Treating lactose intolerance is not easy as there are no strict tablets or medications to completely annihilate the problem. It is a slow and natural process that involves key changes in your diet. Treatment depends on how sensitive you are to foods that contain lactose. If your sensitivity is low or moderate, you can continue with your normal diet routine with minimum changes. If your sensitivity is high, you need to make a drastic change to your diet routine, as per the advice of your GP or dietitian. However, there are several things you need to note while making these dietary changes and this article is all about them.
If not lactose, what next? So, it is confirmed that you cannot take lactose in your food. In that case, what would be your next choice of food items. Lactase deficiency does not mean that you need to forgo all the essential nutrients that your body needs for proper functioning. You need to supplement the lapse in lactose with some other nutrient rich foods and also need monitor your body’s mineral density ratios and bone health. This is why it is important to contact a dietitian and consult on which foods are good/bad for your body.
Below is a comprehensive view of foods that can help you recover from or manage lactose intolerance:
1. Milk intake: Everyone knows that milk is the culprit behind lactose intolerance. But you cannot ignore milk completely as you need the proteins in it. So, how do you compensate? Everything depends on your sensitivity to milk. Maybe, you can have milk in your tea or coffee, but not in your cereal. You can take milk chocolates on a limited basis or add milk as a part of your meal than a separate drink after meal. You can also try using different kinds of milk – soy milk, milk from rice, oats and potatoes, peas etc.
2. Dairy products intake: Fermented dairy products are the best for people with lactose intolerance. You can try yogurts, probiotic yogurts, sour cream, cottage cheese, hard cheeses etc. Since cheese is a dairy product which contains less lactose than milk, including cheese in your food can make lactose easily digestible.
3. Vitamins and minerals: Lack of lactose should not mean lack of nothing nutritional. Lactose intolerance can lead to complications that can affect your bone health and stamina. Since you may not be able to take dairy products, you will not be able to make up for the lapse of calcium and magnesium in your diet. For which, you can take broccoli, cabbage, dried fruits, soya beans, okra, kale, nuts like almonds, brazil nuts, sesame seeds, fish with edible bones like sardines, salmon, pilchards, and tofu (made from soya beans).
4. Medicinal substitute for lactase: Lactose intolerance, if mild, can be treated by taking lactase substitutes. Most common of such substitutes include lactaid drops (in liquid form) and lactase enzyme capsules or lactase pills.
