The treatment for lactose intolerance is to avoid milk and dairy products, or to limit your intake to a ‘safe’ level at which you do not experience any symptoms.
Different dairy foods contain different levels of lactose. For example, a lot of mature or hard cheeses, such as cheddar and parmesan, are quite low in lactose. Unfortunately, you cannot gauge a food’s lactose content from the label, so it's worth experimenting.
Live yoghurt is worth including in your diet if you can, as it contains live bacteria that help digest lactose. These yoghurts also boost the levels of healthy bacteria in your gut, which again can reduce symptoms, and may help you recover better from secondary lactose intolerance caused by antibiotics.
Reduced or low-lactose milks are milks which are ‘predigested’ to reduce their levels of lactose, and are suitable for many people with lactose intolerance. These are available from most supermarkets and health food stores.
These foods are lactose free:
- all soya milks, yoghurts and ‘cheeses’,
- all ‘milks’ made from rice, oats, quinoa, almonds, hazelnuts, coconut and potato,
- all foods which carry the 'dairy free’ or ‘suitable for vegans’ signs, and
- pure, dark chocolate and carob bars.
It is a good idea to avoid anything that can irritate or damage the gut, such as excessively spicy food or alcohol.
There is no need to adopt a vegan diet when you're diagnosed with lactose intolerance. Fish, meat and eggs are all allowed on a lactose-free diet, and are an important source of vitamin B12, which is only available from animal sources. If you wish to become a vegan for other reasons, speak to your doctor in the first instance.
Some medicines and tablets can contain lactose, so if you're on regular medication or are prescribed a new medicine, it's worth speaking with your doctor about its potential lactose content.
