If you’re lactose intolerant, eating foods with high levels of lactose can cause gas, bloating, and stomach pain. Luckily, some cheeses work on a low-lactose diet. In fact, there are several cheeses lactose intolerant people can enjoy.
As a general rule, you want to avoid high lactose foods, but so you don’t have to go dairy free. Unless you want to or have a milk allergy. So, avoid avoid high lactose goods like light milk, milk chocolate, Feta, American, Velveeta, etc.
Lactose (milk sugar) is the primary part that makes milk difficult to digest if you lactose intolerant. Since aged and hard cheeses are easy on the stomach. The aging process makes these cheese low in lactose.
According to lactose intolerance expert Steve Carper, author of Milk Is Not For Every Body: Living With Lactose Intolerance, there are nine cheeses you may be able to eat. Why the hedge, because every one is different and has different tolerances. The cheese with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving have about 2% to 3% lactose. For a reference, whole milk has around 4.8% lactose. Here are the nine most popular cheeses with the least lactose ranges.
Muenster: 0-1.1% lactose range
Camembert: 0-1.8% lactose range
Brie: 0-2% lactose range
Cheddar (mild and sharp varieties): 0-2.1% lactose range
Provolone: 0-2.1% lactose range
Gouda: 0-2.2% lactose range
Blue: 0-2.5% lactose range
Parmesan: 0-3.2% lactose range
Swiss: 0-3.4% lactose rangeOf course, some people with lactose intolerance simply cannot tolerate any milk products without discomfort, so it’s always better to err on the side of caution.
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