# Lactose Intolerance! Opinions on non-dairy substitutes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108 "2009-08-20T18:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/21 "2009-08-21T13:35:40Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > I’m surprised at some of these responses regarding cheese. I was under the impression that all hard cheeses and most soft cheeses (outside of cream cheese and maybe ricotta) have virtually no lactose. Certainly not enough to irritate anyone. I am lactose intolerant & have been living under this assumption for a long time, eating tons of cheese with abandon and not suffering from it. From the same site I cited before, a page of [lactose percentages](http://www.stevecarper.com/li/list_of_lactose_percentages.htm). In theory you’re quite right about hard, aged cheese (although not about softer cheeses). In practice there may be a surprising amount of variation. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/22 "2009-08-21T13:44:41Z")
Yogurt doesn’t give me any problems, and I generally just avoid milk. Lactaid allows me to eat a quantity of cheese, which is good for me because I’m a confirmed cheese-aholic (a habit developed before I became LI). The other day a friend lamented the fact that when we ordered pizza we couldn’t get extra cheese, and I said that I could try taking two Lactaid instead of my usual one. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/23 "2009-08-21T14:40:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > From the same site I cited before, a page of [lactose percentages](http://www.stevecarper.com/li/list_of_lactose_percentages.htm). > > In theory you’re quite right about hard, aged cheese (although not about softer cheeses). In practice there may be a surprising amount of variation. But according to that interesting list you cite, even such soft cheeses as Brie (which I was eating last night when I saw this thread & I feel fine this morning) could have zero lactose and in a worst-case scenario only 1.8% lactose. Camembert could also have zero or, worst-case, as much as 1.0%. And that site also suggests that most LI sufferers can eat foods of 2% lactose or less as long as it’s in moderation. I would be curious what factors cause the variation in lactose levels & whether that’s something the cheese shopper can take into consideration before buying. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/24 "2009-08-21T18:03:48Z")
Something to watch out for with soy milk substitutes: they might give you gas. Really, terribly, apocalyptically stinky gas. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/25 "2009-08-21T21:57:56Z")
Seconding the Tofutti cream cheese. It is more delicious, IMO, than standard cream cheese. As far as soy milk, my roommate the vegan hates Silk, I don’t have a preference for brand, because I just pour it on cereal anyway. I do buy the “plain” kind, after experimenting, I realized that I can’t drink a glass of the “unsweetened”, and the “vanilla” is waaaay too sweet, especially with any cereal with any amount of sugar. I know they’re two totally different foods, but I enjoy fruity ice cream over chocolately ice cream, usually, so I find sorbets delicious. And soy yogurt: I’ve only had the Stonyfield O’Soy yogurt, and it is TERRIBLE. It is somehow too sweet, and chalky all at the same time, with a raw grain kind of aftertaste. The Silk soy yogurt, I have eaten only a couple of times, both times with fresh strawberries, so the yogurt wasn’t exactly a focal point, but it didn’t offend me. – **chaoticbear** - ex-vegetarian, with a vegan roommate, who eats all the dairy he pleases 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ThirdOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@ThirdOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThirdOne)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/26 "2009-08-21T22:16:51Z")
I used soy for coffee (can’t stand it black, unfortunately), but it’s harder on the system and as Shot from Guns said, gave me gas. I much prefer Rice Dream. Regular, unflavored soy tasted like drinking tofu in my coffee and made me gag, so I used vanilla. That was much sweater than regular rice dream, so when I switched, I didn’t find rice dream too sweet. My sister is LI and uses water on her cereal. I think she’s crazy, but she likes it! ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/27 "2009-08-21T23:22:53Z")
The Lactaid tablets always made me throw up for some reason, but I do fine with lactose-free milk, as well as most yoghurts and cheeses. I find including a little bit of dairy from time to time seems to help build a tolerance. But I’ll avoid it on job interview days and the like. Almond milk is absolutely splendid and a much better alternative to narsty soy milk. ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/28 "2009-08-22T00:30:46Z")
I’m lactose intolerant, but besides milk and lattes, I can usually eat most cheese, yogurt, ice cream, and dairy products without feeling uncomfortable. I had the impression that the lactose was already broken down in a lot dairy products or exist in small quantities, but I guess I’m wrong. I drink lactose-free milk and soybean milk - not the soymilk from American supermarkets, but the ones found in Asian supermarkets and restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![GardeningSpirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/91b2a8/32.png) [@GardeningSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GardeningSpirit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/29 "2009-08-22T03:28:46Z")
LI makes for some ‘interesting’ events to say the least. The worst ones for me are ice cream and American cheese. I grew up in North Dakota where the love of dairy products is pretty much the same as it is in Wisconsin. I sure wish I could use all the extra gas I get from dairy products and somehow put it into my car’s gas tank…I’d save a bundle! I have tried soy milk and to me it tastes awful. I’m thinking about trying the rice milk to see if it’s any better. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108/30 "2009-08-22T04:05:54Z")
For years I was lactose-intolerant. A single mouthful led to excessive gas for hours. However, not knowing the science involved, I kept on with what I could eat, at first ice cream and cheese, and later cream cheese (which was poison before). I didn’t know why I was no longer reacting to cream cheese, but learned that our bodies stop making lactase when we don’t need it, so I tried a bowl of cereal, having planned for hours of misery and receiving none. My gradual reintroduction of foods that required lactase apparently started back up its production. IANAD and I won’t say, “Try this at home,” but I suggest you give it plenty of time (months), start out with sugary ice cream and cooked cream cheese, and ALWAYS have a bathroom ready. :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lactose-intolerance-opinions-on-non-dairy-substitutes/507108.md?page=1)