Enjoyment Of Ice Cream For Lactose Intolerant People

Making Lactose Free Ice Cream

There is no reason for lactose intolerance to mean that ice cream is never to be enjoyed again. There are several lactose free options that can be used to make this delicious dessert. Some commercially produced examples may be found on the shelves of your supermarket or health food store.

Another option is to consider making your own tasty dessert based on one the lactose free substitute milk options. Soy, rice and almond milks can be used to produce tasty desserts. Lactose free milk, which is dairy milk with added lactase that eliminates most lactose by breaking it down into the simpler sugars glucose and galactose, which lactose intolerant people can digest more easily. These lactose free milks come in many varieties such as reduced-fat, whole, calcium enriched and flavoured.

Ice Cream and Lactose

In each ½ cup serving of regular ice cream there is approximately 6 g of lactose. People with lactose intolerance may suffer from symptoms after taking that amount of lactose. Some will be affected by even less than that. In addition to the normal level of lactose from the milk used to make ice cream, many brands found in stores have added milk solids in the ingredients which adds even more lactose.

Lactase Free Milk

Some companies produce lactose free desserts by adding the lactase enzyme in the recipe. Even when this process is used there may be traces of lactose present that can cause discomfort for some people. This type is available in several flavours and is typically rich and creamy, as the milk used has the same properties as cow's milk. It has the same level of calories, fat, protein and carbohydrates as regular milk.

Milk Substitutes and Ice Cream

Among the options for non-dairy milks to use for making your favourite dessert are soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk and almond milk. Because cow's milk tends to be thicker that than these substitutes, you may need to experiment with the recipe to make what you produce meet you preferred texture. Coconut milk can be thicker that the other substitutes so it might be better to try that. However, by trying to gain the texture you desire you may find the result has a different taste because the milk is made from coconut.

Sweetness is also another factor that will be affected by using different milk substitutes. Dairy milk is fairly sweet, so you may have to add some sweetener or adjust your taste to accept the less sweet alternatives.

Cream and Ice Cream

A typical ice cream has between 25% to 60% milk, with the remainder being cream, fruit and other ingredients. If using a lactose free milk or substitute, the lactose level will be reduced or non-existent. The cream that is part of the recipe will be a source of lactose, which may be problematic for some people. The options for substituting the cream include non-dairy whipped topping to add volume, flavour and texture.

Ice Cream Recipes

It is possible to find recipes for making lactose free homemade ice cream. Another option is to adapt a recipe for a typical homemade desserts by substituting the milk products with products that have no lactose. When using store bought ingredients for your homemade recipes remember to check the labels to make sure that they are truly lactose or dairy free.

Neville Dinning is a lactose free expert. For more information on ice cream lactose free, visit http://lactosefreenow.com/.

Original article

Lactose Intolerance and Lactose Free Information for Lifestyle Improvement

The effect of lactose intolerance

Lactose intolerance has been linked to many physical symptoms. For many people, it may be the insidious and almost un-noticed lethargy or weight gain. Others suffer from crippling migraines and "autoimmune" type symptoms that can adversely affect your lifestyle.

Some research has linked dairy to prostate cancer, breast cancer, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

Dairy and dairy products are completely safe for most people, but for others, it can be a silent (or not so silent) destroyer of a quality lifestyle.

It might be worth checking out to see if a dairy-free or dairy-limited diet improves your quality of life. By limiting your Dairy intake for a short time, there may be no reaction, or no change, and you can go back to your normal diet. On the other hand, if your migraines disappear, your cholesterol drops, your blood pressure stablises, your energy increases, your body seems lighter, your stomach calms down, and if you just FEEL BETTER, that might be telling you something.

Have you considered going Dairy-Free?

I thought that it was just one of those fads that seemed to be popular and typical of what New-Age, Natural therapies gurus were promoting.

That is until a couple of health issues that had been lurking in my background started to surface. That's when going Dairy-Free (and gluten-free) was suggested to me. Taking the, "Well it's worth a try approach" I decided to remove Dairy and Gluten from my diet.

