Problems with lactose--NEED ADVICE
on 9/2/14 4:21 am
I had my RNY last Thursday. I am on the full liquids phase of my diet, but I am beginning to think that I am not tolerating milk (lots of gas, diarrhea, etc). My problem is that most of the foods I bought for this phase (shakes, pudding, yogurt, etc) have milk in them. Any advice on full liquids that wouldn't have lactose? My doctor has said I can do runny mashed potatoes and I am going to try cream of wheat. Any other ideas?
You can try the foods you bought in small amounts. Small amounts of lactose might not bother you. Also, some dairy products have more lactose than others, like milk has more than yogurt, so you might tolerate the yogurt even if you don't tolerate the milk.
There are many lactose free shakes out there. Look for a shake containing whey isolate (not whey concentrate) or soy isolate or egg protein. Mix it with Lactaid brand milk, raw milk (pasteurizing milk destroys the enzyme lactase in it, which we need to digest lactose, so many lactose intolerant people are able to tolerate raw milk just fine), soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk or water.
Instead of buying the ready made pudding, buy pudding mix and make it with Lactaid brand milk or raw milk. There is some lactose in the pudding mix but maybe not enough to bother you. Pudding won't set up quite right if you use soy or almond or coconut milk, though.
There is also soy yogurt out there, but to honest, I don't think it tastes very good.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
For shakes, there are egg white shakes and I found a beef protein isolate powder just recently. Jay Robb has an egg white powder--I haven't tried it, so I can't vouch for taste/texture. I use Muscle Egg which is a liquid egg white and comes in several flavors. The beef one is a powder called Carnivor. I get it at Vitamin Shoppe and I've done only the chocolate flavor. There are fruit punch and blue raspberry flavors and they just seem...odd. My husband can't have any milk or milk derivative and he does the Carnivor with no problem.
As for ready-made things, there are soy-based puddings and yogurts. My husband gives high marks to the Silk brand soy yogurt. I don't think the soy-based puddings and yogurts are going to be super high on the protein, but they should be good to get you over this full liquids hump. If you have a Sprouts or Whole Foods in your area you should be able to find some alternative yogurts and puddings. There are coconut-based ones too.
Good luck! :D
Jen
If you are less than a week out, there's a very good chance that your gas and diarrhea are just symptoms of the surgery. They can last for up to a week.
I switched to soy milk for mixing my protein shakes, and that helped a lot. I haven't had any problems for the last few weeks, even when I do drink milk, so I think mine was a temporary issue.
Chew one Lactaid tablet when using any milk product and you will not have symptoms. I only use Lactaid milk at home, but keep the tablets in my purse in case I want to have milk somewhere else. I have a tendency to agree that you are just having side effects of the surgery. My lactose intolerance did not kick in until several months after surgery. I believe there is some reason for it after RNY.
Real life begins where your comfort zone ends
