Lactose Intolerance
Sometimes HIV can give you such bad diarrhea that you
won't be able to digest a certain sugar in milk which is
called "lactose." This may last for a few weeks, a few
months or even longer. Your doctor may tell you to
stay away from foods which contain lactose. Lactose is
mostly found in milk and in many dairy products.
You
should not eat these foods:
- Regular (whole) milk
- Skim milk
- Low fat milk
- Evaporated milk
- Powdered milk
- Goat milk
- Cheese (unless label says it has been aged 90 days)
- Instant coffee
- Cocoa or other chocolate beverages
- Whipping cream
- Sour cream
- Pudding and pudding pies
- Custard and custard pies
- Ice cream or ice milk
- Gravy made with milk or cream
- Soups made with milk or cream
- Party dips made with sour cream
- Cream sauce on meats or vegetables
You might be able to use these foods instead.
They have
less lactose:
- Sweet acidophillus milk (it says "acidophillus" on the label)
- Lactose-reduced milk (it says "lactose reduced" on
the label)
- Buttermilk
- Regular milk with "Lact-aid" added to it. You can
buy Lact-aid at drug stores. It is a powder you add
to milk. It
digests the lactose for you and the milk tastes just
fine.
- Natural cheese which has been aged for 90 days
or longer. Many cheddar and Swiss cheeses are aged
for 90 days. Just read the label.
- Yogurt
- Frozen yogurt desserts
- Sherbet
- Powdered coffee creamer such as "Coffeemate."
You can use this in place of milk in many recipes.
- Soybean milk. You can buy this canned at drug
stores
and at many grocery stores. Try soybean infant
formulas ("Prosobee," "Nursoy," or "Isomil").
- Special dietetic products that say "lactose free" on
the label.
- Kosher foods marked "pareve" are milk-free.
