Foods with Lactose

{via}

I have been slowly taking lactose out of my diet for the past few weeks. This process has not been the easiest since I love pizza and cheese, but the effects it has had on me make a lactose-free diet totally worth it. After researching and testing what foods I can eat, I have become quite surprised what foods have or do not have lactose. Of course, there is a broad spectrum of lactose intolerance- from those who cannot have any lactose product at all, to those that can have a few different lactose containing foods. I fall somewhere right in the middle. 

So, let's go over some things that have lactose in them, starting with the most and ending with the least lactastic of them all...  

High Lactose Products

Milk of course milk would be on this list, it's milk. This includes dehydrated milk and evaporated milk as well. No matter what you get, all milk has lactose and anyone with a lactose intolerance will have a hard time digesting it.

Creamers are a thicker form of milk. Flavored coffee creamers, half and half, and dairy shortenings tend to have high levels of lactose.

Meal Shakes  most meal shakes are made with milk, dehydrated milk, or evaporated milk. All of these are high in the sugar, lactose.  

Processed Cheese this form of cheese has the highest levels of lactose of any cheese types. Processed cheeses include cheese spreads, liquid cheeses (Velveta anyone?), and the cheeses most commonly associated with sandwich cheeses- especially those from fast food restaurants.

Ice Cream   desserts made with milk will have higher amounts of lactose. Ice cream, therefore, is one of the highest lactose desserts since it is almost completely made of milk. Even some soy ice creams have lactose in them; be sure to read the ingredients list.  

Soft Cheese  cheeses like ricotta are higher in lactose than other aged cheeses because of their liquid nature. This includes most cream cheese and sour cream as well.

Mid-Range Lactose Products

Aged Cheese  cheeses that have gone through higher fermentation will have less lactose since so much of it has been broken down. A good rule of thumb for hard cheeses is, the older the cheese, the less lactose it has.

 Salad Dressings  especially the creamier dressing run a high chance of having lactose in them. If you want to be safe all around, avoid creamy dressings and read the ingredients list for oil based dressings as well.

Automatic Desserts this includes the break and bake cookies, cake and brownie mixes, and pre-made desserts. All of these have a certain level of lactose, but only some people are affected by them.

Butter and Margarine these are at the bottom of the Mid range list because they are on the line between low and middle. Most of the lactose is taken out of butter while processing. Butters made with flax seed or clarified butter will have even less lactose.

Low Lactose Products

Yogurt  although yogurt has milk and dairy in it, it has been fermented. The live bacterial cultures found in yogurt have already broken down a lot of the lactose sugars. In fact, this is one dairy product that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends those with lactose intolerance trying.

Hard, Aged Cheese cheese falls into every category of lactose we have. This is because there are so many different amounts of lactose depending on the cheese. Hard, aged cheeses like Parmesan, Swiss, and Blue Cheese have the lowest levels of lactose of all the cheeses. Most people with lactose intolerance can eat these in small quantities and be fine. 

Cottage Cheese like hard, aged cheeses, cottage cheese has very low amounts of lactose. This is due to the fermentation process.

Processed Foods there are so many processed foods that it would take four pages to list them all out. Even foods that do not have milk naturally can have milk additives in them when put through processing. A few examples of processed foods would be potato chips, sausage, hot dogs, gravy, gravy stock, certain beers, etc.

Breads  although it is very low, some breads (especially processed breads) can have the lactose sugar. If you are extremely sensitive to lactose, be weary of store bought breads.

Mayo and Tartar although it may sound silly, I was not sure if these products had milk in them. Turns out, they do not. Mayo is made with eggs and oil and tartar is made with mayo, dill pickles, onion, hard boiled eggs, chives, and a few other things. Phew, sandwich lovers everywhere can breath again!