🥛Dairy-free diet
People go dairy-free for two quite different reasons: lactose intolerance, a digestive problem, and cows' milk allergy, an immune reaction. They need different levels of care, so it helps to know which one you have.
🔬What it means
Lactose intolerance means the gut makes too little lactase, the enzyme that digests milk sugar. It causes bloating, wind, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, usually within a few hours. It depends on the dose: many people manage a little milk in tea, and hard cheeses and yogurt are often tolerated. It is unpleasant but does not damage the gut.
Cows' milk allergy is a reaction of the immune system to milk proteins (casein and whey). It is most common in babies and young children, and many grow out of it. Reactions range from hives, eczema or vomiting to, in some people, a severe reaction, so it needs strict avoidance — even lactose-free milk is not safe, because it still contains milk protein. A doctor can tell the two apart.
✅What you can eat
- 🥩Meat, fish, eggs, grains, beans, fruit and vegetables in their natural form.
- 🥛Plant drinks and yogurts (soya, oat, almond) — choose ones fortified with calcium.
- 🍳Cooking with olive, sunflower or rapeseed oil and dairy-free spreads.
- 🧀With lactose intolerance only: lactose-free milk, hard cheeses such as Cheddar or Parmesan, and yogurt are often fine in normal portions.
🚫What to avoid
- 🥛Milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt, kefir, ice cream — from cows and, with an allergy, usually from goats and sheep too.
- 🧈Butter and ghee, often used in pastries, Indian dishes, mashed potato and sauces.
- 🏷️Hidden sources: whey, casein and caseinates, milk powder, milk solids, buttermilk, curd, lactose.
- 🍞Foods that often contain milk: bread and pastries, cakes, milk chocolate, creamy soups and sauces, sausages, ready meals, some crisps.
- 🏷️Labels: in the EU and UK milk must be highlighted in the ingredients. “Non-dairy” creamers can still contain casein.
⚠️What happens if you eat dairy
With lactose intolerance, the more lactose you eat, the more symptoms: bloating, wind, cramps, diarrhoea or nausea. They pass on their own and cause no lasting harm.
With a cows' milk allergy, a reaction can start within minutes (hives, swelling of the lips or face, vomiting, wheezing) or hours to days later, especially in babies (eczema, reflux, diarrhoea, blood in stools). In some people it can be severe — anaphylaxis.
Without dairy, plan for calcium and vitamin D: fortified plant drinks, calcium-set tofu, canned fish with soft bones, green vegetables, almonds and sesame. Get vitamin D from oily fish, eggs, fortified foods, sunlight and supplements as your health service advises.
🚑When to get help urgently
With a milk allergy, if there is swelling of the tongue or throat, difficulty breathing, wheezing, a hoarse voice, feeling faint or collapse, use an adrenaline auto-injector if you have one and call emergency services immediately, even if symptoms improve. Lie down with legs raised (or sit up if it is hard to breathe) and do not stand up suddenly.
Babies: call emergency services for any of these signs. See a doctor if a baby has lasting vomiting, diarrhoea, eczema, blood in stools or poor weight gain. Do not replace breast milk or formula with plant drinks — a doctor will advise a suitable special formula.
📱How Me Nutrition helps
Every dish in the app and on this site shows diet labels, including dairy-free, and the major allergens of a typical recipe, including milk, with the ingredient that decides it. Recipes differ and traces are not covered, so always check with whoever cooked the dish.
Dishes that fit: 1323
Sources
Written from the sources below; not reviewed by a doctor. Not medical advice. How we count →