Showing all posts tagged lactose intolerance

In Food, Healthy Eating, Reviews / Sponsored

A New Year, A New Tea

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 1 Comment

Tea, Glorious Tea

I don’t do New Year resolutions. I might as well write down things that I have no intention of following through on as I always used to break them. Of course I have goals, targets, wants and wishes however these are ongoing.

One of my ongoing wants, wishes and needs is twofold; to continue working away at losing weight via Slimming World and to feel better (healthier) in myself. Last year a friend of mine from SW and outside gifted me a bag full of herbal teas, fruit teas and what not after I was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant which was a blow. I’d been feeling really rubbish for ages and won’t bore / disgust you with the sometimes rather severe symptoms but needless to say having cut dairy out of my diet I feel SO much better. The teas she gave me started me on a journey of really enjoying a relaxing and flavoursome (milk-free) brew (she’s a star!).

Since then I’ve cut my coffee down to two cups a day and am enjoying the health and hydration benefits of drinking caffeine free alternative teas such as green tea. Before Christmas the lovelies from Dragonfly Tea got in touch and asked if I would like to test out some of their teas to see what I thought. Being a new tea fan I was happy to agree and was thrilled when these four boxes appeared.

Mellow, clear, fresh, tasty and deeply satisfying are just some of the words I would use to describe these. My personal favourite (or my special tea as I call it) is the Moonlight Jasmine Organic Green tea although the other three flavours I’ve tested (vigorously), Moroccan Mint Organic Green Tea, Cape Malay Chai (a real warming tea) and Green Gaucho Organic Mate Tea are all delicious!

Thanks to Jackie for introducing me to alternative teas and to Dragonfly for sending these fabulous teas for me to try out. I find cutting the caffeine and drinking more of these types of drinks beneficial to my health , mood and of course my hydration.

Dragonfly Tea – The Company

Dragonfly are a British family-owned tea company with over a hundred years of experience is sourcing, growing and producing specialty or artisan teas, Their Dragonfly Specialty range has been certified by the Organic Food Federation and they are staunch members of the Fairtrade Foundation. All teas are GM-free, the bags are bio-degradable, the teabag wrappers are recyclable and chlorine free and more can be see, read and sampled via their website and you can speak to the lovelies at the company via Twitter.

 

Dragonfly

*I received four boxes of teas free of charge and was asked to write about my experience, good or bad, after testing them. Dragonfly have had no control or influence over my write up and therefore you may be confident that my words are true to my own thoughts, feelings and experiences.

Family Fever
In Food, Healthy Eating, Women's Interest

Am I Lactose Intolerant?

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 3 Comments

For some time I have suffered with stomach difficulties ranging from being bloated and having stomach cramps to struggling with wind and the runs. This has been happening on and off however I’d put it down to being “one of those things”. I work A LOT, I dont always get the rest I should and to be fair just assumed it was something to do with that.

Recently someone suggested looking at my diet and the possibility of being intolerant to something. I follow Slimming World and eat a healthy and balanced diet however the one thing that did jump out was the amount of dairy I was having on the plan. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and dislike choclate but I do like my cheese products!

I looked up all of the UK guidance I could find on being lactose intolerant and as suggested on the NHS website set to on an elimination diet. The end result was that having removed a number of foods and reintroduced them at a later date it has become clear that  certain foods no longer agree with me.

By cutting a range of dairy product out of my diet I have found that all symptoms have disappeared completely. I can tolerate small amounts of fat free natural yogurt and quark however dairy yogurts, milk, cheese (hard and soft) and similar kick-start the rather unpleasant symptoms with vigour.

So, is it safe to assume that I am lactose intolerant? I know that lactose may be found as a hidden ingredient in a number of foods however as I follow SW and eat a lot of basic foods such as meat, vegetables, fruits, grains and no processed / few snack foods I haven’t come across these so much myself.

I have to admit that before researching the topic I knew little about lactose and being lactose intolerant. I assumed that it was generally something you were born with (I was wrong) and that you coulddn’t eat anything at all dairy-wise, again a presumption which appear incorrect. Regardless of the outcome of my own situation it once again seems apparent there there is so much that a lot of people don’t know about allergies and food intolerances.

So what now? I could go to my GP however from NHS info and individual accounts it seems unlikely that they will do anything other than suggest an elimination diet and changing what I eat, which I have done. I’ve reintroduced milk and yogurt via alternatives and manage that fine so do I just plough on as long as the symptoms have disappeared with the lactose-freee eating?

If you are lactose intolerant or know something about this I’d love to hear from you! Any experiences and advice is welcome.

 

**UPDATE 9/6/14 – I’ve seen the GP today who pretty much confirmed my suspicions that I am lactose intolerant. There is of course no treatment however she suggested I continue what I am doing diet-wise as it clearly helps and continue monitoring. Any advice on products (what is good, what is not) and non-dairy specific foods that contain lactose would till be appreciated. I’m sure many others will find all advice and experiences useful.

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