Healthy Eating for The Lactose Intolerant

If you have a lactose intolerance then this can cause a range of problems and leave you feeling tired, lethargic and unwell unless you limit the intake of milk in your diet. There is often a correlation between problems like ME and lactose intolerance, and often the symptoms are very similar – mild but enough to prevent you from doing the things you want to do and living an active lifestyle. This all means that many cases of lactose intolerance/milk allergy (which can be slightly different in nature) go undiagnosed leaving people tired and unable to work or socialize but without really knowing why. Removing the milk and the other dairy products from your diet can then greatly improve these conditions and give you back the vigor in your life.

But this in itself can be hard – and it can lead to other problems that can affect your health negatively. Milk is a common source of many nutrients in our diet, and if we don't get enough dairy then we need to replace this by getting the benefits from other sources. Likewise we need to think of alternative solutions for our general diet as milk is a staple for many of us.

Many of us will have milk in our tea and on our cereal, and might drink glasses of milk before bed. These milk sources are high in calcium and this is very important for our well being. Not only is calcium crucial for our bones and joints (and good at combatting osteoporosis), but it is also very important for the strength of our ligaments and tendons. This way it can help to increase the strength of our muscle contractions thereby giving us greater general strength. At the same time it is also a crucial component in the formation of our nails and even our teeth, so if your nails start to become brittle or discoloured, this may be as a result of our lactose intolerance.

The solution is to get your calcium from other sources – and if possible other natural sources as fortified sources are often not as 'bio-available' for our bodies to use. For instance we can get calcium from some vegetables such as broccoli and other greens.

Meanwhile milk is also a useful source of amino acids and contains a lot of protein. In fact two kinds of protein shake (whey and casein) come from milk. By consuming lots of amino acids we can ensure that our tissue has the 'building blocks' it needs to encourage growth and to repair wounds and deterioration.

There are many other sources of protein we can get if we have a lactose intolerance. For instance this includes red meats and other forms of meet such as chicken which is leaner. At the same time you can also swap your milk for soy milk, and you can change whey protein for soy protein – the amino bioavailability isn't quite as impressive, but it has a very good amino acid profile and is a complete source of protein.

These are some tips on how to enjoy a healthy diet if you suffer from lactose intolerance but there are many other things you can do. For more information on lactose intolerance and fructose malabsorption, click the links.