lactose free

[tonkaboots]

My 12 yr old dtr is going through a workup for lactose intolerance. Where are the best places to buy lactose-free foods? I live in the Metrwest area and have Trader Joes and Whole Foods here. Also, how effective are Lactaid chewable tablets?

[hungrybruno]

Many, many foods are lactose free (all fruits and vegetables, meats, etc) - are you looking for dairy substitutes or trying to replace a favorite packaged snack?

Lactose intolerance, I've found, is one of the easiest food sensitivities to deal with - the Lactaid pills (buy generic for sure!) work great for me, though I do take two when I'm going to eat like a bowl of ice cream or cream of something soup. Aged cow's milk cheeses and almost all sheep/goat's milk cheeses are also easy for me to digest, but will agree with lergnom that you'll have to let the digestive system heal a bit before you can handle small amounts of lactose with no trouble. Yogurt is also no trouble for me (hooray for active cultures!) and if you can find Cabot's greek yogurt it is a truly spectacularly good product.

Lactaid milk is fine, but I've found that I prefer almond milk, and Blue Diamond brand over Silk or Almond Breeze. Best of luck!

[trufflehound]

I have a friend who seems to have no trouble with goat and sheeps milk cheeses no matter how moist.

[LStaff]

Lactose free foods can be found at any supermarket.

My experience with lactaid tablets has been hit or miss. They do help mostly, but sometimes not effect enough depending on what you eat - and I discovered that eating more than two gives me issues of a different sort.

[The Chowhound Team]

Folks, please do share your tips on where to find lactose-free foods in the Metrowest area, but we do ask posters to feel free of medical discussions and advice, as that's an area we just don't cover on Chowhound. Thanks!

[lergnom]

My experience is lactaid and the equivalent - like Costco's Kirkland brand lactase, which is cheaper - work very well. Because lactose hides in a lot of things, including pills, I take them often. No side effects.

As a note, if there has been irritation caused by undiagnosed intolerance it can take some months of low fiber, low irritant (like hot sauce) eating for the system to calm. Then pills are fine.

To give an example, I can eat cream soup with a pill. Or a block of cheese. I can't otherwise tolerate dairy at all.

[meeps2002]

I personally have it. I never felt the tablets did much. Definitely buy generic, and I typically take 2 if I am about to have anything like ice cream.

I much prefer Lactaid Milk, but even more so have completely switched to Almond Milk.

I find WF and TJs have similar selections to that of a Shaws. Lactose free products just haven't seemed to hit the market that strong.

One awesome fact: Cabot Cheese is lactose free, so if he's a cheese fan, this won't effect him at all. (I assume more are, but as least you get assurance from them)

http://www.cabotcheese.coop/pages/lac...

[mkfisher]

A total +1 to Cabot Cheese. I can eat an entire block of Seriously Sharp with no repurcussions. It's wonderful.

[DoubleMan]

Almost all aged cheeses are lactose free because the lactose gets consumed by the bacteria. The general rule is the older the cheese, the less lactose.

I have a casein allergy, which has some similarities to lactose intolerance on its face, but the foods one can eat are different. I can't eat any cheese, especially high-protein aged cheeses, but butter, except in enormous quantities, isn't a problem. The reverse is usually true for the lactose intolerant.