Lactose intolerance is nowhere near as rare as you might think it is. Some people have it for as long as they can remember, but all of us start to have a little more trouble digesting dairy as we get older.
However, that still leaves a whole bunch of foods that you can’t enjoy as freely as you used to. Here, we’re going to look at how it’s not all doom and gloom, with some alternatives you can buy or even make yourself.
No more nibbles of cheese
When it comes to cheese, it’s all about getting the texture right. There are a lot of soft cream cheeses made using coconut milk or soy, which are not only delicious but great for helping you meet weight loss targets. You can even make your own home-made faux cheese dips by blending soft tofu with chives, fried onions, and a little bit of salt, too.
Image – Pixabay License
The glass-half-full approach
Some people have trouble finding a good replacement for milk, so it’s a good thing that there are plenty of different options. Soy milk and rice milk are readily available in most stores, and there are some rarer choices such as oat milk, cashew milk, and even hemp milk.
When it comes to a great taste and accurate texture, however, following this almond milk recipe could prove precisely the solution you need. If you’re using milk for desserts or other sweet foods, coconut milk works great, too.
What’s the scoop?
There are few frozen treats that are quite as delightful as a scoop of ice cream. Thankfully, pretty much all of the milk alternatives mentioned above can be made into ice cream pretty easily, too. With options like coconut and almond milk, you already have your flavor frozen into them, too. However, learning how to make fruit sorbets can be an even sweeter alternative, too.
But what about butter?
Butter alternatives like margarine have been on the supermarket shelves for a long time, now. However, there are also choices that are a little closer in texture to the real thing, and easier to make naturally, as well.
If you want to avoid processed foods, then you can just as easily use olive oil for flavoring foods, and coconut oil acts as a great replacement when it comes to baking, as well. Avocado, on the other hand, makes for an excellent spread.
Good for the non-lactose intolerant too
The alternatives above could be a godsend for those who can’t eat dairy. However, even if you can, it may still be worth your while to start easing it out of your diet or at least start eating less of it.
Cutting dairy out of your diet has been shown to remove the risk of unwanted effects from steroids and hormones that might be in your milk, and could even reduce the risk of a cancer diagnosis.
Being lactose intolerant really isn’t much of a barrier, nowadays. Even if your local store doesn’t cater to your tastes, it’s relatively easy to make your own alternatives such as almond milk.