You'll have to buy dietary, lactose free products available at any supermarket.

Restaurants? Will be difficult indeed!
Cheese, give it a try and see what happens. Hope it's not too bad for you.

I take lactase tablets.

Milk, yogurt and other dairy products give me acid reflux in the morning. But I refuse to give them up and have found that if I chew just one standard antacid tablet after breakfast, no problem at all. I do burp on the subway on the way to work.

I live in the Netherlands and am mildly lactose intolerant. I avoid drinking milk but can cope with small amounts of yoghurt and buttermilk. Too much cheese is not good for me either, but luckily I am not a great lover of cheese anyway.
I would say try a small amount and see how it affects you.
My brother has a serious allergy and avoids all dairy products. It would be interesting to know if your theory is correct however, and if it isn't
you can always learn to love espresso and sorbetto

I can't have dairy in the U.S. and am used to it here but it is also pretty easy to eat in the U.S. while avoiding dairy. Soy milk and products are also common. It seems like it will be much harder while in Italy. Sadly, I love cheese but you do get used to things. Lactose pills will not be enough for me. Much of what I've read suggests the U.S. pasteurization process plays a large role (as in some people can eat dairy from a family farm--not that I can get that in the middle of DC!) so I am very curious to hear what people's experiences in other places have been, as other countries do employ other methods.

My whole family has this problem, but somehow in Europe we are all able to eat gelato with no issues, and some cheese. I wouldn't advocate it for anyone else, but go slow, and see how it works out for you. Good luck!

Pasteurization was invented in France, and in general, the milk I have bought in France, the UK, and Italy is pasteurized, though many cheeses are not made from pasteurized milk.

I would consider the sources of your "I've read" pretty carefully.

Agree with Ackislander. Lactose is lactose--milk contains it. Pasteurization is a heat process--worldwide.

Most gelato has no milk. And most people has coffee without milk, the famous "espresso".
Pasteurization has nothing to do with lactose. I, like kerouac, get acid reflux with some dairy products (milk, youghurt), but never had it with gelato ! I can have cheese though in small quantities (pasteurized or not)..I love cheese and also can have cappuccino coffee without problems.

"Most gelato has no milk."

I've never seen a gelato recipe that didn't call for milk. Are you thinking of sorbets?

I don't want to delve too far into to the science/medicine of this as I am I really just interested in people's personal opinions and experiences (and I am not a Dr.) but some people believe that American treatment of dairy kills too many of the good bacteria which causes more people to have trouble digesting milk products. This is one reason that some people--again some--do better if they can make their own cheese etc. or perhaps in other countries. I'm just curious as to what others have experienced. I understand lactose is lactose (that's the sugar content of milk) but treatment of the raw material does effect the outcome. I didn't meant to throw anyone off with my wording of the question.

I am lactose intolerant here, but not in Europe at all. Based on that theory, which I've well-tested, my doctor actually thinks it's the preservatives in dairy here that bother me and not the lactose. I took the Lactaid pills for a while in Europe until once I forgot them and said what the hell, turns out I didn't need them there at all.

We walked into a chemist's in Windermere and asked for something to help lactose intolerance. The clerk looked at us like we were speaking Greek. The chemist himself took over but said they didn't stock such a thing, no call for it. However, the population in England's Lake District is getting more multi-cultural; they may need to get some Lactaid in.

I have never heard of Lactaid, and doubt it is available in Europe.
If you are Lactose intolerant it will make no difference whether you have European or US milk products. If you are intolerant to something else added to US milk products then the chances are you will be fine with European milk. Maybe you should first establish what it is you are intolerant to.

Maybe you call it sorbets in English, I don't know, really We call it all "helados" here in Spain.
Anyway, I don't think they have a significant quantity of cream to make any harm unless you are allergic to it because I eat them and have no trouble, with and without cream

Hello clairej04, I live in California. For 30 years I have not been able to eat any dairy product. When in Italy I have not had a problem eating quite well without eating dairy products (of course I would love to eat their cheese and gelato but I can't). I don't know about anyone else but one time I had a tomato based pasta dish and was quite ill some time later. My friend in Italy called the restaurant and it turned out unbeknowst to the waiter the chef had decided to add cream to the tomato sauce. So my experience is I cannot eat dairy products no matter where I happen to be. As far as coffee I love espresso which of course does not include any dairy product. I have gone without dairy product for so long I don't find it a challenge as I first did.

I have never read or heard that one cannot have dairy products in the states but can tolerate dairy products in Europe. But perhaps it is true for some people.

Gelato IS milk and cream with eggs and flavorings thrown in.

I have developed an allergy to non-organic American dairy products (not extreme - my nose runs the next morning). I can handle organic American dairy, and imported dairy (or dairy in other countries). I concluded the allergy was to bovine growth hormone and/or the antibiotics used on American cattle.

Pasteurization and sterilization do not change lactose content.

All milk is organic; it comes from cows, after all.

Many allergics have psychological triggers rather than (or in addition to) specific allergen triggers. A double-blind test can determine whether a specific food truly causes an allergic reaction or not.

I don't think the Italians use either cream or eggs in gelato. At least not in most flavors; perhaps panna cotta has cream in it! But they do use whole milk. And sorbetto won't even have milk.

Hi claire,

>to be in Italy and not have cheese,.....<


You can get goat and sheep's milk cheeses.

Bring lots of fake creme stuff for your coffee.

Load up on lactase capsules.

Enjoy your visit.