Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The Journey Begins: Dealing with Being Lactose Intolerant


Going dairy-free is difficult but possible. This year I learned that I am lactose intolerant, which for me means no dairy unless I want gross digestive problems, I tried to avoid dairy but it's hard. I didn't notice my problem until I stopped eating dairy for a few days. That test proved what I thought. I knew but I still ate it. Then I had a somewhat bad reaction to dairy and knew it was time to stop. I learned about Lactaid, dairy-free milk, from my friend. I tried it and was very pleased. It tastes just like milk, doesn't fill me up and is thinner than regular milk. Got the milk thing down. After being more careful about my dairy intake for about a month, I discovered Lactaid ice cream.
            When I heard that they make ice cream without dairy in it, I was pretty happy. That's what I missed the most. See, after I learned that I was lactose intolerant, I stopped eating ice cream because of what it would do to me after I ate it. After trying Chocolate Lactaid, I was fine. It tasted just like regular ice cream, just without the lactose. Just another great food from the people at Lactaid. 
             Now it's time to put another product to the test: Lactaid lactase pills. These pills contain a lactase enzyme that helps people digest lactose. Tonight (Wednesday) I tried the pill with pasta with cheese sauce. I think it worked. After taking it, I had a small amount of gas but nothing like if I had not taken the pill. I tested more dairy foods (chocolate chip cookies and a little milk), which caused me no problems.
             I was a little afraid to try to Lactaid brand because I saw that people were having problems after taking them. However, after comparing the amount of Lactaid pills came in one box and the amount of a store brand, I felt that it was better to get the Lactaid brand since I got more. I wanted to make sure I had enough since I didn't know how many I needed to take. I looked up the pills and saw that some people needed to take as many as eight pills for it to work. I think when I have it with dairy again I might try two pills instead of just one. I just hope I don't have any problems with this product in the future.