[KMK_Mama]

So I just got my IGG/Elisa (delayed allergy food panel) results. I'm allergic to milk. Severely allergic to milk. It was a 5+ on a scale of 0-5.

:
I am also allergic to eggs and sunflower, but that was only in the 1-2 category.

Can you help me come up with alternatives? The things I am going to miss....

ice cream
ranch dressing
sour cream
pizza
yogurt

I love milk, and pretty much everything that contains milk. Is butter considered to have enough dairy that I should avoid it too? That may be a stupid question?

Anyhow, I'd appreciate any help I can get. I have a had a migraine for 18 months straight and we are hoping this is the missing link to making me feel better!

 

[AmyLaz]

I am vegan, so dairy and eggs are out for me by choice. Here are some fabulous alternatives:

Ice Cream - Soy or Rice Ice Cream; I love the "So Delicious" brand
Sour Cream - "Sour Supreme" made by Tofutti; they also make "Better Than Cream Cheese"
Pizza - Try the "Amy's" brand all vegetable pizza - no cheese whatsoever and really tasty. Also, most pizza places will let your order a pizza without cheese (Papa John's is especially great).
Yogurt - "Silk" brand Soy Yogurt - I love the blueberry, strawberry, and peach flavors.
There are several brands of soy based creamy salad dressings, mayo, and cheese - you should try a few until you find one you like. Also, soymilk is wonderful and comes in regular, vanilla, and chocolate. There is also rice and almond milk available. For buttery spreads, I use the Earth Balance Organic brand - completely dairy free (soy based). They also make a stick shortening you can use in baking.
I hope these suggestions help you. Dairy-free is totally doable - feel free to ask me any questions!

 

[txtarheel]

The previous poster has lots of good suggestions. I second the So Delicious brand of soy ice cream. I'm not a big fan of the rice ice cream. There is a new rice yogurt on the market - Ricera. I think it's much better than soy yogurt.

My DS is severely allergic to dairy and I'm nursing him, so we've recently gone down this path. The cheese is the only ting that I haven't found an acceptable substitute for. Soy and rice based cheese just don't cut it IMO.

But yes, you should avoid butter, milk fat, casein, even lactose. If your allergy is severe as you describe, you should also likely avoid food manufactured in facilities that handle milk. My DS has had several reactions from milk-free foods made in facilities with milk. McDonald's french fries have milk protein in them as well, so do many chewing gums.

It's completely doable. It's really, really hard at first if you're a big dairy lover. It does get easier. You've got to scrutinize the labels of everything you buy. Much of the mega-mart packaged foods are full of traces of dairy. We cook most things ourselves so it was a bit easier.

http://www.foodallergy.org/ has great resources for finding hidden dairy in foods, recipes and even a mailing list you can sign up for that will email you when foods are recalled for having a particular undeclared allergen in them.

 

[Jojo F.]

http://nomilk.com/

This is a good place with many links that will have some good info. I am only intolerant to milk, but it's best if I just stay away from it completely.

For me, soy is only good if it is fermented. Here is another good site all about soy. http://www.soyonlineservice.co.nz/

For milk I drink hemp milk. It definitely does not taste like regular moo milk, but I got used to it.

It is REALLY hard to not have any dairy products, but I am getting better at it. Also suggested was to read labels, seriously, you realize how many products have milk and casein in them and soy oil!!

The best of luck to you! When you finally work out a plan it gets much easier and then you don't even think about it.

 

[KMK_Mama]

So I went to our local health food store and got some soy milk and almond milk.
I also got some cream cheese and sour cream (both by Tofutti I believe)
I looked at the imitation cheese though and they both contained casein and whey?? I don't think I can have those, because I'm milk protein allergic.

I also had no luck with finding a ranch type dressing. I don't eat that much of it anyways, but if I have to eat pizza with no cheese, I'm going to need ranch!
ALL the ranch type dressings either contained egg, sunflower oil or sucralose.

I know it's not the end of the world, but it feels like it!

:

Anything else that you can recommend?

 

[Severine]

: Dairy-free is tough. I just recently went dairy-free because DS seemed to be sensitive to it. Sure enough, it's making a difference already. Which is really tough for me because I LOVE cheese and there just is no good substitute for it.

I have found that Haagen-Daaz's Coconut Sorbet is a nice sub for ice cream. It's rich and creamy but there's no dairy in it. You can also make your own "ice cream" using coconut milk instead of milk/cream. I've done it before and it's delicious!

I tried Hemp Milk on the recommendation of a friend, just for cereal. I tried, but I couldn't stand the flavor. I will be trying almond milk next. Hopefully I can find a milk sub that works for baking, too, since many of my recipes use milk.

