Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Gluten and lactose intolerance in Italy

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- Europe (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/)

- - Gluten and lactose intolerance in Italy (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/gluten-and-lactose-intolerance-in-italy-272894/)

Gluten and lactose intolerance in Italy

I am travelling to Italy but I am gluten and lactose intolerant. Do you know of any organizations that could help me find a place to eat during my stay?

Lactose intoleranceis not much of a problem (I am lactose intolerant too, to a degree), unless it is extremely severe. Basically the amounts of milk in italian food are very limite, since italy is a country where lacotse intolrent people are prevalent (although with degrees of intoreancy that vary largely), as a matter of facts the whole mediterranean are has an average 50% of lacotse intolerant people. In my experience, cappuccino for breakfast is one of the worst experience for a seripously intorenta person (my mm is!) ^_^. In any case, your lactose intolerancy (is it a lactase deficency) will not be a problem in Italy. For your gluten problem, I suggest you chech out the messages in the thread http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...archText=pasta. The OP was a person with a similar problem and I have given him a few suggestions on restaurants and other places he could get a regular but gluten-free meal, and also some things to buy and bring back home (gluten-free pasta, for instance).

My husband is gluten intolerant and he managed fine in Italy for two weeks. But it was very difficult for him to not have the bread, pizza and pasta since it is everywhere you turn. He substituted risotto for the pasta dishes. Apparently there are stores to buy gluten-free products, but we couldn't find the information in time. If you do a little research beforehand, you should be fine.

How severe is your lactose intolerance? Technically, the term applies to anyone who can't handle drinking a whole pint of millk. But lots of people who can't drink that much CAN handle smaller amounts, or can handle cheeses. If you're one of those, then you won't have lactose problems with most italian foods.

You may be surprised. I have quite drastic lactose reactions here in the US but very rarely in Europe (if I forget to take the medication before eating dairy). My doctor believes I'm actually allergic to the preservatives in dairy in the US which are generally not in the same products in Europe. He says it's a very common misconception. Can't help you with gluten though.

The symptoms of lactose intolerance are very different from the symptoms of allergies. Without getting TOO graphic, lactose intolerance results in lower-gastric distress. If you are having skin or respiratory reactions, etc., then that's some sort of allergy, not a deficiency of lactase!

Carol: Nowadays you can find some gluten-free products even at supermarkets, in particular Le Veneziane pasta (made with corn flour) are available in all supermarkets and even through the web. More gluten-free products can be found at drugstores (farmacia), but they are very costly. The link directs you to a thread where I have listed some addresses of restaurants that serve gluten-free meals, more informations can be found at www.celiachia.it (or was it a .org?). Jen: A person who is lactose intolreant can usually manage both cheeses and yogurt. If thiseprson can't manage these two foods his problem is not lactose, since the processing methods of these two foods lead to the complete destruction of lactore. In particular old cheeses (such as Parmigiano Reggiano) are completely lactose free. Amy. Itlaian milk (as long as you stick to "latte fresco", "Latte pastorizzato" or "latte alta qualità" are absolutely preservatives-free. they are just treated with a mild thermic procedure in order to make them last longer than raw milk. Only "Latte a lunga conservazione" (sometines also calle "UHT" or "uperizzato") has some perservatives. Come industries also prodiuce special milks (latte ad alta digeribilità) which are treated as the first one, but also with a special treatment that decreases the amount of lactose.

I am also lactose intolerant but can manage to eat some cheese, if not cottage cheese. I had no problems in Italy in my late trip. I even had 2 tiramisu desserts with no problems. But try to avoid gelati. For my intolerance they are a danger!

Alice, please stop disseminating misinformation. Yogurt and cheeses are not all lactose-free; it is not true that "the processing methods of these two foods lead to the complete destruction of lactore". The lactose levels in yogurt vary a great deal from one type to another, same for cheese (as you yourself imply).

There are two different types of gelato in Italy: mantecato (also plainly called gelato) and sorbetto. The first cathegory includes all the "creamy" flavors (chocolate, vanille, panna etc.) and is based on milk. The second cathegory is limited to fruit flavors, and is composed only of fruit juice, water and a small amount of sugar. Not all the fruit flavors are always a sorbetto, but all you need to do is ask the gelato-maker guy if his fruit flavor are sorbetto, in this case you can eat all the sorbetto you wat with no fear of consequences. Jen: The processing of yogurt or cheese causes the distruction of the 85-90% of lactose during the first hours. The leftover lactose get "digested" by the bacteria (and other microlife) that transform milk into yogurt or cheese during the following months. Even a person withna strong lactase deficiency can usually eat all kinds of cheese, or at least he can eat an amount of cheese that is several times the amount of milk he could otherways drink, and the same is true for yogurt. It is true that fresh cheeses still have a residual amount of lactose, but this residual amount is ridiculously small and will not endanger the digestion of a person with a moderate to strong lactase deficiency, only people with a complete lactase deficiency might hìsuffer some onsequences afeter eating HUGE amounts of fresh cheeses or yougurt, but as a matter of facts, these consequences will go hand in hand with the consequences of the excessive food intake. In other words. you would need to really gorge yorself with mozzarella in order to have the same symptoms caused to you by drinking two fill glasses of milk. Also, think of the fact that Italy has a 50% rate of lactase deficiency in its population but at the same time is with France and Switzerland the world's largest producer and consummer of cheese (the second largest if we stick to the number of varieties of cheese produced)! Also, Greece, Turkey and India are the world's largest consummers of yougurt and these countries' populations have equal (or even highier) rates of lactase deficiency. As a matter of facts, cheese and yogurth have been invented not only as wuas to preserve milk, but also as workarounds that enable people with lactase deficiency (or lactose intolerance, if you prefer) to use milk as a food.

If you have a wheat or gluten intolerance
you might ask if a restaurant serves rice pasta (pasta di riso) as many places do have them
available, but not on the menu.
If you are gluten intolerant, also be aware that gluten is used as a thickening agent in gelato of lower
quality.
In Rome city, Gelateria dei Gracchi, Fatamorgana, Gelateria del Teatro, il Gelato
are just a few of the gelaterie that we know do not use gluten in their gelato. Some of these gelaterie
even offer gluten-free cones.

Why don't you just take "Lactaid"?

The trip was 11 years ago

OMG - Why was this resuscitated?