Milk?

[master2]

Hi all

I received a letter in the post yesterday but have only just opened it today as my brother forgot to tell me a letter came for me as I have told a few people about me staying with my brother. The letter was from my doctor telling me she has looked at all 4 bllod tests again and she has realised she missed something on the test apparently it show I'm lactose intolerant that is what has been causing my stomach problems . I have to have another test done to check and she has booked to see me on Friday , I have to have the test done tomorrow. I was gutted as I LOVE milk I drink around 4 glass's a day then I have it in tea , hot chocolate, my espresso ect. So I have been reading on milk and have been finding out that milk is not as healthy as you might think and that were the only mammal to continue to drink another mammals milk in adulthood . I found out about non dairy alternatives like coconut milk, almond milk , cashew milk ect . I read that oat milk and soy milk are not good.

So today I went down to waitrose to see if they had either. I tried the following

Alpro coconut milk - 0\10 it was discussing and my brother started laughing at the face I pulled .

Alpro almond milk 0\10 again like above disgusting.

Rude health , almond and coconut milk- both were OK but I still did not like them 2\10

Ecomil- the coconut I did not like 2\10 but the almond was not bad and had the fewest ingredients compared to the others but it just isn't milk to me 5\10

The reason I'm telling you this is we now know what my digestive problems are caused by but also because I love to drink cocoa powder in the evenings I use green and blacks

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayPro ... ctId=33340
as it's the only one I like and I like to turn it into hot chocolate, can I still make the hot chocolate just swap the milk for hot water? What do you think? My brother said you can't without milk. I know it will be a lot more richer in taste but would it still be safe to drink?

[Nettle]

I've always made hot chocolate just with water. Takes a little getting used to but not a problem. I drink tea and coffee black too. Milk and I do NOT get on. It's easy to give it up.

[Fundog]

Well I can't really advise since you have different brands than we have in U.S. But I am really glad you finally have an answer, and a solution, even though it isn't what you wanted.

[master2]

Thank you both for your advice.

Yes I'm so over the moon at the same time Fundog that I finally now what it was causing me so much stomach pain.

Nettle- do you use cocoa powder or just hot chocolate as my brother said that because it is cocoa powder you can only use milk . but if I got a jar with hot chocolate on I can use water? I always thought hot chocolate and cocoa powder were the same?

[Erica]

I couldn't stand any of the plant milks until I tried rice milk. I don't drink it on its own but I enjoy it in cereal. It also works for cooking things like pancakes or muffins or such.

[MPbandmom]

Hi Master2, I'm glad to hear that you have a diagnosis. Being from the US, I'm not sure if it is the same where you are, but our hot coco mix contains dry milk, even the "simply cocoa" kind which specifies using milk to make. Most varieties are intended to be made using water as the milk is in the mix. I was surprised when I read the ingredients on the simply cocoa type and saw that it also contains dry milk. Your only choice may be to use cocoa powder.

I think one approach to the alternate "milks" it to not necessarily think of them as milk but rather as another beverage of many which one might drink. I agree with Erica where they may not be something one would want to drink straight out of a glass, but they do serve to wet cereal and as additives to baking and such.

[Erica]

And if you find a plant milk that you like, you could probably use that to make hot cocoa with instead. I hadn't thought of that until now, right as we're on the cusp of summer and nobody in this climate will be drinking hot cocoa for another 6 months!

[Nettle]

The other thing to bear in mind is that your intolerance might only be to milk. For instance, I can have cream, butter, cheese and yoghurt - but not milk. You can buy lactose-free milk, which might be a good halfway house for you.

And if your intoleranceis extreme, not only do you have to read every damned packet and jar that you buy as a drink, you have to check out cake, biscuits and alllll the other things you love as well. You'd be amazed how many foods have milk powder in. And careful with what your friends cook as well - only by chance did I see a friend pouring milk into the soup she'd made for our lunch - and yes, she did know I have a problem with milk.

[master2]

Erica - I tried the rice milk but I did not like it. I think the problem with me is I want it to taste like milk when obviously it wont .

Nettle- iv looked in my brothers cupboards and fridge\freezer and it was really shocking at how much has milk or milk powder in it! I actually was talking to a woman this morning one of Sherlocks doggy pals owner. And she asked if I had got sorted with my digestive problems and I told her what it was and she said she is lactose intolerant too, but she still drinks milk I asked what does she use and she said she drinks raw milk as it is more easily digested than supermarket milk. So I have ordered some online from a farm as it's not easy to find raw milk.

This is day one of being pain\cramp free . I will let you know how the raw milk goes down. And as for the hot cocoa thing I'm using raw cream from my local health food shop. And it was delicious and has not affected me

I will be going to the doctors tomorrow for my repeat blood test

[master2]

MPbandmom- I looked at my cocoa powder to check and it states that it is made from 100% cocoa. It is really rich and if I put to much in its quiet sickly. It's equivalent to a 100% dark chocolate bar

[Nettle]

We use raw milk good that you get on with it. I don't normally take any milk, but on occasion when I have used it, I've been okay. It keeps a lot longer than pasteurised milk, which does make you wonder about pasteurisation, though I suspect the raw milk is simply fresher. Raw cream is super!

[master2]

Raw cream is fab Nettle. I think of it as devil food as it's that delish , I was worried at first of the saturated fat level so I googled and I found a website called marks daily apple and it's all about the primal diet it's basically paleo but your allowed dairy . I was reading an article on how Saturated fat is not the enemy , so I don't feel as guilty now drinking it. I enjoyed a fruit salad this morning for breakfast with the raw cream I had strawberries , banana, raspberries and blackberries topped with raw cream. Yummy

[Fundog]

Raw milk, with raw cream.... Ah, that brings back memories. I used to scoop some of the cream off the top for my oatmeal. I had to be sneaky because Mom wanted us to shake it into the milk so we would have full fat milk. Can't say as I blame her!

[JudyN]

Mom wanted us to shake it into the milk so we would have full fat milk. Can't say as I blame her!

Count yourself lucky - my mum would sometimes take the top off up to three bottles of milk to put on her cornflakes. My brothers and I were basically brought up on semi-skimmed before they'd invented it

We used to get raw milk at my grandparents' though, from my grandad's cattle which we'd watched him milk by hand that morning. It was lovely - not as lovely as the clotted cream he's skim off the top of a wide bowl of milk.