The effect was almost immediate. The excess weight came off without effort, my blood pressure (which was being slightly improved by medication) fell to, and maintained a good level and I had a general sense of feeling better.

After a time, when I reintroduced some small amounts of Dairy, I began to feel small amounts of abdominal discomfort. Apparently over the years I had been experiencing this discomfort, but did not recognize that it was potentially the result of a small degree of lactose intolerance. Now, after a short period of not having that discomfort, I notice that soon after eating or drinking dairy products it returns. That discomfort is not debilitating, but it is noticeable, and I suspect a result of lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance is not something that everyone has to live with, but if going dairy-free for a short time indicates that it may be affecting you then it is worth having it checked out.

Before making any substantial changes to your diet it is advised that you consult with your trusted health professional.

Neville Dinning is a researcher and educator with an interest in Lactose Intolerance. For more great lactose free information, visit and download the free report at http://lactosefreenow.com/.

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Lactose Intolerance Details

A normal function of the digestive system is to break down the food we eat into smaller pieces. This is achieved with the use of enzymes that are present in our saliva, stomach and intestines. This process of breaking down the food aids the body in absorbing essential nutrients, proteins and carbohydrates.

One such enzyme is called lactase. This enzyme is needed to breakdown lactose, which is the sugar in milk. Lactose is actually made up of two different sugars, which are chemically joined together. One separated, these sugars, which are called glucose and galaxies, can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Lactase enzymes are generally found in the jejunum, which in normal terms is the beginning of the small intestine. These enzymes perform but one function - breaking down lactose.

People with a condition known as lactose intolerance have a shortage of the enzyme lactase. As there is a shortage of lactase, the digestive system is unable to properly separate these sugars, which effectively means that some milk remains undigested inside the intestines, causing discomfort, bloating, wind and even diarrhea. Lactose intolerance is said to be among the most common disorders in the world, with nearly 50% of all humans developing some degree of intolerance at some point in their lives.

Although one of the most important nutrients for infants, supplying up to half of the total energy requirement of a newborn baby, it is believed that lactose has no special function or importance for adults. This had led some people to suggest that humans were never designed to drink milk after being weaned.

Many babies suffer from sensitivity to lactose at one time or another, and are subsequently given lactose free formula. Due to the importance of lactose in the supply of energy to infants, any newborn baby that is fed using a lactose free formula must also receive extra energy to replace that lost by the omission of lactose in the lactose free formula.

Lactose has excellent physiological properties such as good texture and an ability to bind water. For this reason it is used extensively in the food industry and can be found in bread, sausages, and even sweets. The next time you are in the supermarket, stop and read the ingredients in the sweets aisle. I'm sure you'll see many products containing lactose.

For this reason people with intolerance to lactose must be very selective in their diet as lactose is found in some of the most unlikely foods.

There have been some scientific studies carried out in search of a treatment for sensitivity to lactose, however to date these treatments vary in effectiveness from patient to patient and no definite solution has been discovered.

Lactose Intolerance is claimed to be the most common human genetic disorder, supposedly affecting more than half the worlds population. This said, perhaps it is normal for people to be lactose intolerant!

In light of the increased awareness of this condition, there are now a number of lactose free formula available to ease the problems associated with lactose intolerance in babies.

Visit our site to find out more about the options available for lactose free formula today.

Original article

The Truth About Lactose Free Ice Cream Revealed

We all enjoy the flavor and texture of a good ice cream for dessert. But what about the lactose that is in the milk products that go to make up the ice cream? If you are intolerant to lactose, or even worse, if you have an allergy that could mean that ice cream is off your diet.

It does not have to be that way however, because there are several producers that have lactose free in their product range. Surely, that will means that ice cream will still be OK.

Checking for lactose

Now we need to do that task that has to be done by all people who have to be careful which foods they eat. Read the labels. Check the ingredients and nutritional information. It may take a little searching but you should be able to check if there is lactose present in what is marketed as lactose free.

