Are you one of the 30-50 million Americans who find eating dairy products like milk, ice cream, and even a slice of cheese pizza to be a painful experience?  If so, you might be suffering from a digestive condition called lactose intolerance. 

Healthy dairy-free eating

Dairy-free & delicious

The lactose-free cookbook

Milk is not for every body

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Healthy dairy-free eating : [100 delicious recipes from breakfast to a late-night snack by an expert team of chef and dietician]

Mini C with Tanya Carr ; photography by Martin Brigdale.

[London?] : Kyle Cathie ; Lanham, MD : distributed by National Book Network, 2009, c2005.

Dietitian Tanya Haffner starts the book with a discussion on the benefits of a dairy-free diet, and gives advice on the wide range of dairy alternatives available, including shopping and cooking tips. Mini C includes inspirational Asian-style dishes such as Jungle Curry with Lychees and Zucchini and Black Sticky Rice Pudding with Coconut, as well her delicious soy versions of clam chowder, caesar salad, lasagna, quiche, and lemon cheesecake.

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Dairy-free & delicious

nutritional information by Brenda Davis ; recipes by Bryanna Clark Grogan, Joanne Stepaniak.

Summertown, TN : Book Pub. Co., c2001.

Over 100 delicious recipes for managing milk allergy and lactose intolerance, with comprehensive information on dairy-free diets. Includes home tests to help determine if you have a dairy allergy and tables listing the breakdown of lactose in popular foods. Ms. Davis also explains why getting enough calcium doesn't depend only on how much you eat but how much you keep. Learn which calcium supplements are the best, and which foods are calcium rich.

Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

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The lactose-free cookbook

Sheri Updike.

New York : Warner Books, c1998.

Includes 200 lactose-free recipes and features a "Quick Fixin'" section of 30-minute-or-less dinners and desserts. Copyright #169; Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

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Milk is not for every body : living with lactose intolerance

Steve Carper ; foreword by Robert Kornfield.

New York, N.Y. : Facts on File, c1995.

This practical and authoritative guide provides a history of lactose intolerance and describes its biological impact on the human body. It offers advice on a wide range of topics, including the lactose intolerant infant and child, how to eat out, what to look for on nutrition labels, and diagnostic testing.

Lactose intolerance is defined as lacking the ability to digest lactose, the predominant sugar found in dairy products.  When this happens nausea, stomach cramps, bloating and diarrhea may result.  While not considered to be dangerous, lactose intolerance can be very uncomfortable.  Doctors can test patients to see if they are lactose intolerant.

A person who is lactose intolerant may minimize the symptoms by eating smaller servings of dairy products, replacing dairy products with other foods, drinking lactose-reduced milk, or adding lactase enzymes that are available over the counter to their diet.

Care must be taken to assure that calcium and other nutrients provided by dairy products are replaced for balanced nutrition.

Learning to cook without dairy foods can be done without sacrificing the taste of your food. The palate can accept subtle changes in the way you eat, without letting you feel that you have given up delicious flavors. Experimentation with new flavors and ingredients is needed.

Lactose intolerance may be widespead affecting people of all ages and ethnic populations (as many as 75% of all African-Americans and American Indians and 90% of Asian-Americans are lactose intolerant).  But by following a carefully chosen diet, most people can reduce the symptoms and protect their health.

Article by: St. Louis Public Library staff