So lactose intolerant I can't even tolerate greek yogurt? page

[Timthetaco]

I've been having digestive issues this past week, and it's starting to concern me seeing as the only dairy I eat even on a semi-regular basis anymore is greek yogurt. Occasionally I'll mix it into my scrambled eggs with salsa. It's a tasty, gooey mess, but I never figured it would hurt me. Last night the wife and I went to Olive Garden and had the soup and salad (all we ever eat there anymore), and I can never turn down the cheese in my soup, and I had issues after I got home.

It's confusing to me, because my digestive problems have never manifested so soon after eating dairy before, and I was under the impression that greek yogurt and hard cheeses are relatively benign to the lactose intolerant. The cheese I had last night could explain the problems, I suppose, but it doesn't explain the issue I had earlier in the week when I had only had the yogurt.

Has anyone else had problems with greek yogurt? Any possibility I'm just wrong about the yogurt and I ate some bad meat without realizing it?

[Dailytribal]

Dunno. If it didn't bother you weeks before but just this week.......

[Bron]

might be a cows' milk protein intolerance rather than LI?

[jammies]

Yep - could be a casein intolerance instead of lactose.

[Alaska Ang]

You could definitely have a dairy allergy rather than just lactose intollerance. I don't tolerate any dairy whatsoever. Depending on the type will result in digestive or sinus issues and almost always horribly swollen ankles. It sucks!

[tresa]

I'm casein intolerant, took me years to figure it out. Greek yogurt, being concentrated milk proteins, is even worse for me than straight milk. Butter and cream, which have very little protein - those don't bother me at all.

You may be intolerant of the proteins, or have a full-on milk allergy.

[Timthetaco]

I appreciate the comments. I never considered a milk allergy before. It's strange, I can eat butter like nobody's business, but for whatever reason, heavy cream kills me immediately. I think I might try cutting out all dairy and clarifying my butter for a while to see if that helps with the digestion problems.

[paleo-bunny]

Greek yoghurt is quite high in lactose. I've heard that if it's live yoghurt, the bacteria in it are supposed to help with digestion of the lactose, but I don't know how reliable that is.

Casein in cheese and histamine in aged cheeses can both cause digestive problems. And casein in the yoghurt can too.

So it's best to test each type of dairy in isolation to determine what you're reacting to, if anything. Bear in mind there could be multiple factors, just to complicate things!

If you react to cow's casein bear in mind that many people tolerate goat's and sheep's casein a lot better - so that's worth a shot.

[Blackcatbone]

See if you can find Amish kefir, this brand in particular. Four Seasons Dairy Kefir is much easier to tolerate than yoghurt, I can't handle the latter, and this one in particular is much thicker than the drinkable type, so closer to Greek style yoghurt. I buy it at the Eastern European deli near me. You may have to look around to find it.