When I was a little girl I hated milk. I hated milk and I absolutely HATED oatmeal. My mom would make me eat oatmeal for breakfast (that she made with milk), and it tasted like flavored mush in my mouth.
Now, here I am years later and…I still hate milk, and it hates me. But I have grown to like oatmeal.
When I was about maybe 11 or 12-years-old, I was at a friend’s house and heard the words “lactose intolerant” for the first time. I had told my friend that milk made my stomach hurt, and those are the words she used.
I went home and Googled the words and what do you know? She was right!
Milk and ice cream made my stomach hurt so much, and I would always feel so bloated and gassy. That doesn’t mean I avoided dairy. I just suffered the consequences when I ate it.
Later in high school, I found some Lactaid caplets that I would take along with any dairy products I was eating. You can find them here: LACTAID® Fast Act Lactase Enzyme Supplement Caplets | LACTAID®
But then I switched to drinking Lactaid milk and it was such a relief to my stomach. I have tried almost all kinds of milk that Lactaid offers and my favorite one is the fat-free one. Only because it’s kind of sweet, and I like that. Here’s the link for that too: LACTAID® Fat Free Lactose-Free Milk | LACTAID®
Then, I took it a step further and bought the Lactaid ice cream one day. Um, it did not taste as good.
Now, when I go grocery shopping I look for other alternatives to dairy ice cream. My favorite non-dairy ice cream would be the Outshine Fruit Bars. I don’t know if the fruit bars count as ice cream but, I love them anyways. My favorite flavor is the pineapple one: Pineapple Frozen Fruit Bars | Official Outshine® (icecream.com)
The funny thing is that yogurt and cheese don’t affect me as much. Well, yogurt will affect me but not if I don’t eat a lot. My favorite yogurt is (of course) Oui by Yoplait. Their yogurts are amazing and even though they are made whole milk it doesn’t hurt my stomach. Maybe because it’s French? (I’m not a fan of their dairy-free yogurt though) Oui Yogurt Flavors – French Style Yogurt – Oui by Yoplait
And thankfully my love for cheese doesn’t affect my stomach because I LOVE cheese. Cheese of all kinds from different countries.
So there you go…that is my dairy/milk story.