Hi
I am just wondering what sorts of alternatives you all use for dairy products, I have Bronchiectisis and have read that dairy products are not really good for any lung condition, I am not a big drinker of tea, but I do like a nice cuppa in the morning, I must admit I drank a lot my when I was shielding, now I'm back at work I probably have about 3 cups a day, I am also very partial to a nice bit of chocolate, I have tried soya milk and found that yukky. So what do you all use and why please.
I also was told that when i first got diagnosed. I stoped all dairy for a few months. I couldn't find a nice alternative (alot of nut milks ect are sweetend ) so i went back to milk. I realy dident notice any difference. If you take any form of steriod you do need to keep your calcium levels up. So if you stop all dairy you should take a supplement to stop osteoporosis later on.
I eliminated dairy from my diet for years, goat's milk, yogurt & cheese, sheep's cheese, in the end it made not one bit of difference - apart from possibly contributing to osteopenia.
If i were you I'd wean myself on to an organic higher cocoa content chocolate . If you only have one or two cuppas a day I doubt if dairy would make much difference - you could try lactose free, readily available.
My daughter's fridge is full of every kind of alternative milk, oat, pea, almond, coconut & more. She finds organic Koko the best for tea. Her partner finds them all vile except the pea milk in his flat whites but i prefer the Koko in my fresh coffee, worth remembering that a lot of the alternatives separate when ovdr heated for coffee &cocoa making
As an additional viewpoint, I heard so many rave reviews about pea milk but when I tried it I honestly was not a fan! Thankfully more supermarkets are bringing out more own-brand alternatives (such as tiger nut milk etc.) so it’s less expensive to try lots of different ones. Totally agree with the higher cocoa content choc!
I have had bronch all of my life and have not found that depriving myself of dairy products helped at all. In fact I need the nutrients. I think that maybe those whose conditions can be caused by allergy such as asthma, may benefit from cutting it out if it is one of their triggers. As bronch is caused by damage to the lungs, usually through repeated infections, there does not seem to be any point.
Totally agree LP
Yes, ok for some people. My brother in law has healthy lungs but an allergy to dairy which causes massive catarrh. So to go dairy free has helped him. I'm happy I discovered that for me it makes no difference. All of the alternatives are disgusting. 😆
I have a pint of milk a day with my build up drinks,it is full of protein,calcium,minerals and fortfied with vit D etc etc,lashings of butter on toast and eat more cheese than Wallace & Gromit,i have a healthy heart and lungs riddled by emphysema that are almost non existent but they have no problems with dairy products. 
I was told, to find out if dairy produce dos affect you go dairy free for a month. Then have a dairy based day. You will notice the difference, if there is any.
I include dairy products all the time now because going free from made no difference.
It used to be a common belief that dairy increased mucus production but that has been found not to be the case however, so long as you’re in contact with a doctor, and ensure you’re getting sufficient calcium etc., there’s likely to be no issue with going dairy free! Some people choose dairy alternatives as they’re lower in calories which some people need. Others want to reduce demand for dairy products (as very high demand can put pressure on farmers leading to unethical practices, even though dairy farming is not in itself unethical: same goes for meat products, particularly chicken. Not saying that everyone needs to do that even if they can but it’s a completely valid reason for reducing dairy intake!) or may be reducing fat intake. However even if you require a high calorie or high fat diet, if you want to go dairy free it’s still entirely possible
I’m intolerant to dairy so enjoy a dairy-free diet. Favourite milk alternatives are basic soya milk or coconut milk alt. (E.g. Alpro Coconut: if you need high fat or high calorie, coconut milk from a can, which you can find in the Thai/Indian/Caribbean section at the supermarket usually, is excellent) for coffees, cereal, and milkshakes; almond as a low calorie and less-nutty alternative to soya, and rice milk for a drink on its own (this is higher in sugar so makes a nice sweet milk drink, but is of course not suitable for everyone).
