returning from vegan to vegetarian
I've been vegetarian for 6 years, and vegan now for about one. I love everything about veganism. The trouble is, I'll be leaving in November to live abroad for six months. I'll be an au pair, living with a host family in the Netherlands and caring for their children. I am seriously hoping to get a vegetarian host family, and if not that then an accepting one. To make the experience more fulfilling and a little less stressful, I've decided to begin consuming limited amounts of cheese and milk. I will also be reintroducing baked goods containing eggs, but not eggs on their own. The decision was difficult, but I think it's for the better. What I was hoping was that you would have suggestions for reintroducing foods. I was thinking it would be best to start with cheese- maybe a little in a burrito or something. I don't want to get sick, and I had suspicions of a lactose intolerance before going vegan. Are their any suggestions? Has anyone done this before? Is this even something I need to be concerned about?
I lived in copenhagen for a little while, and veganism was suprisingly alright with most people that I met. I've heard that the netherlands are even more open to alternative lifestyles than denmark. I would wait a little bit until you talk to your host family, it might not be necessary. My real problem was me and not the people around me, how can one go to denmark and not eat a danish! They must be very strong.
If you had suspicions of being lactose intolerant before becoming vegan, then I would suggest just staying away from dairy products altogether, instead of reintroducing them. Baypuppy is right; since your body hasn't consumed any dairy products in the past years, your intolerance will probably be worse now. You could always explain to your host family that you have a food allergy. People seem to be more accepting of that. And then explain to them that you just don't eat meat for personal reasons. Hopefully they'll understand your circumstances.
the lactose intolerance thing definitely does get worse if you aren't eating dairy!
also, many families getting au pairs will be open to accommodating you. i was going to go to spain and the family was telling me they were more than happy to buy me whatever i needed/wanted.
ive always been somewhat lactose intollerent. i could eat one piece of cheese, or a small bowl or mac and cheese, or a small bowl of ice cream once a day and wouldnt get sick, but anymore and it was over! but when i went to denmark, if i ate a danish, it wouldnt make me sick, or if i had a small serving of my friends mashed potatoes with sour cream i was fine. granted they were tiny bits of dairy, but i thought it would have killed my insides and it really didnt. i just remembered one more incident, right before i left, i think my tolerance had grown, but my mom and i went out to eat and i asked the waiter if this one vegetarian dish had any cheese in it and he said 'only parmasean' and i said, alright, can we have this without the parmasean. and it came out with no parmasean, but it was an alfredo dish!!! i ate it and was fine. i was shocked. it seems like my tolerance was similar to what it was when i was a child as long as i slowly built up to it.
but again! i was there for two months and this was really the only incidence where a huge plate of cheese was placed in front of me. blegh. it was gross. but i was so hungry! ha
OH MAN. you are going to love europe. i wish i could move there one day *sigh*
On the subject of LI, I was extremely intolerant of cow's milk as a child, and yet goat's milk didn't give me any trouble. Then somewhere in adolescence, about 6th grade (I remember because I changed schools), the LI simply vanished. I don't know if I just grew out of it. But for the first time I was attending school without the supervision of older siblings in the lunchroom, and I started taking the milk because it came in those "cool" plastic "space packs." I expected to be sick but nothing happened.
It's funny how our bodies work.
Thanks for all your help. I plan to be as vegan as I can be, but not really worry about things like breads, potatoes, or drinks like I do now. I'm going to introduce some dairy in a month or so. I'll see what happens. Thanks again.
If you have LI the odds are against you being able to tolerate it in the future.
You CAN outgrow a dairy allergy and you can grow into one too. LI is different. There is an enzyme in the human GI tract that breaks down lactose. People, depending on their ethnicity and age, may have a lot or a little of this enzyme. It is almost always present in young children of Endoeuropean decent, but rarely present in Native-American children or African-American children. Asians also have more LI. THe further above the equator your people are from, the more likely you don't have LI. BUT, as you age, you can lose this enzyme. Age...could be 10, 20, 30 or 60.
