teen with new dairy allergy - food ideas please

[Anonymous]

My teen has been doagnosed with a dairy allergy (it causes him stomach distress and other gi issues).

Dairy foods are such staples in his diet - pizza, yogurts, ice cream, and he puts cheese and sour cream on anything applicable.

If you or your teen/child/family member had to adjust to a diet without dairy, I’d appreciate tips.

For example, did you focus on naturally non dairy foods, or did you use faux cheese, sour cream, soy yogurts etc. (are any beands better than others?).

Thanks for your tips as we navigate the adjustment.

[Anonymous]

Other than switching to almond milk and occasionally almond milk ice cream or coconut milk ice cream I simply deleted the rest from my diet. The imitation dairy products are pretty bad.

After going dairy free for 5 years I am now able to eat goats milk and sheep milk cheese. The goat and sheep products are more easily digested than cows milk.

I would not recommend your son trying this now but perhaps years out when things have settled.

[Anonymous]

46 poster here

Make sure the replacement milk products, like almond milk, are calcium enriched. Many of the replacement milk products have no calcium.

The almond milk and coconut milk yogurts are not bad.

I'd avoid soy products for a male.

[Anonymous]

I literally had this for breakfast this morning and thought "I'm so glad I found these - I need to get more."

https://www.foragerproject.com/product/organic-dairy-free-probiotic-yogurt-drink-mango/

Can he take Lactaid and still eat dairy? For some people that's an option. He can try all the faux cheeses to find one he likes to use for things like grilled cheese and homemade pizza (I use naan bc lazy).

[Anonymous]

I’ve been dairy free before. You need to find swaps first. Bagels with peanut butter instead of cream cheese. Using a ton of salsa and guacamole on tacos instead of sour cream. Focus on meats, potatoes, rice for dinner since pastas are often cheese-related.

We like oat and almond milk for cereal. Fake yogurt and cheese are not amazing swaps.

[Anonymous]

When my daughter had to avoid dairy, we discovered Amy’s roasted vegetable pizzas. While they definitely aren’t traditional pizza, they are pretty tasty. It meant that if the rest of the family had pizza, she could have something she liked that was similar and not feel excluded.

This was several years ago, so you may need to check the current ingredient list if your son needs to avoid all dairy derivatives.

[Anonymous]

Goats milk is a great alternative. Also, try A2/A2 whole milk, it is more digestible and might be okay for him. Raw cheeses like gruyere may also agree with him.

Since he is having disgestive isses, perhaps trying an all meat elimination diet for two weeks might be an option. Ruminant meat (beef, bison, lamb) is the cleanest and very satiating and nutrient dense. Adding eggs after a couple of weeks and then other foods to see how he does.

My teens adore the animal based diet they have been eating for the past two years. They have zero skin issues, are making huge gains in sports, have straight A’s in school, etc. they hardly eat processed foods (only out with their friends) and we often have a house full of kids partly because we cook the best food when they are here.

[Anonymous]

There are vegan alternatives and you have to experiment to find out which one he likes.
There are Vegan cheese in pizza places like &Pizza .
DC can have some butter in baked items like some pastries so find out if that is the case in your situation.

[Anonymous]

DC Vegan has some great cheese alternatives.

Learn how to make cream sauces using cashews, coconut milk, avocado. Embrace nutritional yeast. if he’s just needing that fatty feeling, you can add a little bit of tahini or mayonnaise to things to make it creamy- which sounds gross, but really works less than a teaspoon added to rice will make you think you added sour cream to it. This is after cooking though. Treeline sour cream has a sort of crema quality, so delicious plain unsweetened coconut yogurt is what we use to make curries. Miyokos butter is tasty, their pourable mozzarella is not awful. I can’t tolerate out, but Oatly seems like it’s really popular for ice cream and milk alternatives None of its the same but can be ok as their own thing.

I mostly try to make things that don’t require dairy to work. It’s creating new food associations. When you know that dairy makes you feel really awful. It becomes easier to not use it.

Sorry he’s having to make the switch!

[Anonymous]

I am the OP of the other dairy allergy thread. Sorry for not following up there; I was busy with work, even in the evening.

A few years ago, I discovered that I have a dairy allergy, which I believe I've had since childhood. Looking back, there were signs like when I ate a gyro and threw up on the street after just one bite—eating tomatoes with feta cheese and coughing like nuts. I also have issues with raw onions, pepper, and celery, so I initially thought those were the main culprits.

It is a difficult allergy to deal with. I am from Europe and love sour cream, cheese, butter, and ice cream.

I am lucky that I cook my own food all the time, and I am a good cook. I eat a lot of veggies-based dishes, with a bit of meat.
I used to eat spinach with sour cream, but not anymore.

