How to Eat Dairy Free for Beginners

Are you wanting to eat dairy free for health reasons? Perhaps you’re experiencing symptoms like sinus congestion, constant acne, unexplained joint pain, or digestive issues? A dairy-free diet may be the solution you’re looking for.

Eliminating dairy from your diet can provide relief for a variety of common health problems. Whether you’re struggling with skin issues, mood swings, or weight management, changing to eat dairy free could be the key to feeling your best.

Dairy-Free Diet Benefits for Your Health

If you’ve noticed any of these common dairy intolerance symptoms, it may be time to try a dairy elimination diet. These can include:

• sinus congestion or postnasal drip
• acne or other skin problems
• joint pain or inflammation
• mood changes like irritability or depression
• digestive issues like bloating, gas, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• and more!

Removing dairy from your diet, even temporarily, can help you figure out if dairy is the root cause of your symptoms. An elimination diet is the best way to find out if dairy is triggering some or all of your health problems. (Yes, nutrition can be unnecessarily complicated sometimes).

If you’ve already started to wonder if your daily dairy diet might be making your life more than a little miserable, you may want to try eliminating it. This is what we call an “elimination diet” in this biz.

In other words, you want to kick that dairy to the curb! At least for a short time… though hopefully a long time, at least when it comes to conventional (i.e. non-organic) dairy.

If you’ve decided to say goodbye to dairy, here are four handy, and hopefully helpful, tips to eat dairy free.

How to Eat Dairy-Free for Beginners

1. Arm yourself with dairy substitutes.

Worried about trying dairy-free foods? Don’t stress – there are plenty of delicious dairy-free substitutes available.

Let’s be real: chances are you’re not suddenly going to stop dairy cold turkey. Maybe you’re particularly fond of your morning coffee or gigantic bowl of cereal.

So the best advice is to go shopping in advance for dairy-free foods. These foods or ingredients make it easy to replace all your favourite dairy products.

Will you buy almond milk? (Or make your own homemade almond milk?) In 10 minutes, you can have the most flavourful, creamy almond milk you could ever imagine.

Will you buy coconut milk? If you do, buy it in the refrigerated cartons. Canned coconut milk is a lot thicker (more fat) and not the best replacement for milk on your cereal.

Will you buy soy? If you do, always, always buy organic so you know it’s free of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Will you try a non-nut milk like sunflower seed milk? You can make your own with the almond milk recipe above. It’s an excellent choice for anyone who is allergic to nuts. You can buy or make your own hemp milk, flax milk, pumpkin seed milk, sesame milk, etc.

When transitioning to a dairy-free lifestyle, stock up on these essential dairy-free alternatives. Your pantry and your everyday grocery store are full of options!

And remember, shopping in advance is the real key here. Don’t wait until Monday morning when you’re rushing off to work to think about how you’re going to use dairy free foods.

Common Dairy-Free Diet Food Substitutions

It’s very common to wonder about the replacements or substitutions for your dairy free diet. Luckily, there is a huge variety of foods and ingredients we can access now!

But I can’t give up ice cream! No fear, the ice cream monster is here! Just kidding. But seriously, the good news is that most grocery stores carry delicious dairy-free ice creams. They are made from coconut milk, rice, soy, even hemp. Of course, I happen to think you’ll be just as happy making your own dairy-free ice cream.

But I can’t give up butter in my baked foods! Yes, you can. Coconut butter is a terrific substitute for butter in baked goods. Your baked goods won’t taste like coconut, don’t worry, but they will be light and fluffy. I replace butter with coconut butter often, such as in baked goods like this fruit crumble.

But I can’t give up yogurt! Luckily there are great dairy-free options on the market. They are made from coconut milk, which I love, soy or almond milk. Look for products that are unsweetened. You can also make your own, using probiotics to ferment your yogurt.

But I can’t give up whipped cream! I know, I hear you, we’re practically twins. (But you have given up that edible oil product with a white and blue lid in a plastic container, right? You know the one I’m talking about… The one you have to defrost in the fridge before eating? Right? Please tell me you’ll stay away from that at any cost!)

Honestly, I could probably eat whipped cream every day and never tire of it.

Luckily, you can easily make whipped cream from canned coconut milk. Chill a can of coconut milk and then use the coconut cream solidified at the top. It’s better than any dairy whipped cream I’ve ever had! Coconut milk is rich, creamy and naturally full of good fats. These fats like medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) can rev up our metabolism and even help us lose weight. Bonus!

More Dairy Free Food Ideas

Because of their buttery-ness, cashews are a great substitute for dairy products like sour cream, “cream” cheese and/or ricotta. Once you try your hand at those, you likely won’t ever go back to the store-bought, additive-filled stuff. Another benefit of making your own is that you won’t have to worry about fishing out an expired plastic tub of sour cream that somehow grew a moustache of mold.

Sadly you may have to give up cheese as you know it, at least temporarily. There are soy-based cheeses, though I have yet to try any I really love. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try your hand at making your own nut-based cheese. Although I’ve seen a few brands of these on the market, they are often laced with additives and unhealthy ingredients. I’d avoid them, personally.