I think you are right to think about what accommodations you might make, in case. Hopefully, they will be very accepting and accommodating.
My husband is LI. Cheese is the WORST culprit. We always try to avoid that. Doctors have told him that goats milk is okay, but we aren't that interested. Yogurt is supposedly okay and every now and then he has a spoonful.
The lactaid pills are helpful in taking away some of the pain but the only thing that really works for him is to avoid it completely.
My husband is LI. Cheese is the WORST culprit. We always try to avoid that. Doctors have told him that goats milk is okay, but we aren't that interested. Yogurt is supposedly okay and every now and then he has a spoonful.
The lactaid pills are helpful in taking away some of the pain but the only thing that really works for him is to avoid it completely.
most of my family is LI and they found that raw milk works. their doctor told them that the processing of milk creates the lactose. they can only find milk at the local amish store though, so i dont know where people outside of pennsylvania could find it.
My husband is LI. Cheese is the WORST culprit. We always try to avoid that. Doctors have told him that goats milk is okay, but we aren't that interested. Yogurt is supposedly okay and every now and then he has a spoonful.
I was the exact opposite. I could eat cheese but every other dairy thing made me sick.
most of my family is LI and they found that raw milk works. their doctor told them that the processing of milk creates the lactose. they can only find milk at the local amish store though, so i dont know where people outside of pennsylvania could find it.
Some health food stores sell it. Where I shop, you have to order it by special request, but I don't think it's difficult...there is a dairy nearby. It is a local market. I doubt Whole Foods or Trader Joes would be able to do that.
Hello there! I'm in the Netherlands now, and its surprisingly easy to be vegan, now that I know where to go/what to look for, etc. I would be more than happy to help you when you get here. Will you be in a big city, or in the country?
If its just trace amounts of dairy in things that you don't want to have to be picky about when you arrive, then I wouldn't worry about the dairy giving you a problem. If bread has 1% dairy products in it, will it really effect you that bad?
However, I don't think you'll have trouble finding bread and other products without dairy. I was even thrilled when Albert Heijn- the largest grocery store chain here- had vegan cookies in their range. 2 or 3 types. So if you want to be as vegan as you can be, it will get you pretty far.
And you'll love it here!!!
Also, I think any Dutch host family would be very accepting of your ideals and opinions, as long as you care for the children properly and feed them as to the host family's way of life.
I am a bit late on this, but here I go...
When I was young, I actually could never, ever touch dairy - not even my mother's milk. I had to drink vitamin enriched soy milk for a while until I got older, then I grew out of the dairy intolerance...a little. Now I found that I do have to keep the dairy intake to a moderation, for it will make me feel extremely exhausted in excess, and sometimes it tears my stomach up, it feels like.
I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but because of the noted, I try to keep the remaining animal products I do eat to a moderation. I also try to get them from organic stores if at all possible. I have not tried Goat's Milk before, but I am tempted to give it a try. I would only use it once in a while though for I nearly live off my soy products.
If you intend to introduce dairy and eggs into your diet again, I would start with very small amounts at first. As noted, the intolerance could possibly be worse now that you kept away from the dairy for so long. I would even try to keep a food diary and see if you find any patterns if possible.
I hope this has been of help.
Sincerely,
TheRadiantSeraphim
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However, I don't think you'll have trouble finding bread and other products without dairy. I was even thrilled when Albert Heijn- the largest grocery store chain here- had vegan cookies in their range. 2 or 3 types. So if you want to be as vegan as you can be, it will get you pretty far.
And you'll love it here!!!
My whole famn damily is from Holland and up until recently we'd go to visit oma and opa (and the rest of the family) about once a year. I haven't gone as frequently since the twinkies were born but I think I'll be going again in January 2009 for Oma's 90th birthday... If your still here and I'm still here I may hit you up for a list of veg*n friendly foods. There is a reform winkle close to where we stay but it would be great if I could just go to AH and throw stuff into my basket as opposed to reading labels (in dutch) for half a day. <--- can vegans do that ::) ??
K^2