For example in one list of ingredients that belongs to a product labelled as lactose free with a chocolate flavor are the following:

Ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, corn syrup, cocoa (processed with alkali) guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, lactase enzyme*.

*Ingredient not in regular ice cream. Contains: milk

Note that this product is made from milk and cream. The added lactase enzyme helps with the digestion of lactose in the milk, but there is still some lactose present. This may not be a problem for some who are lactose intolerant, but others may still be affected by the small amount of lactose that may not have been broken down by the lactase enzyme.

That's when it may be necessary to investigate if there are any that are made to contain zero levels of lactose.

Zero lactose

These may be from a variety of plant based milks, and depending on the type of milk substitute used, the consistency, flavor and color variations will mean that the eating experience is different from that of regular ice cream.

Rice, soy and coconut are among the options for basis of a lactose free dessert. To produce a creamy consistency and to provide sweetness in the flavor, additives and large amounts of sugar may be used. Flavors such as chocolate can also be added to enhance the taste and make these alternatives more palatable.

If you can tolerate small amounts of lactose then those that have lactase added may be your preferred option. Those with a more serious intolerance or allergy may need to steer clear of these and go for the ice creams made from milk substitutes.

Neville Dinning is a researcher and educator with an interest lactose free foods. For more information on lactose free ice cream, visit http://lactosefreenow.com/.

Original article

What Is Lactose Free Milk?

Real milk or milk substitutes? That is the question.

Real Milk:

Dairy milk contains lactose, a sugar which is a combination of two simpler sugars, glucose and galactose. Lactose needs to be broken down into the simpler sugars for the body to absorb it effectively. The enzyme lactase acts on lactose, breaking it into the simpler sugars.

For some people with problems producing lactose, and that often happens as they get older, the lactose is not processed and can cause various symptoms, including cramps and bloating.

To give their gastro-intestinal system a boost it is possible to get the lactase from supplements, or alternatively to drink and eat milk products that have had the enzyme lactase added. This means that they are real dairy milk products that have lactase added to aid in digestion for those who cannot easily absorb the lactose found in the milk.

It may not be necessary to completely remove dairy from your diet if the lactase enriched (lactose-free) products help relieve symptoms. In the situation where any trace of lactose causes symptoms of lactose intolerance, or indeed, if you have an allergy to lactose, the next option to consider will probably be the Milk Substitutes.

Milk Substitutes:

These are generally produced from a range of plant-based products, and are not really milk as such.
Because these are from different sources, they produce "milks" that vary in colour, taste and consistency. These differences mean that some are preferred by some people while others have different opinions about them.

Soy milk tends to be thicker in consistency than dairy, but some are put off by the beige colour, which is also the case with almond milk. Soy also has a nutty flavour. Rice milk on the other hand looks like milk (it is white), except that it is thinner than dairy. Almond milk, another popular substitute, also has the non-milk beige colour, and also has an, unexpected, almond flavour.

Other plant-based milks include oat, multigrain and potato. Checking out the long-life milk section of your supermarket shelves will give lots of options to choose from if looking to go completely lactose free.

Nutrition and Lactose Free

Dairy milk is high in calcium and other nutrients.

The lactose-free dairy milks will still have these essential ingredients, and may also be fortified with Vitamin D. When choosing a milk substitute it is advisable that you check the ingredients, as these will often include those that you may be missing out on by going non-dairy. The level of fortified minerals, vitamins and other nutrients should be noted, as these can vary from product to product.

Proteins, Cholesterol and fats will also be present in different amounts in the different types of lactose-free and substitute milks. Once again it will be a matter of reading the labels to determine if using a particular lactose-free option will require supplements or making sure that these are sourced from other foods.

Lactose Free Milk may make your life much better, and it is not necessarily going to mean that you will miss all of those foods that you once enjoyed. It's a matter of taking control of what you eat, and choosing those foods that will make you feel good.

Neville Dinning is a researcher and educator with an interest in lactose free living. For more great tips on
what is lactose free milk, visit http://lactosefreenow.com/.

Original article