For everything else, I’m convinced you can find delicious (and most certainly more nutritious) dairy-free foods for all of your favourites. You can eat dairy free quite easily now. Most dairy free foods won’t taste exactly the same (why would they?), but I happen to think they taste even better. If nothing else, the flavours are a lot more interesting!

2. Look for hidden sources of dairy in your diet.

When you eat dairy free, you’ll need to know some label reading. Even after you’ve diligently cut out dairy on your cereal, in your coffee, your afternoon cheese and crackers, in your ice cream or nightcap, etc.

You may not realize that some of the foods you eat every day may contain whey and/or casein.

And for this dairy elimination diet, ALL dairy needs to go. At least until you figure out if it is the dairy that’s giving you that stuffy nose, that bloated “Free Willy” belly, or those black circles under your eyes (allergic shiners).

Your info is safe with me. I will guard it with my life and promise no spam, ever. I genuinely hate it as much as you do!

Why You Should Check Your Protein Powder for Hidden Dairy

Remember to check your protein powder. Whey/casein are often used in protein powders because they’re cheap and higher in protein than many plant-based protein powders. There are many plant-based protein powders on the market, made from pea protein, hemp, soy, even pumpkin seed.

If you don’t like any of these (the prices may cause sticker shock!), an easy way to increase your protein, say in smoothies or shakes, is to blend in hemp seeds. Hemp seeds have 5-6 g of protein PER TABLESPOON. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons, and you’ve got protein levels that can compete with the dairy-based protein powder you’re replacing.

And best of all, hemp seeds are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which help support a happy brain (and mood!), happy heart, happy joints, happy gut, happy blood sugar, happy skin and a happy immune system.

You get the picture!

For more info, check out this extensive list of 61 possible Omega-3 health benefits.

Processed foods are a minefield so read your labels carefully. Many processed foods like chocolate, commercial salad dressings, cereals, baking mixes, granola or “nutrition” bars, candies, crackers, potato chips, and sometimes even peanut butter, often contain dairy in some form.

If a product contains ingredients your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food, you don’t want to eat it.  

3. Avoid restaurants temporarily if you can, or at least do your homework before you go if you can’t.

Some restaurants do a great job of accommodating food allergies and food sensitivities. Others don’t. I wrote about food allergens and restaurant requirements here.

Unfortunately, it can be hard unless you have first-hand recommendations from friends or family for specific local restaurants.

For this reason, ideally, I recommend avoiding restaurants during your dairy elimination trial. But if you can’t avoid restaurants during this time, here are a few tips:

1. Go online and check out the menu. Make sure there are ample choices for dairy-free meals. Don’t forget about all of the ingredients that go into making these foods, e.g. butter.
2. Call the restaurant beforehand and talk to the manager or, preferably, the chef. Mention the foods you’re avoiding. If you can, find out which meals contain dairy and whether there is likely to be cross-contamination in the kitchen.
3. Ask questions to find out what you need to know. If a restaurant can’t cook the meals on its menu without the allergy-offending foods, try ordering off menu. If the restaurant can’t accommodate your needs, or if staff can’t tell you how certain meals are prepared, cooked or served, steer clear.
4. When you visit the restaurant, mention your restrictions to your server. Emphasize how important it is for you not to consume dairy. Say it’s an allergy if you need to, because allergies are often taken more seriously. At the moment, and until you figure out otherwise, it is potentially an allergy for you.

So, don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as you need to. And when in doubt, don’t feel embarrassed about having to send food back. It may prevent you from regretting it in a big way later.

Like anyone else, you are entitled to enjoy your meal without feeling sick or uncomfortable later.  

4. Don’t stress about buying the dairy-free foods you need to buy.

I know this sounds ironic given that I’m always harping on people to just make their own, but this is important.

Don’t stress about making your own almond or other dairy-free milk all the time.

Don’t stress about making your own dairy-free ice cream, sour cream or yogurt.

Don’t stress about making your own delectable nut cheeses.

In other words, keep it simple, at least to start.

I know I gave you a lot of options above for making your own dairy-free foods, but it’s really just to show you how many choices you have. Eliminating dairy doesn’t mean eating only fruits and vegetables for the rest of your days. It actually opens you up to an entire world of new tastes, textures and foods. And many of these foods are incredibly nourishing and nutritious.

If you decide you want to, you can branch out later. For now, go easy on yourself to keep up the habit. It’s much better to buy dairy-free foods than to cut your elimination diet short because you feel frustrated, confused, and overwhelmed.

I know that you probably don’t have time to make all your dairy free foods from scratch!

If you aren’t as confident in the kitchen as you would like to be, or if you are very busy and/or time-starved, it’s better to buy what you need. This is better than eating dairy until you find out whether it’s the cause of your symptoms. When you eat dairy free, it shouldn’t be too much of an extra chore.

That said, be sure to read labels diligently and avoid food products that contain a lot of unpronounceable, alien ingredients.

Do the best you can do at any given time and that’s the best thing you can do all of the time.

Life is a plate… Eat up!

Ashleigh