dairy free vs lactose free

[Familyof5]

hi,

my youngest daughter showed great improvement in her tics, adhd, and ocd when i removed diary from her diet. now, my oldest daughter, 12yo, has been having a terrible flare with ocd. counting fingers, counting teeth, having to compulsively touch things an even amount of times. she has never exhibited any signs of ocd or add, adhd until now. i am contemplating removing dairy from her diet to see if there is improvement. can anyone help me understand the difference between dairy free and lactose free? is it the same thing? are there differences as it relates to our childrens sensitivities?

 

thanks, im grateful for any help you can offer on this topic!

[mdmom]

Lactose is the sugar found in dairy products. Casein is the protein found in dairy products. Lactose-free products only have the sugar removed (like Lactaid milk and ice cream). In order to remove dairy completely from a diet, you must also remove casein, which means avoiding anything containing a milk ingredient. We have been casein (and gluten) free for 3 years. It has really benefitted my family, particularly my PANS/Lyme son.

[SSS]

If you decide to remove 100% casein (all dairy) the good news is that it completely leaves the body in 3-4 days, unlike gluten, which can take months.

Also, be careful not to substitute going heavy on the soy products as a replacement-

then soy can become an issue (that happened to us when we did this 2-3 years ago.)