Almond milk is not to my taste, so if I am making chicken cutlets, I mix eggs with cashew milk for dipping in the egg and flour part of the process. Daiya is not good at all, in my opinion.

But there was another brand at Wegmans recently, which is okay. I bought their vegan feta, and it tasted okay with my tomatoes. It is not feta—it will never be feta—but it was adequate. Maybe it is Myokos or Violife.

Cashew milk is also good for cakes and such; all others are too liquid. Some margarine (be careful, many margarines actually have dairy in them!), or I can't believe it's not butter, is also good for baking. Heck, you can go one better and buy leaf lard if that is something you are okay with. Some pudding mixes do not have dairy powder in them!

For pasta, vegan feta and their other brands are okay, too. However, to achieve a similar flavor, you will have to put much more vegan cheese in than you would regular cheese.
Other than that, I just cook without dairy.

Look up Lenten cookies and desserts. Many cultures observe Easter Lent, meaning no animal products in food. Sure, you can see to modify them to include eggs.

I order pizza without cheese, though. The vegan cheese they offer is not good, in my opinion, and I find it great without cheese at all. You can choose regular meat lovers or whatever your child likes, but no cheese. It is easy to do so today when you can order online.

Thai restaurants instead of Indian. Always, always in a Mexican restaurant he needs to order no cheese or sour cream. As I am such a food snowflake, no cilantro for me either.
(Honestly, I love almost all food, but these few are a major issue for me; raw onion, celery, and peppers will make me sick immediately.)

As shown in my thread, I am still struggling with eating out and being firm about my allergy. I hate being the "fussy" person and having so many issues with food, so I just don't voice it. But with the advice I received here, I will try to be more assertive. Hey, it is a dairy allergy; I will not just end up having some lactose issue; it is not the same bloody thing!

And chocolate! Why, why me? Nothing beats Milka or other European chocolate, but some cooking chocolates are not as bitter, and most will not have dairy.

But there might be butter even in Chipotle rice! There are different reports about what goes in it. There is butter in the nan bread dough, milk in donuts, bread rolls, and most pastries. But not in all pastries; cheap margarine-filled deserts are now my friend!

Also, steak in restaurants is cooked in butter! Jacket potatoes are drenched in butter. Many deli meats and sausages contain dairy. Fish sticks often have dairy! It is endless.

Honestly, it is best to cook at home. Make sure he always has allergy meds with him. I presume he will not die from it as it was just diagnosed, and he ate a lot of dairy until now. But it is causing the slow killing of his immune system; at least, that is what I was told. If I have a donut now, I will start coughing and choking. Reaction is immediate after not eating dairy for a long while.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/foods-that-contain-dairy/

Good luck, OP; it is not an easy road ahead. Please don't get mad at him when he eats dairy, such as in a pastry, or has chocolate; it is really hard to avoid.
And now, the end, sorry about this War and Peace Treaty on dairy.

[Anonymous]

Obviously you know and trust your allergist, but add me to the chorus of "I have dairy allergies but not to everything."

Mine actually started as an infant. I was allergic to breast milk. Then they tried cow's milk, goat's milk, you name it I was allergic. So, I was a formula baby in the end.

Over the years mine has evolved a bit, but I've never been able to drink milk, even with the lactose alternatives/supplements. I can have a small amount of say, cream in coffee once a week usually without issue. If I need to have any more or more often than that, it's almond milk. I don't really eat cereal but if I do, it's shredded wheat with orange juice in it.

Ice cream bothers me, and if I was to drink a milkshake I'd be sick for days, but I'm fine with cream sauces on pasta etc. - basically something in cooking breaks down what my system has an issue with. Butter causes me zero issues, and I'm OK with most cheese.

All this to say - your son may not have to be cold turkey no dairy for the rest of his life - there may be certain things he can manage, and I hope so.

[Anonymous]

Can he do lactose free vs dairy free?

I use oat milk and I do not eat ice cream or anything with cream or milk or butter but I can eat lactose free yogurt and lactose free cheese and lactose free sour cream etc.

I was told I had a dairy allergy as a teen but really it was a lactose intolerance.

[Anonymous]

Just make meals without dairy? It's really not hard.

[Anonymous]

Casein or lactose?

[Anonymous]

If he real loves dairy, Lactaid brand makes lactose free whole skim and 2% milk, as well as ice cream and cottage cheese. Cabot brand cheddars are made come milk are completely lactose free. Green Valley makes whole milk lactose free butter (very useful) yogurt, cream cheese, and cottage
Pizza is tough
Chinese food is usually ok to eat
Any Vegan baked good is fine or you can make them at home from lactose free milk and butter as above.