Is this like when I said I was allergic to potatoes because I don't like french fries?

September 25, 2009 11:09 AM

Can a person be allergic to milk but not ice cream, cheese, and butter?

My buddy's g/f says she's allergic to milk (cooked or uncooked), but not ice cream, cheese, or butter. Seems fishy. They all have casein and lactose.

Do ye ol' MFs have insight on such a phenomena?

posted by letahl to health & fitness (32 comments total)

Yes, this is exactly like when you said you were allergic to potatoes because you don't like french fries.

Milk allergy and lactose-intolerance are two different things, by the way.
posted by Houstonian at 11:14 AM on September 25

As someone who is mildly lactose intolerant, I can't drink milk, but most of the other things you mentioned are fine. Certainly most cheese (hard cheeses, anyway, which is what i eat) and butter have never been an issue. A milk allergy on the other hand, I would guess wouldn't work like that.
posted by brainmouse at 11:15 AM on September 25

Older cheeses have much less lactose than milk due to the bacteria consuming it during cheese-ifying, I believe. Not sure about the other two items.
posted by philscience at 11:15 AM on September 25

Seems rather fishy, but maybe not. If she's lactose intolerant, cheese can often still be fine, but ice cream definitely wouldn't sit well. She may well be dairy-intolerant, but she's strategically avoiding certain dishes. I'm mildly lactose intolerant, and I generally try to avoid drinking straight milk, but I love ice cream, cheese, and butter, so I usually end up picking my battles based on how delicious the item in question looks.
posted by Diagonalize at 11:16 AM on September 25

it may be the amount of lactose.

as a kid, i had to drink acidophilus milk because of some sort of intestinal thing.
to this day, even 2% milk gives me the toots.

ice cream will also do this, as will sour cream.

some butter on my corn on the cob? no problem.
some cheese on the nachos? mostly ok.
most cheeses are ok, but if i eat enough, like enjoying way too much gouda and/or brie over the holidays and i will get gassy. bur a couple of crackers and only an ounce or two of cheese, no issues.

sort of tangent: soy also has the same effect as milk on me. drinking soy milk makes me as gassy as drinking whole milk. rice milk/almond milk, ok.
posted by sio42 at 11:16 AM on September 25

She's probably lactose intolerant or sensitive but calling it an allergy. I have a kid who can't drink straight milk due to intolerance, but things that have milk as an ingredient are fine in moderation. That's pretty common.
posted by agentwills at 11:20 AM on September 25

I'm lactose-intolerant, not allergic. Since different foods contain different amounts of lactose, my tolerance of them varies. For example, a glass of whole milk will cause me to bloat for 12 hours (among other unpleasant things) but some cheese on crackers usually isn't too bad. Two, maybe three scoops of ice cream is okay, but half a carton of Ben & Jerry's is not. A little serving of yogurt is fine, but a 16oz yogurt smoothy from Smoothy King -- no matter how delicious -- is a bad idea.
posted by sbutler at 11:21 AM on September 25

I had a friend who gradually became more allergic to milk (actual allergy). Before it got too awful, she could still have a dollop of cream or butter now and then. Everything you've listed is cream-based and somehow cream didn't set her off the way milk did. (That went away as she got older, alas, and now she can't have anything dairy at all.)
posted by small_ruminant at 11:25 AM on September 25

I don't like milk. I just don't like the taste and it makes me gag. When I tell people this, they ask me why and act like I'm insane.

So I just started telling people I'm allergic to milk and it stops with the weird questioning. 99.9% of the people don't catch that I'll eat cheese, butter, ice dream.

I also don't like most nuts. After years of the "what's wrong with you, everyone likes nuts" stuff, I finally just said I'm allergic.
posted by birdherder at 11:25 AM on September 25 [2 favorites]

The lactose contents are definitely different per serving.

cheese - something like a tenth of that in milk
ice cream - about half that in milk if it's real ice cream, less if it isn't
butter - barely any lactose

If she eats the ice cream after a meal, that can also dilute the effect.
posted by zennie at 11:26 AM on September 25

Sometimes people do use the word "allergy" in place of "intolerant." I do this very thing when offered raw or stewed tomatoes, and when a simple "no thank you" doesn't stop the insistence that I eat them.

