How to go Dairy Free (including product suggestions)!

With approximately 65 – 70% of the worldwide adult population having a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy, it is not uncommon that we ask our clients to go without dairy for a period of time. If relevant, this helps us as practitioners to determine if someone is reacting to lactose, and/or may be lactose intolerant.

When lactose is not digested properly, it can be fermented by gut microbiota leading to symptoms that include:

– Abdominal pain

– Bloating

– Excess flatulence

– Diarrhoea

– Constipation

If dairy is suspected to be the culprit to adverse digestive symptoms, I suggest keeping a food diary for 5 days and analysing it with your health care practitioner. This simple and free ‘test’ can be a fantastic tool for determining what is not working in your current diet.

Going dairy free is not the hardest thing you will do in your life (I promise!), however it does take preparation and commitment. I suggest treating it as a X amount of weeks trial, not a forever way of eating. This usually makes the idea of going dairy free more approachable and manageable – and less daunting!

The hardest part of going dairy free is knowing what to eat instead of. Well, lucky I am here to give you my top brand suggestions to replace your current dairy options! All you need to do is have your fridge stocked with these options and you are on your way to the DF lifestyle.

My Top Dairy Free Substitutes

Milk

– Nutty Bruce

– CocoQuench

– Inside Out (unsweetened)

Yoghurt

– Coyo

– Coco Tribe

– Nudie

Cheese

– Botanical Cuisine

– Sprout & Kernel

– Try savoury dips and snacks in place of cheese. Eg guacamole, hummus, babaganoush, olives, roasted nuts

– If you can consume goats cheese (check with your practitioner), I suggest Meredith Dairy or Viking Organic

Butter

Butter is the trickiest to replace! I cannot recommend any of the dairy-free spreads currently on the market as the ingredients do not meet my standards. Instead, I suggest using:

– Extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil

– Tahini

– Avocado

– Ghee, if you tolerate this (it is not dairy free, but it is lactose free!)

– Try this recipe for vegan butter

Note; Calcium is obviously an important nutrient to consider when taking dairy out of your diet. If you are going to go dairy free, I suggest doing so under the guidance of a practitioner so you don’t make yourself prone to any nutrient deficiencies.

If you need a hand sorting out your diet, please get in touch with me by booking in a complimentary Base Chat or Simplify Session here.

Author

Jaclyn Cave, BHSc Nat, BComm Soc

Jaclyn is a qualified naturopath with a focus on women’s hormones, digestion, mood disorders, skin, and stress.

Learn more about Jaclyn here

Book a session with Jaclyn here

References

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30783042/

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/lactose-intolerance#statistics