Talk about a rocky relationship.
A while back, I blogged about my intended re-commitment to go easy on eggs and dairy. For a while, it did not bother me that I wasn't eating too many of these products. I didn't miss them.
But I had become an eggs and potatoes kind of girl. That is -- until the massive egg recall we had a couple of months back. Since then, my egg consumption has has lessened, and when I do eat them, they are no longer enjoyable. And certainly, I have not craved them like I used to, and not because they were recalled.
But then, my cravings made a turn for the worse -- cheese. As a child, my favorite food was cheese, and even now, my top three favorite foods (1 - pizza, 2 - lasagna, 3 - Potstickers) are mostly cheesy. While I've learned to veganize some of these (e.g., vegan lasagna / pizza), there's nothing like eating pieces of cheese on crackers. And let's be honest... not even the best cheese subs are quite "the same."
I wish dairy wasn't such an integral part of society, especially when a large chunk of its inhabitants don't tolerate it very well. Lactaid (a pill containing lactase, an enzyme that helps break down lactose that people like me lack naturally) hasn't worked very well. And my cravings continue.
I can tolerate some dairy foods better than others -- Greek yogurt is (usually) fine, as is kefir. Even Yogurtland and well-timed pizzas are tolerated to an extent. But cream -- whipped, and especially the kind that sneaks into soups -- makes my stomach start LOUDLY yelling back at me in no time.
What this tells me is that some foods are less "harmful" to me than others. I did some research and found this list. It turns out that butter and cheddar don't have much lactose at all -- maybe combatable with Lactaid if I want to be extra careful. I'm going to use this list as a guideline and use my newfound knowledge to (carefully) tread in the dairy waters...
...at least until I am morally inclined to stop again (and/or terrible cravings die down).
P.S. The fact that I had so many link-backs to old posts is because... I take my dairy and dairy intolerances very seriously! =P
A while back, I blogged about my intended re-commitment to go easy on eggs and dairy. For a while, it did not bother me that I wasn't eating too many of these products. I didn't miss them.
But I had become an eggs and potatoes kind of girl. That is -- until the massive egg recall we had a couple of months back. Since then, my egg consumption has has lessened, and when I do eat them, they are no longer enjoyable. And certainly, I have not craved them like I used to, and not because they were recalled.
But then, my cravings made a turn for the worse -- cheese. As a child, my favorite food was cheese, and even now, my top three favorite foods (1 - pizza, 2 - lasagna, 3 - Potstickers) are mostly cheesy. While I've learned to veganize some of these (e.g., vegan lasagna / pizza), there's nothing like eating pieces of cheese on crackers. And let's be honest... not even the best cheese subs are quite "the same."
I wish dairy wasn't such an integral part of society, especially when a large chunk of its inhabitants don't tolerate it very well. Lactaid (a pill containing lactase, an enzyme that helps break down lactose that people like me lack naturally) hasn't worked very well. And my cravings continue.
I can tolerate some dairy foods better than others -- Greek yogurt is (usually) fine, as is kefir. Even Yogurtland and well-timed pizzas are tolerated to an extent. But cream -- whipped, and especially the kind that sneaks into soups -- makes my stomach start LOUDLY yelling back at me in no time.
What this tells me is that some foods are less "harmful" to me than others. I did some research and found this list. It turns out that butter and cheddar don't have much lactose at all -- maybe combatable with Lactaid if I want to be extra careful. I'm going to use this list as a guideline and use my newfound knowledge to (carefully) tread in the dairy waters...
...at least until I am morally inclined to stop again (and/or terrible cravings die down).
P.S. The fact that I had so many link-backs to old posts is because... I take my dairy and dairy intolerances very seriously! =P
This is very interesting. The list will come in handy, although I think you probably tolerate dairy better than me. The UC is kicking my butt. I'm surprise I am still training this season. C&UC Foundation should make me their poster child. But then they would probably want me to help raise funds for them, which I might do next year.
ReplyDeleteI love dairy, and certainly couldn't live without cheese!
ReplyDeleteI assume that since you've lived with this for a long time that you've tried some of the lactose-free cheeses. Do they stand up in taste to the regular stuff?
Thank goodness I'm not lactose intolerant. Your chart says I wouldn't be able to have Vietnamese/Thai coffee!
ReplyDeleteI am lactose-intolerant myself and feel your pain. That's why I love soy and almond milk.
ReplyDeleteMan I could never deal with not being able to eat dairy. That must suck big time
ReplyDeleteI don't eat much in the way of eggs and dairy, mostly because I just tend not to think about incorporating them into a meal. But man, give me a cone of chocolate-vanilla-swirl softserve in a cake cone and I'll be yours forever.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the trial and error!
very interesting list..
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing this.