Earth Balance has been a great butter sub for me. I had been doing a modified WAP/NT sort of diet so I didn't eat subs for the good stuff. This is passable, though just not the same.

The hardest part for me is that I have a serious problem with intentionally ingesting soy as a sub. I'm not thrilled about using margarine as it is. Then again, I have PCOS and soy isn't good for me anyway because my hormones are already out of balance. So sure, you can find a sub for almost any dairy that's made with soy instead... but i won't eat it.

Which reminds me...did they test you for soy? I know when I was researching DS's possible allergies/sensitivities, it said that it's common for a soy allergy to go hand-in-hand with milk protein allergy.

Another thought... could you do goat milk? Sometimes people can have goat milk instead, and that would open up goat cheese and yogurt to you.

So sorry for the news! It is extremely tough in the beginning to change ANY habit. But you'll find your stride.

 

[txtarheel]

There are a couple of brands of cheese that don't have whey or casein in them that I have found. Veganrella is one of them, I can't remember the others I've tried off the top of my head. The Veganrealla was the best (although poor) substitute. Since you're egg and dairy free, make sure the products you are buying are vegan. If you're at a health food/Whole Foods type of store there should be staff to help you with that. DS is also egg allergic, so we're just vegans that eat meat.

I'm not a big ranch dressing eater, but I'm pretty sure my local Whole Foods has some vegan/soy-based salad dressings. That might be a place to check out if you've got one close to you.

I've been told that Tofutti makes a frozen pizza that has dairy-free cheese and that it's pretty good. I haven't been successful at finding it in my area, but I'm still looking. My Whole Foods has two other brands of soy cheese pizza, but unfortunately they both have casein in them.

Be careful of goat and sheep's milks. Those are almost always cross-reactive in milk-allergic people. But, if you're one of the lucky few that it isn't, it's definitely a bonus!

 

[Lizzie9984]

I don't have any problems with dairy, but my husband does (essentially is allergic to the lactose in dairy) I've tried a few things here and there out of curiousity, and I have to be pretty honest about soy milk---most of it is bland and chalky, but there are some REALLY good brands out there, like 8th Continent. It's excellent soy milk, very light, very smooth, and the taste is superb, especially the vanilla one!
I LOVE milk, but in all honesty, if I had to choose between a gallon of vanilla 8th Continent and a gallon of milk, I'd take the 8th, hands down

 

[KMK_Mama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Severine : Dairy-free is tough. I just recently went dairy-free because DS seemed to be sensitive to it. Sure enough, it's making a difference already. Which is really tough for me because I LOVE cheese and there just is no good substitute for it. I have found that Haagen-Daaz's Coconut Sorbet is a nice sub for ice cream. It's rich and creamy but there's no dairy in it. You can also make your own "ice cream" using coconut milk instead of milk/cream. I've done it before and it's delicious! I tried Hemp Milk on the recommendation of a friend, just for cereal. I tried, but I couldn't stand the flavor. I will be trying almond milk next. Hopefully I can find a milk sub that works for baking, too, since many of my recipes use milk. Earth Balance has been a great butter sub for me. I had been doing a modified WAP/NT sort of diet so I didn't eat subs for the good stuff. This is passable, though just not the same. The hardest part for me is that I have a serious problem with intentionally ingesting soy as a sub. I'm not thrilled about using margarine as it is. Then again, I have PCOS and soy isn't good for me anyway because my hormones are already out of balance. So sure, you can find a sub for almost any dairy that's made with soy instead... but i won't eat it. Which reminds me...did they test you for soy? I know when I was researching DS's possible allergies/sensitivities, it said that it's common for a soy allergy to go hand-in-hand with milk protein allergy. Another thought... could you do goat milk? Sometimes people can have goat milk instead, and that would open up goat cheese and yogurt to you. So sorry for the news! It is extremely tough in the beginning to change ANY habit. But you'll find your stride.

Yes, I was tested for soy. That came out negative. I was tested for 30 of the most common food allergies. There was other tests that tested for more foods, but this was all I could afford for now as insurance won't pay for these types of tests. As far as goats milk, my ND said to go completely diary, egg, and sunflower free for 6-8 weeks and after I feel better and if I want to, I can start adding things in slowly to see if I react. He said the first thing to try would be goats milk. He also said I could try bringing back in some dairy, but if I start feeling better I might not want to! We'll see.

 

[425lisamarie]

I started drinking homemade soaked almond milk just to do something different and I just love it! I actually made some ice cream with almond milk, coconut milk and coconut just to see how it would come out and oh my it is yum