Lactose Intolerant Or Dairy?

[I-want-nachos]

I've been gluten free for about 5 months now. Recently, I've started to feel bad again, similar to how I felt with gluten although less severe. At first I thought that I just wasn't being careful enough with the gluten stuff, but after cutting out dairy for 2 days, all of my symptoms have resolved. How can I know if I am allergic to dairy or if I am just lactose intolerant? 

 

What kinds of dairy contain lactose? 

[Dugudugu]

I am looking forwards to the replies of the others, as I have exactly the same issues. I started to cut out dairy one month ago.

[GFinDC]

Hi,

 

Hard cheeses are mostly casein.  So if you can eat cheese without symptoms then it is probably a lactose issue.  Another thing to try is lactaid type milks, or take lactose digestant pills with regular milk.  That basically works out to the same thing.  You are pre-digesting the lactose (dairy sugar) with the pills so it is not a problem.  But there is still casein (cow dairy protein) in the milk.  With hard cheese the bacteria eat the lactose sugar up, so it is gone.  Soft cheeses still have lactose in them, so they aren't a good test.  Use something like cheddar etc..

 

The ability to digest lactose is affected by the condition of the villi in the small intestine.  It may come back after being gluten free for a while longer.  Casein issues are less likely to totally resolve.

[Nyxks]

Cow and Goat milk both have lactose in them though goat is supposed to be better received by those with lactose intolerance's — but one way to figure it out is to maybe buy lactose free milk and see how it goes even the range of lactose free cheeses might be an option if you react then it's likely dairy no reaction its possible its just a lactose issue (though it could develop into more as the years pass). 

 

I started with the lactose free stuff and even the supplements but it was no good, only cutting dairy out completely helps but its not easy by any means since oh so many things have diary in them and many gluten-free products use dairy so it makes the rage of gluten-free options even less depending on where you are and what you are already dealing with food allergy wise.

[GretaJane]

Drink a big glass of lactose free milk and wait an hour or two to see if you get any symptoms. If not, lactose is the problem.