Dairy Free - Keller,TX

Yes read the labels on everything. You might also want to check the library for books on food allergies. My second grandson has a milk allergy and we were shocked to see milk in things like margarine and some crackers. If you have a Trader Joes close by they have a wonderful dairy free mozzarella. Really it's a matter of trying all the non dairy alternatives out there and figuring out what works best. Some of the soy based stuff is awful, some is fine.

I am gluten-free, and I recommend "Living Without" as a source for your husband. It's a magazine that has articles and recipes for food allergies, many that are dairy-free. You can look it up on the net.

Unless your husband's allergy is quite severe, I would not really worry about the miniscule amount that is in such products as french fries. My husband can not eat dairy due to a severe bout of food poisoning 15 years ago. He can eat foods with a bit of butter or a bit of parm cheese though. My son also has some kind of allergy that causes constipation and he gets angry and irritable. He is still very young and he can get a very small amount as well and not have issues. I would see what your husband's tolerance is because although there are a lot of fantastic non-dairy items out there like Earth's Balance margarine (most other margarine's have butter in them!) or Coconut Oil, it will require a lot of vigilance on your part to be 100% dairy or dairy derivitive like lactic acid free.

Yes totally read the labels and if eat our ask the chef, they put milk on so many things you would never guess.
But, I also suggest your husband to get test, not sure how they test for grown ups, but for my baby, they pinch you with like tiny needles with what ever they think (or you) that you could be allergic.
That way you know for sure, because living a dairy free diet it is a big change so I would make sure first if it is what he needs.
Good luck

Casein or lactose? Casein is the dairy protein. Lactose is the dairy sugar. If he is just lactose intolerant, the problem is in larger quantities, and he can take enzymes to digest it. If casein, he really needs to avoid it, although you may find he can tolerate the casein from animals other than cows, such as goat cheese. But I'd get off all dairy for a while before trying the goat dairy. That will at least give his gut time to heal.

Many families thrive in spite of multiple food allergies, and I must say that now, that I do not eat gluten, dairy, eggs, some nuts and some fruits, I actually eat a MORE varied diet than I did previously! I buy from the periphery of grocery stores, which is how we are supposed to shop for groceries anyway.

As for junk food, yep... still easy to find (unfortunately). Five Guys and Fries have French fries that are OK.... lol.... one of my daughters knew every fast food place in town she could get french fries with no gluten, dairy or SOY (many "vegetable oils" are now cheap SOY oil.)

There are lots of forums and sites for people with multiple food issues. If you look up the gluten ones, you'll find many that are also dairy-free.

But like I said, if the problem is just digesting the lactose, he should consider himself fortunate. My older daughter is soooooo sensitive to even tiny amounts of dairy (casein) that even the tiny amount that is contained in so many different medications as fillers affect her greatly.

Hi ~ If you want to go completely dairy free here is a list of what to avoid. Foodallergy.org is a good source of information. HTH
here is a list of dairy/derivatives ....other names for dairy

Lactose (milk sugar) intolerance is the most common form of milk allergy or adverse reaction to cow, goat and sheep's milk. Lactose needs to be broken down by an enzyme called lactase to be absorbed in the body, but some people do not produce enough lactase for this to happen. The digestive system cannot cope with raw lactose, so it reacts against it with symptoms such as stomach pain, bloating, vomiting and diarrhea.
For others a milk allergy is a reaction to milk proteins such as casein that can be very difficult for humans to digest. Alternatively, the digestive system may not be functioning correctly and partially digested proteins may be crossing the stomach wall and causing an adverse immune reaction, contributing to a host of symptoms, and/or aggravating others.
If you see any of the following items listed as an ingredient in a food, it will not be milk-free:
Butters: artificial butter, artificial butter flavor, butter, butter extract, butter fat, butter flavored oil, butter solids, dairy butter, natural butter, natural butter flavor, whipped butter

Casein & caseinates: ammonium caseinate, calcium caseinate, magnesium caseinate, potassium caseinate, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed casein, iron caseinate, zinc caseinate

Cheese: cheese (all types), cheese flavor (artificial and natural), cheese food, cottage cheese, cream cheese, imitation cheese, vegetarian cheeses with casein

Cream, whipped cream
Curds
Custard
Dairy product solids
Galactose
Ghee
Half & Half

Hydrolysates: casein hydrolysate, milk protein hydrolysate, protein hydrolysate, whey hydrolysate, whey protein hydrolysate

Ice cream, ice milk, sherbet
Lactalbumin, lactalbumin phosphate
Lactate solids
Lactyc yeast
Lactitol monohydrate
Lactoglobulin
Lactose
Lactulose

Milk: Acidophilus milk, buttermilk, buttermilk blend, buttermilk solids, cultured milk, condensed milk, dried milk, dry milk solids (DMS), evaporated milk, fat-free milk, fully cream milk powder, goat’s milk, low-fat milk, malted milk, milk derivative, milk powder, milk protein, milk solids, milk solid pastes, non-fat dry milk, non-fat milk, non-fat milk solids, pasteurized milk, powdered milk, sheep’s milk, skim milk, skim milk powder, sour milk, sour milk solids, sweet cream buttermilk powder, sweetened condensed milk, sweetened condensed skim milk, whole milk, 1% milk, 2% milk.

Milk fat, anhydrous milk fat

Nisin preparation
Nougat
Pudding
Quark
Recaldent
Renned, rennet casein
Simplesse (fat replacer)
Sour cream, sour cream solids, imitation sour cream

Whey: Acid whey, cured whey, delactosed whey, demineralized whey, hydrolyzed whey, powdered whey, reduced mineral whey, sweet dairy whey, whey, whey protein, whey protein concentrate, whey powder, whey solids

Yogurt (regular or frozen), yogurt powder
Possible sources of milk:

Natural flavoring
Flavoring
Caramel flavoring
High protein flour
Lactic acid (usually not a problem)
Lactic acid starter culture
"Non-dairy" products may contain casein.
Rice cheese
Soy cheese

We did a gluten-free, casein-free diet for a while. I learned to shop Jewish. Kosher foods have a lot of rules, for instance not mixing dairy and meat. So Hebrew National Franks have no dairy. If you shop Kosher, you will have an easier time finding appropriate foods and I found it wasn't quite as costly as shopping in the "dietary restrictions" section.

It may also be worth investigating if his dairy sensitivity is only to cow's milk, or if there are some dairy products that are OK. For instance, a lot of people who are lactose intolerant find they can eat yogurt just fine because the yogurt cultures help their body digest the lactose. Does goat's milk bother your husband as well? Also, has your husband tried a probiotic? My husband has been taking a Sustenex Probiotic Gummy for a couple of months now and he says it has worked wonders.

We have started using a lot of Soy Milk in my house and I find the variety of Silk products is wonderful. Taste everything before you use it in a recipe or serve it straight up. For instance, I find the Vanilla Silk is too much to put on cereal but is wonderful in my coffee.

Overall, I tried to stay away from specialty stores and websites. They can really up the cost of groceries beyond my ability to remain calm. A little time, education and experimentation and you can eliminate the cause of your husband's discomforts and not drive yourself crazy.