Milk

[Kezzie]

I have been on the RECODE diet for 5 weeks but struggle with not having cows milk in my coffee and miss cheese. Does anyone have any suggestions. I have tried many alternative milks but they don't taste the same.

[TheresaB]

I've not been a big milk drinker, but I did like my cheese. I use alternative milk products, and just mostly eliminated cheese from my diet, although I've tried a few nut milk cheeses that weren't bad. I've also found that if I continued to eat foods I disliked initially, I eventually grew to like them. How many times have you tried to consume alternative milk products?

If this is truly a deal breaker for you, that is the only thing you absolutely can't adhere to within your diet, then I say (and I'm just one person off the street) eat some! My doctors has said get biomarkers in line, then see what you can get away with. Get your biomarkers in line, then reintroduce milk and or cheese gradually, certainly maintaining moderation and test your biomarkers to see what you can get away with. Recognize the ramifications of your decision: that dairy products do then to raise inflammation and that ApoE4s tend not to process saturated fats as well as our non carriers "cousins."

[NF52]

I have been on the RECODE diet for 5 weeks but struggle with not having cows milk in my coffee and miss cheese. Does anyone have any suggestions. I have tried many alternative milks but they don't taste the same.

Welcome, Kezzie!

TheresaB's advice is terrific. Don't let being perfect be the enemy of being a healthier, happier self. You may want to read the Wiki information on ketosis here: Ketosis and Ketogenic Diet and then think about what are your personal reasons for following the ReCODE diet. Is it to reduce inflammation markers? Is it to keep your glucose levels from spiking after carb-heavy meals? Is it to improve cardiac health or more to help your brain use ketones as fuel? Some people use intermittent fasting daily (with a 12-16 hour fasting period) or periodic longer fasts, and give themselves days to have a more relaxed diet. You may even be able to experiment with different brands or flavors of coffee that would taste "sweet" enough to not miss the cows milk.

Being on any new plan for 5 weeks is tough--your body and brain remember the good old days! It may be that if you give yourself permission to try one more week without milk and then make a decision, that it will be easier to decide maybe to skip the milk, but have goat cheese on salads, for example.

This is a forum with people who follow a wide variety of eating plans, so feel free to browse some of the forums and share your own new food choices. You may find terrific ideas on how to make recipes without cheese still fun in this wiki section: Recipes from our members

[SamNZ]

Welcome Kezzie, so lovely to have you here on our forum.
It can be really hard eliminating something from our diet that we really miss so please don't put yourself under too much pressure. There is a school of thought that the thing we miss most can sometimes be the thing that is causing the most of the problem. In an elimination diet giving your body 3 weeks for this can often be a good length of time to work out the effects of food on your system, with the e4/e4 I understand that you are more likely to have inflammatory issues with dairy. As you have kept off for the 5 weeks, reintroduce it a couple of times a day for 2 days and see if it is causes you a problem.
Again with the RECODE diet - dairy should be eliminated, but as mentioned in earlier posts we cannot all be perfect - all the time, sometimes small compromises can be made. I have added a link to a couple of threads that go into dairy further for you, Dairy reduction - simple question, a2 milk. If you feel the milk is a non negotiable for you, as long as you can establish that you are not at all sensitive to dairy, perhaps going down the A2 protein milk path could be an option,there seems more and more information in this becoming readily available for us, goats cheese is all A2 and sometimes people tolerate sheep products better than both cow and goat.
If you are wanting to go into more information on any topic, please head to the Wiki which has a wealth of information on many subjects for you to check out. We would love to hear more about you and your journey on the RECODE plan, feel free to share your story with us on the Our Stories.

[Julie G]

I like Sam's idea. I get a craving for milk every so often and enjoy the full-fat A2 version. Just a small teacup with a square of dark chocolate- heaven .

[donbob]

Not a medical person in any way, but would full fat cream suffice? I have successfully consumed that in lieu of milk . I know we are all different. Best wishes.

[mike]

I do full fat cream as well, but it is to keep carbs down for my diabetes. I'm not following the suggested diet here, but don't think full cream is okay for the strict RECODE diet...

[catinmoon]

I have been dairy free for many years and have tried all of the various "milk" substitutes. The good news is that there are so many ones out there that one may find a variety to your liking. That said, my favorites in terms of the more they remind me of real milk, are cashew milk and hemp milk. The flavors of course are different, but the textures are nice. I always get the unsweetened plain varieties. Others that aren't bad to me are the almond milk and the oat milk.

[NF52]

I have been dairy free for many years and have tried all of the various "milk" substitutes. The good news is that there are so many ones out there that one may find a variety to your liking. That said, my favorites in terms of the more they remind me of real milk, are cashew milk and hemp milk. The flavors of course are different, but the textures are nice. I always get the unsweetened plain varieties. Others that aren't bad to me are the almond milk and the oat milk.

Welcome, catinmoon!

What a lovely name--especially for someone who enjoys milk substitutes! Your suggestion to keep trying flavors was very helpful; I found it took a while to find my preferred brand, luckily only a few minutes away from my home.

We're always happy when new users find our site, and hope it offers you a community of like-minded people eager to learn about ApoE 4. If you have not had the chance to check out some of the forums and resources of the website, here are some handy links:

We encourage new users to share their own stories of finding out about ApoE 4, their own best practices to enjoy a healthy life and any questions or favorite topics on Our Stories

For tips on easy ways to use this forum, check out "How-To" Get the most out of the ApoE4.info website. It shows screen shots of how to quote users so they will see your posts, how to search topics and how to use our Wiki which is a constantly improving resource of in-depth information on topics of interest.

The Primer is an easy-to-browse resource with topic headings of topics related to strategies to understand and minimize the effects of ApoE4 that you can begin at a pace that works for you.

If you know you have one or two copies of ApoE 4, but have not yet decided about disclosing your status to your family members, here's a forum thread with lots of views:
Tell my children or not?

Please keep posting; we learn from the wisdom of each other.