Another Thing I Can't Eat/Drink.....MILK!

Before I begin this post, I'd like to highlight a very important event that occurred yesterday, July 15th, 2010. One of my favorite people in the world, Emily (The Health Nut) officially joined the special club known as "The Food Police Club", aka THE REGISTERED DIETITIAN CLUB!!! I am especially excited to announce this because Emily was the one who got me started blogging. If it wasn't for her I would not have found this other world, known as the "Blog World". I never want to leave. Thanks Emily. And.....

CONGRATULATIONS!!!




Ok, now post time.

As you know, I have fructose malabsorption, which means my body doesn't have (or doesn't have enough, or it doesn't work) the enzyme to break down fructose. In the literature I have found that most people with fructose malabsorption also have lactose intolerance, which you can learn more about here. Briefly, if you are lactose intolerant you are lacking the enzyme that breaks down lactose, which is called lactase. When you can't break down lactase you will have gas, bloating, and/or diarrhea (all similar symptoms that I experience when I consume too much fructose).


I have never had a problem with milk (or at least I never thought I did), but for some reason I sort of cut it out of my diet a couple years ago and switched to almond and soy milk. I have not had a glass of real cow's milk in years. The other day, before leaving for Pittsburgh, I had a coupon for Smart Balance's new cow's milk, so I bought some.



While this milk is called "Fat Free" it actually has some fat added to it, in the form of essential omega-3 fatty acids. So it's true that the milk itself is fat free, but with the added fat it has about 1 gram per cup. This milk also offers 6 IU of vitamin E, which is not much, but it's still pretty neat that they added it to milk! Many Americans aren't getting enough vitamin E in their diets because of the lack of fat in their diet. Vitamin E is an antioxidant and it's also good for PMS prevention!



You can get a better view of the nutrition facts at the Smart Balance website. The milk contains .32 grams of EPA/DHA (essential omega-3 fats). I like to strive for .5-1 gram of EPA/DHA per day, so I think this is fantastic.

This milk doesn't taste like 2%, like it says, but either way it's still very good. However, there is one problem. I had one glass of this stuff and had FOWL gas all day. It took me a while to connect the milk to the gas, but I eventually decided that I am now LACTOSE INTOLERANT! Ugh. It's pretty normal for humans to lose the gene that is responsible for lactase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose) as they get older, but I think I may have quickened this process by completely cutting out cow's milk in the past several years. Thankfully I can still eat; ice cream, cheese, and yogurt, because each of these provides less lactose than a glass of milk, and they don't cause me any GI issues.

Question: What's your favorite way to get your calcium and vitamin D? Mine is definitely yogurt (especially Greek yogurt) and ice cream, but I don't know if ice cream counts as a good source of calcium and vitamin D. Oh well!




Coming Up/Training Update

I have to stay here in Pittsburgh for more training tomorrow, then I'll be heading back to Columbus tomorrow evening. I won't be in Columbus long though, as I must be back here on Tuesday for another week of training. In good news, next week will be my last week in Pittsburgh! I'm not calling this good news because I don't like Pittsburgh, in fact I really do like this city. It's very similar to Columbus (although they are all professional football fanatics, while we are all about college football!). Anyway, I am just excited because I will no longer be living in a hotel, but instead I'll be home and comfortable. Not to mention I get to have my own store, and I will no longer follow an RD! Apparently a Giant Eagle nearby had an RD who left, therefore they figured I could sort of take over after 3 weeks of training. I'm completely up for it. While I'm slightly intimidated, I feel that Giant Eagle has a fantastic support team and I don't feel like I'm going in there blind, at all. I'm so excited. I will hopefully be able to post pictures and more detail once I get the "ok" from corporate (although I may not get the "ok" at all....).

Have a great weekend everyone!