So over the past six months I've been exploring what I'm able and what I'm not able to eat/drink. It's definitely a learning process as I'm sure you know. You'd be astonished to learn what things have lactose in them. I'll start with the basics, any milk product from a cow has lactose in it. The one cow product that I am able to have it yogurt. Apparently yogurt contains lactase which is the opposite of lactose in that it helps digest lactose. Milk or cheese from goats, sheep and buffalo are fine since they do not contain lactose in them. Most processed foods will contain some amount of milk in them and especially avoid desserts because they tend to be high in lactose products. I've found that my stomach can handle butter, as well which apparently contains very little loctase. I've also been able to handle some cheeses just honestly depends, like some swiss chesses are ok and some are not it really just depends on the brand or place or restaurant. So that's what I really want to explore here and help you out with.
This blog is generally going to be a Lactose Intolerant Guide to Dining, Eating and Drinking in Washington, DC and hoping to expand to other cities but I'll start small. It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood. I want to help out those that are scared to eat out because of lactose intolerance. I want people that go through what I do to have no fear in eating out and start seeing all the positive benefits are removing lactose from your diet.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
My History
Since this is my first blog post ever, although I have made appearances in other blogs (http://thepartydolphin.blogspot.com/), I wanted to lay out the framework as to what I will be talking about. Firstly I'll give you a brief dive into my history.
Since I was a little kid my mom has always thought I was lactose intolerant due to my distaste of milk and cheese. I absolutely refused to drink milk the smell alone would make me sick. I was good at avoiding milk but I would still eat ice cream and pizza with not to many problems. Fast forward about 20 years and I'm 22 years old and in Costa Rica, still not a fan of milk, maybe I'd use it in a protein shake (standard) but generally avoided it until I started drinking coffee on my trip. I still remember my madre would bring out the coffee with a cup of milk and that's when my addiction to milk with coffee started. Things at first started off well, I remember having stomach issues but since I was a little kid I've always had stomach issues so I didn't think twice of it. I honestly never really knew what it was like to have a "normal" stomach, but I had always thought that this was not normal and there is no way that other people are dealing with what I am. So for the next two years I was really getting into cheeses and milk, and my stomach problems were getting worse. I even started dating a girl who was actually lactose intolerant and she would tell me to stop eating dairy but I never thought it was the culprit. I stopped drinking coffee, thought it might have been wheat but nothing worked. Until one day (the day before my birthday actually June 11, 2010) when I was visiting my ex-girlfriend in Miami and had pizza for lunch. The instant I ate that pizza I had an upset stomach and from that exact moment I knew I was lactose intolerant, and then I started to think back to when I had really bad stomach issues and they all revolved around my intake of dairy. Now that I had this figured out you would think it would be all down hill from here. Couldn't be farther from the truth, I'm about 6 months in and I'm still learning about what has dairy in it. You'd be absolutely astonished to learn what things having milk as party of their ingredients. To start having a girlfriend that was already lactose intolerant was a HUGE help, she really helped me out. Teaching me that it's ok to have yogurt and some cheese (goat, sheep, buffalo) but you have to be the one to test your limits. Take her for example she can have a small amount of dairy with no effect (pancakes). I on the other hand can't have any dairy at all, like none what so ever. A chocolate chip from a chocolate chip cookie will upset my stomach. So you'll quickly learn that there are different degrees to being lactose intolerant.
So how does that get me here well I wanted to express my feelings on how extremely difficult it can be to not be able to have diary and I wanted to let people know how uncomfortable it really can be when you do mistakenly take in lactose. The set-up of this blog will be my take on various restaurants/food trucks/ food carts and their adaptability to people being lactose intolerant. I will also be doing different recipes and cooking ideas for people who are lactose intolerant. I happen to be a total foodie and this was one of the most devastating things ever to learn that I'll never get to eat pizza ever again! I'm from New Jersey for pete's sake! So I want to dive head first into the world of being lactose intolerant, maybe trying being a vegan, maybe subsatuting soy milk for milk in recipes, maybe trying those lactose pills. Who knows where this adventure will take me, I only hope to learn and grow.
Since I was a little kid my mom has always thought I was lactose intolerant due to my distaste of milk and cheese. I absolutely refused to drink milk the smell alone would make me sick. I was good at avoiding milk but I would still eat ice cream and pizza with not to many problems. Fast forward about 20 years and I'm 22 years old and in Costa Rica, still not a fan of milk, maybe I'd use it in a protein shake (standard) but generally avoided it until I started drinking coffee on my trip. I still remember my madre would bring out the coffee with a cup of milk and that's when my addiction to milk with coffee started. Things at first started off well, I remember having stomach issues but since I was a little kid I've always had stomach issues so I didn't think twice of it. I honestly never really knew what it was like to have a "normal" stomach, but I had always thought that this was not normal and there is no way that other people are dealing with what I am. So for the next two years I was really getting into cheeses and milk, and my stomach problems were getting worse. I even started dating a girl who was actually lactose intolerant and she would tell me to stop eating dairy but I never thought it was the culprit. I stopped drinking coffee, thought it might have been wheat but nothing worked. Until one day (the day before my birthday actually June 11, 2010) when I was visiting my ex-girlfriend in Miami and had pizza for lunch. The instant I ate that pizza I had an upset stomach and from that exact moment I knew I was lactose intolerant, and then I started to think back to when I had really bad stomach issues and they all revolved around my intake of dairy. Now that I had this figured out you would think it would be all down hill from here. Couldn't be farther from the truth, I'm about 6 months in and I'm still learning about what has dairy in it. You'd be absolutely astonished to learn what things having milk as party of their ingredients. To start having a girlfriend that was already lactose intolerant was a HUGE help, she really helped me out. Teaching me that it's ok to have yogurt and some cheese (goat, sheep, buffalo) but you have to be the one to test your limits. Take her for example she can have a small amount of dairy with no effect (pancakes). I on the other hand can't have any dairy at all, like none what so ever. A chocolate chip from a chocolate chip cookie will upset my stomach. So you'll quickly learn that there are different degrees to being lactose intolerant.
So how does that get me here well I wanted to express my feelings on how extremely difficult it can be to not be able to have diary and I wanted to let people know how uncomfortable it really can be when you do mistakenly take in lactose. The set-up of this blog will be my take on various restaurants/food trucks/ food carts and their adaptability to people being lactose intolerant. I will also be doing different recipes and cooking ideas for people who are lactose intolerant. I happen to be a total foodie and this was one of the most devastating things ever to learn that I'll never get to eat pizza ever again! I'm from New Jersey for pete's sake! So I want to dive head first into the world of being lactose intolerant, maybe trying being a vegan, maybe subsatuting soy milk for milk in recipes, maybe trying those lactose pills. Who knows where this adventure will take me, I only hope to learn and grow.
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