommend in various areas, so then people would have an idea where to try?

[PinkyPrincess]

Just had a quick look at that Vegan store; looks really good actually.

That is a good idea about recommending local health food stores, although I suspect that we are all quite geographically spread out...

[matt]

your local health food shop is about to get real friendly.


the eu is banning loads of vitamins and suppliments. if the health food shops don't grab every customer they can they will rapidly go out of business. so expect a far better level of service soon.

though i've never had a problem with any i've shopped at. always been happy to order stuff in forme etc.

:)

[Pam]

Yes, the list of health food shops is a good idea. CNC already uses one in Cleckheaton (W Yorks) on my recommendation - it isn't a big shop but they are very helpful and will order things in especially for you if required.

[Nic]

Pinkyprincess - glad you found veganstore useful.

I think a list of health food shops would be handy. Perhaps Matt can create some website wizadry so we can add to a list and have it searchable by location? I can certainly add quite a few in South London.

Nic

[Copper]

I think a list of health food shops would be handy. Perhaps Matt can create some website wizadry so we can add to a list and have it searchable by location?
Nic

:lol2: :lol2:
Sorry Matt - maybe you are a whizz with web sites.

Nic I think you mean Steve. I am sure that he won't be insulted. Steve you need to introduce yourself to the new members.

[matt]

yeah trust me you want steve. i use the get a bigger hammer approach to electronics and engineering problems!:lol2:


i email loads but don't understand how the damn thing works, something to do with minature imps or devils in a black box or something.:)

[cnc]

I would be slightly scared of letting Matt loose on the website, I dread to think what would happen :D

No Matt its friendly little fairies that control the internet, until it goes wrong and then its the imps!!

A list would be quite good as well for those who travel around the country a lot and need to find food if they're staying at relatives/ friends etc...

[Pen]

A list would be quite good as well for those who travel around the country a lot and need to find food if they're staying at relatives/ friends etc...

And for those travelling to other countries. It can be even more difficult trying to find such things in foreign territory.

[cnc]

Yes and even more so for those moving abroad permenantly.

[Lan]

Hi all,

I will have a word with Steve and see what he can do. He seems to read the messages on a regular basis, so please add anymore ideas you have.

Lan:lol2::lol2::lol2:

P.S. I would love to let Matt have free reign on the site for a day. Don't know how much of a site we would have afterwards, mind. :bleh::bleh::bleh::bleh::bleh:

[Nic]

Matt - so sorry! I thought 'shall I double-check' and then I thought 'sod it, I need to put the computer away and go to bed' and so...

Abjectly

Nic

[Copper]

I am sure we all enjoyed your error and had a good laugh - even Matt.

The idea is good though :)

[matt]

No Matt its friendly little fairies that control the internet, until it goes wrong and then its the imps!!


sorry can't get the picture out of my head now of effeminate men walking around a large mainframe computer with wads of material drapping it over. or running around in a funny prance when it crashes!:lol2:

and when it breaks imps is not the word i use but then this is a family site!

[cnc]

I thought you would appreciate that!!

No imps isn't the word I use either, but I was trying to be nice :D