Going Dairy free - how hard is it

[Debs75]

Not sure if this is in the right place but here goes.

I am thinking of going dairy free. I have horrendous eczema and psoriasis and bad sinuses. The first two cause me to be incredibly itchy and my skin is paper dry. The sinuses leave me with a permanent runny nose and I also get postnasal drip. I have tried all the creams that the dr's have prescribed and they don't do a lot of good, plus the feel of cream on my skin makes me itch even more. I take allergy meds everyday which give some relief but not much.
It has been suggested that going dairy-free could help. I barely drink milk, I don't eat much cheese as am dieting although I do have a liking for butter. I know I would have to drop chocolate and cream but how hard could it be?

My son is dairy free. We have coconut milk on our cereal (I like it better than cows milk and can barely tell the difference) I bake with Stork gold wrapper, and make things like sauce for lasagne etc - again - can't tell the difference. Decent dairy free chocolate costs silly money though. M&S do a dairy free spread which isn't soya based (soya spread is yukky) and is great for sandwiches etc..... be careful to read labels and ask in restaurants though, milk is in practically everything! Breads, sausages, all sorts of random stuff you wouldn't think it was in.

I guess it can be easier for some than others. We don't eat dairy as a family- I don't give it much thought- kids don't enjoy it and none of us have a sweet tooth.

Very doable, you just have to do a bit of research, spend time reading ingredients and familiarising yourself with some new recipes and cooking techniques. In 3-6 months it will seem easy and more and more normal.

There is lots of dairy-free chocolate available - lots of manufacturers say 'may contain traces' or even 'contains traces' as it's produced in the same factory and they don't want to be sued. If you're not actually allergic, that's not a problem.

Pure and Vitalite for maragarine (veg, sunflower or soya).

For dairy-free 'cheese sauce' I' can recommend using nutritional yeast and a bit of mustard. Crushed pine nuts make it creamier but are v expensive. You can do similar sauces with creamed cashews.

Have a look at the vegan soc and www.theppk.com/

I'm dairy free, and find it really easy. There's lots of chocolate about that's dairy free, you can buy soya cream, etc.

eating out is a bit more tricky, for example almost no Indian restaurants are ok. But I just have Chinese, Thai, Italian etc.

Going dairy free is far easier than gluten free.

I think it's possible to go dairy free without using substitues. It wouldn't occur to me to buy a spread or margarine, cheese sauce just doesn't figure in my menus.
I lived for a time in SE Asia where many people don't eat dairy at all, I love that style of cooking, so eat a lot at home.

Thankyou all. I never even thought about tins of sauces etc.
I think I will start with the easy, drop milk and cheese and butter and look for alternatives. Then I will look for 'hidden' milks.

Oh, don't bother with pretend 'cheese' it is pretty horrible and doesn't melt properly, whereas soya yogurts (Alpro) and ice creams (Tofutti, Swedish Glace) are quite nice.

Have you had your iron level checked? My GP was unaware low iron levels could cause a severe exema breakout and took consultants referral to get it picked up.

DS is dairy free. (CMPA) We cook from scratch so it's not been too difficult to avoid, I started making bread with a bit of oil instead of a bit of butter, we use coconut milk in a lot of cooking (soups etc) and baking we either use dairy free recipes (so usually using oil instead) or use dairy free butter alternatives. We use to eat a lot of cheese in meals, our consumption of pancetta, anchovies, capers, and olives have gone up to replace the salt kick of cheese. DS eats a lot of peanut butter, houmous and sardines for calcium (plus he is BF but thankfully I don't have to be dairy free so get my calcium from the traditional routes).

We have had problems with random foods containing milk, you really do have to check all labels. We've not had a problem with dark chocolate, but since he goes red and itchy rather than starting to swell I assume anything that says 'may contain...' is OK for us, worst case is he has some piriton and we get a full nights sleep, I might not play so fast and loose if I was worried about anaphylactic shock. Tesco labelling is terrible (EVERYTHING says 'may contain nuts' but they don't seem to care about other allergies at all) but Sainsbury's publishes a monthly list of all their foods that are 'free-from' for all the major food allergens which can be useful.

I have gone reduced dairy as I've been recently diagnosed with endometriosis. I too have bad eczema and psoriasis and most disappointingly have noticed little (if any) difference in my skin. It is definitely worth a try though.

I have rice milk on cereal and prefer it to milk.

littone I am having a full blood count done on Monday so I will ask about my iron levels. I have been ill recently and very tired from it. I just assumed the stress of everything was causing the eczema.

Good luck with the blood test. My eczema started to improve with some new creams the consultant prescribed, but my face was clear after 1 month on the iron tablets, and have never had a breakout affecting my face again.

Littone When I had my bloods the nurse told me my iron levels were low last time which could explain the eczema. I'm hoping they are better this time

Fingers crossed for you. Was sorting out some paperwork yesterday and found the letter from the dermatologist. Normal ferritin range is apparently 20-150 and mine was 6! Have you gone diary free yet?

Not yet. I am slowly cutting back on milk, cheese etc. Hoping to find some alternatives which fit into weightwatchers. I love the almond milk but am aware it is very sugary