I am Lactose Intolerant, Can I Eat Any Types Cheese?

Unless you suffer from lactose intolerance it can be easy to assume people who have the trouble don’t care for cheese. This is often anything but the truth.  Those with intolerance tend to get stomach issues shortly after digesting lactose. It is likely they still want to enjoy the lovely taste and texture of cheese. If this is the case here are a few things that can help a person with lactose intolerance enjoy cheese.

What Is Lactose?

Lactose is the main sugar in milk. So if you have intolerance traditional milk is off the menu. This sugar happens to feed lactobacillus, one of the species of bacteria that is used in the process of making most cheeses. It is this bacterium that is in dozens of foods created through fermentation and it turns to lactic acid. Lactic acid is fairly easily digested by most people, including those normally intolerant of lactose. So the trick to enjoying cheese is avoiding lactose.

Is Lactose In All Cheeses?

This is a tricky question. Young cheeses that haven’t aged long are generally quite full of lactose and will cause digestion problems for those who are lactose intolerant. The good news is that the older a cheese is the lower amount of lactose will be present. This is because the sugar has been consumed to form more lactic acid. Cheese that has aged three months or longer usually doesn’t have much lactose left. It’s important to note that cheese that is highly processed will have the highest amount of this irritant. Fresh cheeses also contain quite a bit of lactose. If your lactose intolerant you might want to avoid fresh mozzarella, cottage cheese and cream cheese among others.

What Can You Enjoy

The easiest rule to follow is cheese that is harder tends to have lower amounts of lactose. Aged and hard Parmesan tends to have low amounts as well as aged Cheddar or Swiss. A good bit of advice is that if you’re unsure of what to expect start with the older cheeses and small amounts. Try some aged, sharp Cheddar and only try an ounce or so. Or try sprinkling some Parmesan on your noodles. See how this sits and then work your way around to other cheeses. You can usually find information from a quality cheese on how long it’s been aged. Select those that have been aged 3 months or longer. You can find delicious Gouda, Provolone and Swiss quite easily that fit the bill. Most of all, try in very small amounts and pay attention to your body.