Replacing Dairy
When thinking about removing dairy from your diet, it seems daunting. Giving up some of your favorite foods can cause great grief. I am here to tell you that there are many items out there that can make great replacements. You don’t have to give up flavor or creaminess just because you can’t do dairy.
The most easily found replacement is soy. I would like to offer a word of caution before you embark on the soy train. Soy can be a high allergen. As you are healing your digestive track by removing all offending items, it is still vulnerable. So although you have removed the main foods that are irritating your gut, adding another highly allergenic food in large quantities can cause you to become sensitive to that new food as well. To help defend against secondary allergic reactions, we try to limit soy as much as possible. We still use it for certain things as there are no other suitable replacements. However if there are rice, coconut, or other options, we will choose those first.
I would also like to point out that some people are able to tolerate goat’s milk products even if they have sensitivity to cow’s milk products. I suggest you remove all dairy first to give your body a chance to begin healing and then if you feel so inclined, give it a whirl. We have not yet tried goat’s milk or cheese but this spring I think we will give it a go. I’ll let you know what happens.
As we replace dairy, there are multiple items to consider. Let’s take each of them individually. Just click on the link and it will take you to my post on that specific product.
Do you sometimes wonder about the products you are buying? Could there be hidden dairy? To learn what to watch for, read Shoo Cow Don’t Bother Me – Hidden Ingredients, Watch Your Labels.
Please leave any questions or comments and will be happy to answer and/or research for you. I’d love to share any great products that you have found as well.