002 Lactose Intolerance and Dairy Allergy - What You Need To Know

Lactose intolerance and dairy allergy are widely misunderstood – so I interviewed Rose, mother of three-year-old Sadie who has an egg and dairy allergy to help unpick the facts and myths.

We discussed whether soya drinks are harmful, what tips helped her through her child's dairy allergy journey and how she tackled family members who often misunderstood the difference between lactose intolerance and dairy allergy.

Here's what you'll hear in the episode:

6:55 Once you get into the habit of not having egg, it’s hard to break the habit.  Sadie is hesitant to try egg as it’s not something that she’s grown up with.

17:44 I sat there thinking how quickly will I have to drive to the emergency room if something happens here but he was completely fine with milk and egg.

18:30 tips for other mums such as how batch cooking helped.

19:00 mins “can’t reiterate how helpful you were, get help from an expert”. It’s easy to get yourself worked up.  Other people don’t really understand it and there’s a lot of misinformation out there.

1955 A lot of people confuse lactose intolerance with a dairy allergy.  

20:10 Once a week I will cook up a huge lot of something that she will eat.  Finding snacks that you know they will like.  Little muffins you can freeze.  Learning how to read labels.

2045 learning that allergens need to be highlighted on labels and getting advice from a paediatric dietitian about how to interpret the warning "may be present"

2150 manufacturers need to state if dairy is present and would state “may contain traces” if the product is prepared on the same tray line as other products containing dairy as an ingredient

2245 for severely allergic children they would need to know if a product may contain traces

24:00 If we are out and about, I feel the eye-rolling, in a cafe when you let staff know if it “may contain traces|” that’s OK but as the person walks away thinking “she can’t be that allergic”

2510 we’ve had certain family members when we’ve said Sadie can’t have that it has dairy in it and there’s a bit of a pause and an “OK” “where did that diagnosis come from” and I think I wish you had been there when she had her reaction, it wasn’t just a bit of eczema.

2559 Or family members say “would Sadie like a bit of cheese?" and I say”"no of course not it has dairy in it”.  It’s possibly because people don’t understand the difference between lactose intolerance and dairy allergy

27:00 difference between lactose intolerance and dairy allergy

28:00 frustrations on a dairy-free diet that have eased up over the years - unhelpful advice around soya as the preferred alternative.  Plenty of people who tell you that soya is terrible for you does it cause infertility and has oestrogen in it?

20:00 Facebook mums group.  Whenever I see anyone asking about a dairy allergy I quickly scroll on by which is terrible as with my experience I could share helpful tips.

3145 Why soya based drinks are the preferred cow’s milk protein alternative

3250 The minefield of misinformation around soya particularly on web pages, blog posts and mum’s forums.

33:40 what happened when Rose went to a cafe and tried to order a soya drink for Sadie.  “I’m going to use Almond milk, not soya,” said the waitress. "When you heat up soya milk it becomes carcinogenic".

35:58 Had I not been given the advice that I had been given over the years, that could have been devastating to think that you could have been giving your child something that could kill them.

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