Dairy intolerance advice please...

[rachelleigh73]

I have been loving my cream coffees, cream soups, creamy egg dishes and cheese with everything. But - I have suddenly developed the most awful acne and believe that the uplift in dietary dairy is probably to blame. There seems to be an established link between the two. I'm just wondering what it is about cream etc that causes this? Is lactose-free likely to help? Or goats cream instead of cows? And if it is all dairy - what are my best alternatives? Most plant based cream alternatives seem to be high carb. All thoughts much appreciated - many thanks!

[Praveen55]

rachelleigh73

I am really not expert on this subject and therefore treat my reply with this mind.

If I am not wrong, you have been consuming dairy products for a long time and recent problem you are facing is in response to substantially higher intake of dairy. In that case why don't you try to limit its consumption e.g. use cream in coffee but not in your food preparations. Avoid cheese. There are many on LCHF diet who have reported cheese does not go well for them.

I hope you will receive better replies to your query.

[rachelleigh73 in reply to Praveen55]

Great reply - thanks Praveen55. Cheese and cream have felt key to my success with LCHF - so it feels like a shame that there's been this reaction. I've reduced intake significantly and am exploring alternatives....

[moreless]

You might like to have a look at this, rachelleigh73 dietdoctor.com/low-carb/ben...

[rachelleigh73 in reply to moreless]

Thanks moreless - interesting article - especially around the subject of insulin and IGF-1 - I've wondered about lactose and insulin before...

[Cosmo501]

Hello, I hope you’re able to find the right balance for you, and your skin settles down. I also cannot eat much cheese or cream (for different reasons though) however I’m finding that I’m still able to eat the good balance to enjoy a LCHF way of eating. Probably just eating more olive oil and avocado than most people! - and the occasional bit of cream in coffee or mixed with flaxseed. Definitely I can’t cook with cream or cheese. I’m still new to all this, still learning, and will be interested to see any replies you receive.

Have a great weekend!

[rachelleigh73 in reply to Cosmo501]

Thanks Cosmo501 - I'm thinking about how to add richness to soups - I wonder if avocado would be a good substitute - thanks for the suggestion!

[Stoozie in reply to rachelleigh73]

Coconut milk or creamed coconut would be a LCHF choice. Works well if the soup is a bit spicy, gives a Thai curry feel.

[rachelleigh73 in reply to Stoozie]

Lovely suggestions - thanks Stoozie!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador]

Dairy intolerance is fairly common, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions without getting a proper test. Of course there's no harm in just eliminating all dairy products to see what happens (they're certainly not essential) but it may turn out that you have an intolerance/allergy to something fairly specific, and you'll be unnecessarily limiting your diet.

Also worth reiterating (as I think Praveen55 mentioned) that you shouldn't necessarily be slathering fat on everything just for the sake of it. You definitely do need to do this for the first few weeks of induction and weight loss, but most people find it gets a bit much after a while and they naturally crank it down. This is your body figuring out that you've got plenty of spare bodyfat to burn through, and your appetite naturally demands less dietary fat. This state will persist for a long time - you may find that you're eating quite a modest amount of fat and a correspondingly modest average daily calorie intake. Eventually your appetite for both carbs and fat will start to rise again (slightly) to a maintenance level, but it may be a year or more before that happens.

[rachelleigh73 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Thanks as always TAD - I've had an awareness for some time that too much milk gave me sinus problems - and am eating so 'cleanly' atm that I feel sure if there is a dietary cause it has to be the dairy. I'm hoping that I can substitute goats products, which seem to produce less of an inflammatory respond for some. And yes - some testing might help to establish exactly where the problem lies - thanks for the suggestion...

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to rachelleigh73]

The main reason for getting properly tested is that, when you have a serious allergic reaction to something, you can become sensitized to other things - which, if you're not careful, will lead you to conclude that you're allergic to a wider range of things than you actually are. Typically the way it's done is to have you eat a very restricted diet for a week or two (to eliminate virtually every possibility) and then they do the test when your symptoms have receded. Also, the hospital/clinic will be able to test for all sorts of things that you may not have thought of.

If the hospital doesn't tell you to follow this procedure, it would be worth doing it anyway prior to the test so that you can be guaranteed an accurate result with no false positives.

[rachelleigh in reply to TheAwfulToad]

So sorry I seemed to have missed this reply TAD - thanks again as always for your input. You are invaluable on this forum...

I'm substituting with soya cream where possible - the carbs are higher than I would like but I do seem to tolerate it better. I have had some testing done privately which didn't show up dairy to be a particular problem (although gluten was) - but there is a clear link based on symptoms. I know that if I cut out dairy my nose stops running! Bodies are funny old things aren't they...? Well... my one is... 😂 Thanks again!

[ChubbieChops]

Are you also eating lots of veg? It's easy to get carried away eating all the cream and butter (which I adore) but make sure you eat lots of low carb veg too

[rachelleigh in reply to ChubbieChops]

Thanks ChubbieChops - your name made me smile! I love my veggies and I also rate the value of eating a lot of phytonutrients so I tend to pack a lot of veggies in. It's good advice - thanks for replying!

[ChubbieChops in reply to rachelleigh]

You're very welcome. I'm hoping that I will need to change my name in the not too distant future. 😜 Hope the acne settles down.

[rachelleigh in reply to ChubbieChops]

Thanks CC... 😊

[Cooper27]

I'm lactose intollerant, and have discovered you can get digestive enzymes (lactase) to help ease symptoms. I try to avoid too much dairy, and wouldn't opt to take them every day, but for the odd meal you might find they help.

[rachelleigh in reply to Cooper27]

Interesting - thanks Cooper27 😊