Dairy allergy, anyone else?

[celticgarden]

Last year I found out I have a dairy allergy. Been off it since. Anyone else have this? I'd love to discuss strategies/recipes. What do you do for calcium?

This past weekend I tried making a nut "cheese" made from raw macadamia nuts. It's awesome! Had some on a wrap today with olives, spinach, black pepper and mustard. It's the consistency and nearly the flavor of ricotta.

Linda

[OakLeaf]

I don't miss dairy as far as calcium is concerned. It contains so much phosphorus that trying to get calcium from dairy is a vicious cycle. Plenty of leafy greens, and I do take a supplement - magnesium is really as much of an issue as calcium, with the amount that I sweat.

I really want to learn more about raw foods. I'm not interested in going wholly raw, but every time I've been to a raw foods restaurant, it's been so delicious and made me feel so good, I want to learn more. It's just that every book I look at has a whole lot more preaching than recipes and techniques, so I haven't bought one yet. I'd really like a book I can browse and learn to understand the techniques, is why I don't just get recipes from the internets ... but I suppose I should just take the plunge.

[badger]

yeah, the dairy industry's done a good job in brainwashing the public that dairy's the only source of calcium. Green leafy vegetables are a good source as are some nuts and most seeds. I usually take a teaspoon of blackstrap molasses in my oatmeal.

I avoid dairy as I'm lactose intolerant. Soy/almond milk are good substitutes, though I can't acquire the taste for rice milk. blech.

[jessmarimba]

I don't have personal experience with this, but I had a friend who had issues with cow-dairy but was fine to digest reasonable amounts of goat-dairy. Are you allergic to both?

[celticgarden]

I can't tolerate goat dairy either.

Isn't the calcium in greens not as available when raw (oxalic acid or some such thing)?

Magnesium - YES! I am a long time believer in the importance of magnesium and have supplemented for years. The ratio of Ca to Mg in my supplement is 2:1.

Raw foods. I have found the library to be a great source for checking out raw foods cookbooks. I doubt i could ever eat raw exclusively.

I'm amazed at the percentage of my children's diet that comes from either dairy or wheat. I minimize my wheat intake as that was a suspected culprit when I was experiencing allergy symptoms.

Love almond milk for smoothies and the occasional hot chocolate. I avoid soy anything unless it's a fermented soy. I read that soy can be a thyroid inhibitor (or something like that).

[OakLeaf]

People who are lactose intolerant can sometimes handle goat's milk because it has much less lactose than cow's.

People with a true allergy, it will depend on the protein that's the trigger - actually I'm much more sensitive to goat's milk than cow's, but much less sensitive to sheep's milk cheese.

[MiriamZ]

Yep, I have a dairy sensitivity (vs. allergy), but any dairy makes me bloat, gives me gas, makes me tired, the works. It's more common than you think! I believe that the only creature that should consume cow's milk is a calf, anyway (what other animal eats the milk of another animal? Just weird).

Don't believe the BS on calcium, lots of others on this site recommend greens and nuts, which are healthier alternatives. Since you can't have whey protein, consider a rice/pea/hemp protein powder for shakes once a day, and use coconut milk (just 1/4 cup to 1 cup water) to make it creamy and smooth. I'm not big on faux dairy products, because no soy will pass my lips, and rice "cheese" is nasty... and most of those items have zero nutritional value. Stick with whole foods like veggies, lean proteins, fresh fruit, healthy fats like avocado, nuts, seeds, olives, etc. and you'll get all the nourishment you need!

A good multi vitamin/mineral blend, along with essential fatty acids (DHA, EPA, and GLA) will be a good foundation for support too.

In time, you'll never miss the dairy...

[jordanpattern]

I'm vegan, so I don't eat any dairy, and I get lots of calcium, mostly from dark leafy greens, but also from quinoa (which also has a fair bit of protein), tofu, and almonds/fortified almond milk.

There's some great info here: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm