Lactose Free Diet

Lactose is a disaccharide (complex carbohydrate) made up of glucose and galactose which are simple sugars present in many a foods. Talking about lactose, it is essentially a part of dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, butter and ice creams. There are many individuals who cannot digest this heavy carbohydrate because of the lack of enough enzyme lactase leading to what we call as lactose intolerance. Such individuals suffer from vomiting, diarrhea, bloating, stomach cramps and gases and are thus advised to indulge into lactose free diet. So, obviously this particular diet plan has been devised to exclude all of these as well as few others which contain any of these lactose rich foods. So, in case, you also belong to this category of people, you would have to plan your diet differently mainly consisting of very low or absolutely nil lactose foods. Let us see how to go about the treatment. Read on..

Well, this isn't a very difficult diet plan to follow, if you are thinking so. What you need to do is make some substitutions and plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner in that manner. Lactose intolerance is nothing to worry about as such and the only possible solution to lessen the symptoms is to follow the dairy free menu given below to avoid any bowel discomfort. The table given below would help you understand which foods you can eat so take a look.

Lactose Free Foods
Dairy Foods • soy nutrition drinks • lactose free milk • non dairy creamers • rice milk drinks • soy milk • lactose free cheese	Breads and Starches • Italian and French breads • pasta, noodles, macaroni • potatoes and cooked grains • rice and rice cakes • whole grain crackers • barley • cereals w/o milk • saltines crackers	Fruits and Vegetables • all fresh fruits and vegetables • cooked or baked vegetables • roasted vegetables • fruit juices or pieces	Meat and Meat Substitutes • fresh meat, fish, poultry • cooked dried peas and beans • eggs • peanut butter • nuts and seeds • soybean • tofu products	Soups and Sauces • vegetable or chicken broth • gravies with water • herbs and spices • vegetable or meat soups w/o milk	Sweets • frozen pureed fruit bars • gelatin desserts w/o milk or cream • honey • sugar and syrups • jellies and jams • pies and cakes w/o milk • margarine w/o milk • lactose free ice cream

As you must have guessed from the table, there are a number of food options available in front of you for a lactose intolerance diet which you can include either in your breakfast, lunch or dinner. To make it simpler, let us see some good options. You could include orange juice, eggs or oatmeal or margarine toast in the breakfast along with a cup of coffee or tea (with nondairy creamer). For lunch, you could have salads or breads with soy milk and banana. The dinner, however, could be made a little heavier consisting of meat products like roast beef or chicken or fish along with noodles and as dessert, you could have jellies or frozen fruits.

Having said this, most people with milk allergy fear of suffering from calcium deficiency which is because of cutting down of the dairy products especially milk. However, there is no need to worry much since there are other calcium rich non dairy foods like sardines, soy milk, tofu, shrimp, broccoli, spinach, pinto beans, rhubarb, salmon, lettuce, oranges and tuna which would help you, alternatively.

This was all about the lactose free diet. I hope the aforementioned diet foods would prove to be beneficial in case you are suffering from lactose intolerance. Take care!