For those who are lactose intolerant

I can eat almost all cheeses without too much trouble but give me some icecream and I am vomiting and flaring. This may sound bad but whenever I get really badly constipated, I intentionally eat icecream because I know that I am going to have almost instant D. If I drink milk alone, I end up with really bad gas and bloating but I too did not test positive for being lactose intolerant. Of the cheeses, I have found that mozzarella is the best one for me and I incorporate it into many of my dishes to help me gain some calcium. If I eat too much or eat it alone I do get contipated. I love putting mozzarella on grilled salmon with some balsomic vinegar and lime juice. I put the same stuff on cooked veggies and have no problems.

Food for thought: Even people without IBD can become lactose intolerant as they get older (we lose the enzyme that breaks it down), so it's very likely that you could have become so.

As you said, aged cheeses have the least lactose in the cheese family. I would stick with those. jmho

It is true that something like 80% of adults are lactose intolerant to some degree.

For me, lactose intolerance came on suddenly during my 1st pregnancy, before I was diagnosed with IBD.  I attributed it to pregancy or normal aging, but my sensitivity to lactose is better or worse depending on how my Crohn's is acting.  I think that any inflammation in the ileum is bound to reduce lactase production, so if I'm having a lot of problem with dairy I link it to inflammation due to CD.

I don't add lactase to any foods anymore; I'm too lazy.  I use lactose-free milk for breakfast and in my cooking.  I don't like ice cream anymore.  I can tolerate hard cheese just fine; soft cheeses I eat with discretion.  Pizza is a lovely idea that I sometimes enjoy, but not on a "bad" day.  Yogurt is lovely and never bothers me.

Lactose content varies a lot in dairy foods. For instance, skim milk has the most lactose and full cream has the least. Cheeses aged 30 days or more should be lactose free, but fresh cheeses (like cream cheese) have lactose. Mozarella also has lactose, no matter how old it is.

I always did fine with dairy products, up until a couple months before I started SCD. Then I started to feel kind of bloated and unwell when I'd have my daily milkshake. It was worse if I had lactose containing dairy by itself, versus with a meal. I never got tested, but I think I probably was becoming lactose intolerant. It's a moot point now, since SCD doesn't allow lactose.

Post Edited (spookyhurst) : 9/20/2010 5:03:20 PM (GMT-6)

Does it make a difference with your OAS if your fruit/veggies are cooked? That's how you start eating produce with SCD anyway, cooked/peeled/deseeded.

Lactose intolerance symptoms can come on very strong and right out of the blue...I also have lactosse intolerance...when I finally discovered probiotics I was able to stop using lactaid products and don't have to go out of my way to completely avoid all dairy anymore...probiotics have been a huge help with my crohn's and IBS as well. Must be taken daily and indefinitely.

I put honey into my yogurt to give it a little bit of sweet.

Some ppl have milk allergy, when they're actually allergic to the casein in milk (different from lactose intolerance) but the symptoms of allergy to intolerance with milk/dairy can be very similar.

I was lactose intolerant as a toddler and then re-developed lactose intolerance in my late 30's, funny how it can do that, come and go on some ppl, but it definitely happens. Best way to know for sure is by getting a lactose tolerance test done (I did, it was deadly cuz I was so intolerant but at least it was confirmed for me). That's the other thing about lactose intolerance, it can vary from mild to severe.

I too was never lactose intolerant until after the first resection, I noticed that I couldn't tolerate all dairy and that milk especially would make me sick to the point of vomiting. I gradually included dairy into my diet and now can tolerate most dairy. There was something about that first resection tho that altered my tolerance for dairy.