Dairy Free Diet

Hi K.,
My son is allergic to dairy, so we all avoid it and have done so for the last 7 years. There are SOOOOO many choices out there now. We drink rice milk with cereals and oat milk for tea (it's creamier). Other than that we choose to eat fruits, veggies (green leafies have tons of calcium) and meats and have no problem avoiding cheese! It makes for a much healthier lifestyle and we don't feel deprived in any way. I have used rice cheese with certain recipes but it's a little different in consistancy.
Hope this helps!!

My son is on a 100% dairy free diet. It's hard at first, but once you find foods that work for you, it becomes a lot easier because you don't have to read every label every time.

He does eat soy products without any problems, so it may or may not work for you.

I'm not sure what markets you have near your house, but Whole Foods and Sprouts have a lot of good dairy-free options, including yogurt, cream cheese, and sour cream which can be hard to find in regular markets (though Ralphs/Kroger sometimes has them as well).

Here is a list of snack foods I made for my son once that can help you get started:

Wheat Thins - original, low fat, or Whole Grain
Nabisco Brand Vegetable Thins (crackers - comes in a green box)
Honey Maid brand graham crackers
Snyder's or Trader Joe's brand pretzels
Triscuits
Good Health Natural Foods brand Veggie Sticks
Ritz Crackers - plain or reduced fat
Annie's Brand Bunny Grahams (cinnamon flavor)
Nabisco Barnum's Animal crackers

Remember - whey and casein are the proteins in dairy, so you should avoid those too.

Finally, eggs are considered the main cause of my son's eczema, so if eliminating dairy does not work, try eliminating eggs instead. All foods mentioned above are also free of eggs and all nuts.

I have had excema since I was an infant and it's never had anything to do with dairy products. Excema can be caused by a multitude of different allergens. Mine is pollen. Your child's may or may not be dairy. Others have suggested stay away from soy. Did you have testing done? I would recommend taking her to a dermatologist, a second opinion never hurts. Good luck.

Avoid soy if you can, especially if your child is prone to allergies. Vanilla almond milk is delicious. We have used that as well as oat, rice, and hemp, but I've found almond to be the most satisfying as a dairy substitute. Keep in mind that you might be able to drink raw cow's milk without difficulty b/c it still has all of the enzymes intact for better digestion and assimilation of nutrients. We use a combo of almond and raw cow's for the whole family. My daughter had eczema and problem skin as a young baby but she either grew out of it or perhaps the change in milk did have something to do with it, I'm not sure. One other thing we changed was the amount of wheat we consume. We switched to millet bread (careful, some brands are MUCH better than others, some are gross!) so perhaps that helped as well. You might find that you have to try a few different things, both internally (food you eat) and externally (soap/shampoo/lotions/creams/etc.) I hope you find what works for your child.

Try rice milk by Rice Dream. Kids allergic to milk are often allergic or sensitive to soy as well. My son has horrible allergies and we all drink Enriched Vanilla Rice Dream.

I had thrush shortly after my son was born, and I did a dairy-free, sugar-free, gluten-free diet. I substituted almond milk for cow's milk. You can also try soy milk and rice milk and see which one you prefer. They also have some that are vanilla flavored, which I think are yummy. Remember anything that says "casein" on it has milk in it.

Good luck with the diet- I hope it helps your daughter. I've heard a lot of eczema is caused by gluten, so if the dairy elimination doesn't work after a few months, you might try removing gluten too (easier said than done!).

T.
www.readandGrow.com

Hi! I started eating Barowski's whole wheat bread (dairy free) when I was nursing my son and he had a dairy sensitivity. Most other breads have dairy and this one is so soft and delicious. I also started eating graham crackers to satisfy my enormous sweet tooth. BTW, my son is now 4 and he tolerates dairy with no problem. Not sure if there's a difference w/ the eczema. Good luck!

Be careful with soy products as well. i had the same situation and when I switched to soy milk - my baby's allergies has become even worse. I would also recommend try to avoid chocolate and citrus fruits. Rice, pasta, potatoes are a safe choice.

Almond, hemp and coconut milk(so yummy!) and vegan cheese( although read labels, some have casien, which is the hard to digest protein in dairy). Do a google search on healthy vegan alternatives(and use meat of course if you desire) nutritional yeast is also a good substitute in mac and cheese type dishes. Stick with it, eczema is definitely a sign of a dairy intolerance. If it doesn't clear up soon, it could also be wheat/gluten. Good luck!

These are all good suggestions, but you can also reduce and eliminate the sensitivity to dairy without totally limiting your intake of these foods. You can eliminate to begin with, but your child's problem is an inability to digest these foods, meaning that she is (or you are) missing something in the diet. I have helped many many people solve this problem by adding a great nutritional supplement (dairy free) to the diet enabling the body to heal itself and begin to tolerate these foods. Nursing moms can help their babies with eczema, constipation, all kinds of digestive issues by adding Reliv International's liquid, optimal nutrition. You cannot get what you need from your food anymore, no matter how well you eat - the nutrients and trace elements are not in our food, even organic food, due to depleted soils and a host of other environmental problems. Reliv is not sold in stores because we want you to have the support and education from nutritional counselors. People are getting life changing results and you can as well. I would love to help you. This is a food product, no drugs involved at all, with US patents and many clinical trials. You should consider working with food scientists who have the nutritional training most MDs lack. In fact, our family MDs told us to continue as we are doing - and our son is no longer lactose intolerant!

my nephew had terrible eczema - it was caused by diary and gluten - my SIl had to remove it all from her diet. Are there particular foods you are looking to substitute?

I am dairy and gluten free - I eat some soy cheese, but only as an extra in omlettes - the taste and texture are much different from regular cheese (and I find it's not as filling - a different kind of protein that doesn't fill me up as much).

for butter, I use the Earth's Best buttery spread - I have grown to really like it! Keep in mind that the tastes and textures are very different, you might not like the way the new food tastes, but you can adjust, just give yourself time!

Good luck!