Milk or Cream in Cooking
Best alternative for milk or cream for cooking is coconut milk or coconut cream, just need to watch out for additives in the milk or cream. For use in soups, almond milk could be a good substitute.
Lactose Free Cheese
Finding lactose free cheese is important, and something that I thought we would have a lot of problem finding. I’ve been learning a lot of cheese, especially aged cheeses, is naturally lactose free.
So aged cheeses, like Cheddars, Colby, Jack, Swiss, and Parmesan contain zero grams of lactose. (source)
A good way to check the lactose content, if it is not listed separately, is to look at the sugar content of the cheese. Generally speaking, a lower sugar content means lower lactose. Lactose will be listed in the cheese in the sugars line.
Some cheese and milk, like Liddells lactose free cheese, actually have added lactase enzyme to break down the lactose to make it more digestible. Lactase is an enzyme that is naturally produced in our small intestine, but for people with lactose intolerance, there is either not enough, or none being produced. Artificial lactase is most often extracted from yeast and from molds (source). The effectiveness of added lactase tends to vary from person to person in alleviating their lactose intolerance symptoms.
Other food ingredients that may contain lactose:
- Milk Powder
- Milk Protein
- Milk Solids
- Nonfat dry milk
- Whey
- Whey solids or protein
Sources:
