Quit while you’re ahead
Over the past year or so I’ve noticed an intolerance to lactose creeping up on me. However, being the defiant person I am, I decided to try to fight it… where I’d start off small and keep pushing my luck with it.
Gradually I found that I was able to have small amounts without a reaction, so [of course] I just had to start pushing myself even further... I started drinking glasses of milk.
Bad idea.
See for every 5 glasses I drank I had reactions at least 3 out of 5, even with those stats I figured I was getting better and could deal with the washroom escapades if it meant I could conceivably work my way up to having milk again, that is until today when I developed the worst stomach cramps ever, the kind that cripples the body and seem to last forever, I was doubled over on the carpet, lying down didn’t work, standing didn’t work, sitting didn’t work, I kept changing positions to try to get the sharp pain to stop but found I only got relief if I was on my knees and hunched forward.
Eventually, after many trips to the washroom, the pain stopped and I vowed not to do that to myself again.
I give up. Lactose Intolerance, you win.
posted by Michelle Hopp at 10:11 PM
5 Comments:
Ah... but there are ways around it... like lactaid (if you can take it... I, unfortunately can't *sigh*)... or lactose free milk (which, I should add, has an absolutely insane shelf-life!! At least, the natrel stuff does)... and, depending on how 'severe' your reaction, you may find that you're fine with 'modified' milks... yogurt, cheese, cooked milk (they all break down the sugar strings a bit)... heck, Chapman's even make a lactose free ice cream!
I feel your pain, though... I discovered rather violently in '97 that regular milk did nasty things to me (and not long after, that lactaid did other nasty things to me *sigh*)... but on the plus side, I think it might actually be more of an allergy than a true intolerance, since lately I've been able to have regular ice cream without any ickiness, so I may have 'grown out of it'... that whole "7 years and every cell in your body has replaced itself" thing, maybe?
good luck!
9:59 AM
Ah yes, milk pain. There is nothing quite so debilitating and crippling, is there? My turning point came when the Cheezies -- like those contain any dairy -- I ate resulting in intense stomach cramps, followed by a complete emptying of the contents of my digestive tract.
Ruth is right, 'though, you can probably still eat some milk products. I still occasionally eat chevre (which is awesome on pizza, BTW) and yogurt, and end up taking a Lactaid Ultra when I eat out and am unsure of the milk content of foods.
For the most part, 'though, I avoid dairy products right down to buying packaged cookies (and meat products!) with any milk ingredients in them. If you go this route, be careful, because there's "modified milk ingredients", "whey" and "lact-"whatever in all kinds of pre-packaged foods. The good news: you'll be eating way healthier than you probably have in years.
Feel free to bug me, also, if you have any questions about milk substitutes. There are a lot of options out there now, thanks largely to the vegans, and some of them are really good. Case in point: most non-dairy soy "ice creams" contain way less calories than the traditional milk ice cream. :)
3:34 PM
Thanks for the feedback guys, I guess my main concern is ensuring that my body is absorbing the daily recommended calcium intake per day, the doctor said 1000mg?
Milk was the easy way out usually, any thoughts on substitutes that will do the same job?
9:12 AM
Green leafy vegs (kale, collard greens, beets, turnip tops, broccoli, spinach (although it's not so easily absorbed), dried peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, oranged, prunes, dates, figs (dried), raw sesame seeds, almonds, salmon & sardines (both canned WITH bones... the bones are edible and generally soft enough not to be 'dangerous')
or, the ever popular calcium supplement... whether that's through a multi-vitamin, a calcium citrate tablet, or TUMS.
9:53 AM
Yeah, I take a calcium supplement with my evening meals. A lot of the soy/rice milk options are fortified with calcium too.
10:14 AM
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