Favourite cheese alternatives include Mexicana Vegan cheese (excellent for melted spicy cheese), Tesco’s new free from ‘halloumi’ (definitely not halloumi in flavour but my gosh does this stuff melt brilliantly. Actually a better replacement for mozzarella in paninis, cheese toasties, and pizzas than the free from ‘mozzarella’), Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury’s cheddar-style cheese, Tesco/Asda/Sainsbury’s garlic+chive spread, Violife spread, Violife blue, Violife ‘Greek style’ (feta-ish), and Violife smoked (which is REALLY good if you like smoked cheese!). Violife also does a parmesan-style wedge (I think it’s called Prosociano?) which does the job. They almost all smell awful when you open them, but they do taste better than they smell. My main tip for DF cheeses is not to expect cheddar or mozzarella or whatever. Instead, think about the cheese counter or aisle at any supermarket and the sheer variety of cheeses which all taste and feel different..and then just approach DF cheeses as if they were simply another type of cheese at the cheese counter.
Butters etc.: Flora is always a very good bet, and although they’re more expensive, they also do their added plant sterols version which is value added for anyone watching their cholesterol. There’s also a Danish brand called Naturo or Naturio or something like that and they do a ‘vegan block’ which is actually amazing.
If you have a sweet tooth, supermarket-own-brand Angel cake is usually dairy free. Similarly, dirt-cheap plain chocolate digestives such as the ones from Tesco, or ‘savers’ Jaffa cakes, are generally dairy free without also being gluten free. The Genius pancakes, brioche buns, and chocolate muffins are all great (slightly powdery because they’re gluten free but really not that noticeable at all). Lotus Biscoffi biscuits and spreads are all dairy free. Bourneville chocolate and many ‘plain chocolate’ or dark chocolates are dairy free. Alpro vanilla custard is brilliant, and Alpro or Provamel chocolate pots taste like chocolate custard! Morrison’s does dairy free chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry 1 pint ice cream pots for 80p each, Jude’s Low calorie vegan chocolate ice cream is amazing, and Alpro ice creams are always good (particularly the salted caramel one). Lastly, an airport favourite of mine is the Coconut Collaborative chocolate paradise pots. To the extent I literally made a trip to the airport once just to get one. They do sell them in other Boots stores though, and their mini dessert pots are available in many supermarkets. I would particularly recommend their salted caramel choc pot things.
There are many other things but I have definitely waffled for way too long now haha!
Oo also I think someone else has already mentioned this, but most commercially-available milk alternatives have been fortified with calcium. I know for a fact that Morrison’s and Tesco’s own brand dairy alternatives all contain the same amount of calcium, as do Alpro ones
Spectacular reply. Love it. I would have killed for this when the local team were adamant for 7 years that the child had to be totally dairy and to some extent calcium free for two hours either side of her cipro. Where were you?! 😂
I have found rice milk works well in tea or you could try oat milk. I thought soya milk was good in coffee
I actually use almond, coconut or cashew milk on my cereal. You can get sweetened and unsweetened. Also in a smoothie if I want one.
You can get coconut yoghurt alpro does one, along with other nut yoghurts and plain.
I don't know of any replacement cheese about from goats cheese, which I am quite partial to.
I do still have cows milk in my tea these days though
When the child was incredibly problematic on several fronts as a baby, they decided to switch her to a completely dairy free diet in the hopes of alleviating some of the chest issues and/or whatever lay behind the severe reflux she had. All that actually happened was a 9 month old with intractable wheeze, a dodgy chest, and weight concerns stopped drinking milk entirely, despite it being considered the main food source until the age of one. At about 18 months and after 8 months of her only drinking juice or water, to the point that she was having to have juice based supplements 3 or 4 times a day, off licence, to get weight on her, they decided that being dairy free clearly wasn’t helping in any way, shape, or form, so we went back to a normal diet, and found she was no worse off for it chest-wise. Because she’s also autistic, it then took us the better part of 4 years to get her drinking milk again, though. These days, she won’t touch juice or squash of any description, not even to try, but will drink milk by the gallon. Perverse child.
As others have mentioned, there used to be this idea that milk/dairy generally increased the volume and thickness of mucus, and was therefore not a good idea for people with productive lung conditions, but this was debunked a few years back. There are some that subscribe to the idea that dairy can be inflammatory, which is also something that you don’t really want with lung issues, but studies have subsequently concluded that it’s actually anti-inflammatory for all but those with lactose intolerance or a daily allergy.
