1. Review Your Eating Habits
On a low-lactose diet, reduce your intake of milk and dairy products, as these items are high in lactose. Write down your eating habits for one week. Highlight the dairy products. These include all milks, cheeses, yogurt and products with milk baked into them. Don't forget the creamy sauces, cakes, cookies and other baked goods.
2. Most Important Meal of the Day
The most important meal of the day is breakfast. In North America, this is usually a dairy-based meal. On a low-lactose diet, you need to select different items for breakfast. Instead of cereal and milk, try oatmeal made with water. Try toast or a sandwich. In other countries, where most people eat a low-lactose diet, breakfast is fresh fruit, tea or coffee and some type of bread. If you need protein in the morning, try nut butters or a trail mix of fruits and nuts to get you going.
3. Lunch and Dinner Ideas
Avoid lactose in your main meals by eating foods from Asia, Latin America, India, Spain and Africa. Most of the dishes from these countries have little to no milk in them. Avoid Italian, English and French cuisine, as they have quite a bit of milk products in their main dishes. Never order a lunch with any type of white sauce. This includes creamy salad dressings, alfredo sauce and rose sauce; all have cream or milk.
4. Time for Dessert
Almost all desserts or baked goods have milk on the list of ingredients. This is definitely true of commercially baked goods. Avoid dairy in these dishes by making your own desserts. Popular low-lactose desserts include fruit-based dishes, compete and pies. Apple crumbles, baked pear and other fruit-based desserts are dairy free.
5. Learn to Cook
It is hard to have a low-lactose diet if your eating includes many commercially prepared dishes or restaurant food. Milk or milk products are added as a binder to a lot of dishes, often in places where you least expect it. Check the labels of the prepared packaged foods that you normally buy. Any packaged food that just needs water added to create a sauce contains milk ingredients. The best way to have a low-lactose diet is to cook from scratch. Get a cookbook for an exotic cuisine and get started. It is actually easier and better for you!
