Vegan Diets: Healthy Lactose Free Eating

People choose to limit their intake of meat and dairy for a variety of reasons. Vegan diets, in which no animal products are consumed, are increasingly popular both for ethical reasons and for the health benefits. Others choose to limit their dairy intake due to lactose sensitivity, a condition found in roughly 65% of the human population. For both of these purposes NuGo provides many certified vegan bars.

Vegan Diet Protein Sources

Those on a vegan diet should be sure to consume foods with plenty of protein. Healthy vegan protein sources include black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and soy beans. Soy beans are found in the form of edamame, tempeh, and tofu. Other good protein sources include lentils, vegan bars high in protein, nuts including almonds and walnuts, seeds, and soymilk.

Low & Lactose Free Foods

Some people choose to avoid dairy due to lactose sensitivity. Fortunately, most people with lactose sensitivity can manage some lactose without symptoms. Foods that should be avoided include whey, milk powder, coffee creamer, and cow’s milk, since they have extremely high lactose contents that range from 5-75%. Fortunately, many cheeses and yogurts have such low lactose contents that even people with lactose intolerance won’t experience symptoms. Hard cheeses (like parmesan and Swiss) and aged cheese (like Roquefort and some goat cheeses) tend to have the lowest lactose content, around 1% or less. Plain yogurt typically contains some lactose (1-5%), reduced from milk due to the bacterial strains in yogurt that aid in the breakdown of lactose. Greek yogurt, which contains approximately double the protein content of plain yogurt, also carries the benefit of less lactose (less than 1%) because of the specific way it is strained and processed.

Certified Vegan Bars are Lactose Free

Some choose to adopt a vegan diet and avoid dairy completely, while others limit dairy intake due to lactose sensitivity. No matter the reason, NuGo is here to help with our delicious lines of certified vegan bars.