All of that said, if you want to try it and see if there’s any benefit for you, there’s no harm as long as you’re still getting calcium and sufficient calories to maintain weight. I know a couple of people personally that didn’t realise they had mild lactose intolerance until going dairy free for lifestyle reasons, and they subsequently felt much better for it. Never went back. For quite a prolonged period of 7 years or so, the child’s local team said she couldn’t have dairy or calcium for two hours either side of taking cipro, so we became quite au fait with a number of substitutes. The Alpro soya flavoured milks went down well, but the only natural flavoured milk she would tolerate for cereal or drinking ‘neat’ was rice milk, probably because it is sweeter. I tried it in tea and found it wasn’t that dissimilar to skimmed milk, but just had a little bit of an after taste. It wasn’t unpleasant, not unless you’re one of those that believes skimmed milk is Satan’s doing 😂 I also found I personally didn’t mind oat milk. Alpro desserts are fab and I still regularly buy the chocolate ones to this day as a first choice. The vanilla pots also taste a lot like custard. We never found a decent alternative to cheese, but then it’s been 4 years since we stopped with the dairy constraints and dietary alternatives have come along way since then from what I see wandering around the supermarkets. Kinnerton chocolate is dairy free, and you used to be able to order a whole bunch of dairy free chocolate stuff on the plamil foods website. Not sure how good they are now, though.
Someone else mentioned that milk producing mucus and being bad for lungs has been debunked. I have read that too, but what you omit is that it was found that milk COULD affect mucus in the throat, sinuses etc.
I was really pleased to get organic full cream milk from a friend who gets deliveries from the milkman. I used it a lot in different ways - and that's after not having had much for a while though not by intention - and I started getting more and more laryngospasm from build up of post nasal drip which can slide down the throat to the voice box. These spasms are quite shocking and can stop you breathing in or out until the mucus is cleared - it can go on for up to 45 minutes until it resolves.
I stopped having this milk except for with coffee once a day and very occasionally in other situations and, miraculo! the spasms slowly stopped, lessening over a week until not I hardly ever have them. I can eat a bit of cheese each day without problem.
So please remember, people, that milk can affect mucus levels just not, thank heavens, in the lungs. And of course everyone is different.
i have no problem with dairy but couldnt stand the long lifemilk when on self catering holidays in more remote greek islands so gave it up by drinking weaker tea but now prefer Earl Grey tea . Now i drink hot chocolate all the time, or water if not available . Hot chocolate is much too sweet so mix it half and half with cocoa y . Incidentally my sister does the same it seems.
I use lactose free products. I don’t like a lot of dairy foods anyway so it’s not a huge hardship for me but like you I like a couple of cups of tea and so use lactose free milk. Can’t taste any difference - my husband also has it in his tea and he’s really fussy about the taste of tea - we went through loads of the nut/soya milks and we thought they all changed the taste of a lovely cup of tea!!!
Hi I have Bronchiectasis and have not been told anything about avoiding dairy products. I use normal semi skim milk as I always have does not affect me at all.
Swedish Glace ice cream is dairy free.
I had it at our son's this week and it is really lovely ice cream. No one in their family needs to be dairy free but the local shop had run out of ordinary vanilla which is the only ice cream one granddaughter likes so they bought this and it is so nice they intend to buy it again!
xx Moy
Addicted to Violife cheese slices (made from coconut oil) - good on toast (sometimes under the grill, other times uncooked), very tasty with chips and salad. Think the Violife blocks are pretty good too. I have inflammatory arthritis and not eating dairy really helps with that so not sure about its connection to lung diseases (though some sources say that dairy does contribute to inflammation generally).
We use almond milk and I've found that I have become addicted to drinking it cold from the fridge. My granddaughter is dairyfree and loves Oatley barista milk - more creamy taste. She loves the Violife cheese slices(not as smelly as some). We all love the Swedish glace vanilla ice cream. xx Anita
I make my own nut milk using almonds, brazils, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, with a lump of root ginger as well in the blender. Much thicker than shop bought stuff and delicious on porridge.
Sounds yummy
Thanks for all of your replies, it does seem the general consensus is that dairy doesn't make much difference unless you are totally intolerant to it for other reasons, which as far as I know I am not, I will certainly keep my eye on it though, I may try some of the alternative ice creams etc, I use semi skimmed milk anyway so will probably carry on unless anything gets worse 🙂
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Dairy and Lungs? 