It's not meant to be deceitful, but it's more polite than saying "If I eat that, I will throw up all over your dining room table, because something in my system does not want those things in there!"

(Ketchup, tomato sauce, etc... all fine, however.)
posted by The Deej at 11:26 AM on September 25

It is possible to make ice cream using only heavy whipping cream, which is lower in lactose than milk. Milk contains about 9-12g of lactose per cup, while heavy cream contains 6g per cup (source [pdf]). So a very rich ice cream could be bearable for a lactose intolerant person, at least in small amounts.

Butter is essentially lactose free when used in small amounts, containing .04-.05g per 'pat,' which I would guess is about a teaspoon or so. That works out to about 2g per cup, so in larger amounts it could be troublesome, but it would be very unhealthy anyway.
posted by jedicus at 11:28 AM on September 25

I doubt she's allergic, she's probably using that word instead of "lactose intolerant".

Cream has a lot more fat and a lot less lactose than skim milk.

Butter has a lot more fat and a lot less lactose than skim milk.

Cheese has a lot less lactose than skim milk, the process of cheesemaking involves some sort of mysterious lactose-eating microbe.

Yogurt has a lot less lactose than skim milk, the process of yogurtmaking involves some sort of mysterious lactose-eating microbe.

Ice cream is made of various proportions of cream and milk and other stuff, depending on the brand.
posted by kathrineg at 11:31 AM on September 25

Additionally, when people say they can't eat something, believe them. I doubt she has some sort of evil plan that centers on her inability to digest milk properly.
posted by kathrineg at 11:32 AM on September 25 [8 favorites]

I'm lactose intolerant, so the idea of drinking a big glass of whole milk makes me queasy. And I'd feel really gross if I actually did drink it.

When it comes to something more incidental, like butter on toast, it doesn't really bother me. As for ice cream, I engage in a cost / benefit analysis of eating something delicious like ice cream and then having the farts. I usually just try to schedule some alone time after I eat ice cream.

Maybe allergies also vary the severity of the response based on the amount of whatever causes the allergen, like a glass of whole milk vs. a pat of butter.
posted by motsque at 11:33 AM on September 25

A little serving of yogurt is fine, but a 16oz yogurt smoothy from Smoothy King -- no matter how delicious -- is a bad idea.

Make sure to ask them if they put milk in it!
posted by kathrineg at 11:34 AM on September 25

My experience:

Toots:
Milk as a beverage (straight milk, latte, hot chocolate, etc.)
Ice cream
Whipped cream (OMG, run for the hills!)

No toots:
Milk cooked with other foods (baked goods, white sauce, chowder, etc.)
Cheese
Yogurt
Butter

Make of it what you will.
posted by HotToddy at 11:37 AM on September 25

Oh the mysterious human body. I can only drink whole milk or use cream or half and half. My system doesn't tolerate swiss or most varieties of stinky cheeses. Also no on maple syrup of all freakin' things.

So, milk but other dairy being ok sounds perfectly reasonable and likely to me.

It seems interesting that you want to prove that she's lying.
posted by Kimberly at 11:37 AM on September 25

I can't drink anything but small amounts of skim milk (enough for cereal) without getting sick but butter and ice cream don't bother me. I don't like cheese so I can't comment on that.
posted by zennoshinjou at 11:46 AM on September 25

Did she say she wants to prove the girlfriend is lying? No, she just said "Seems fishy".

But yeah, unless someone is trying to use their dietary restrictions to dramatic effect, it's best to believe them. Especially since they know how their body reacts, but you don't.

Count me in the "milk can cause problems, but the other three don't" group.
posted by soelo at 11:48 AM on September 25 [1 favorite]

I have the same issue. Milk and soft ice cream make me badly ill. Hard ice cream I can handle in small amounts. Hard cheese, goat cheeses are pretty much fine. I never use enough butter to register. It all depends on the amount of lactose, I assume.
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:33 PM on September 25

Allergic? No. But you can be lactose intolerant and eat aged cheeses and butter, this I can testify to - both have only trace amounts of lactose. Ice cream, soft cheeses, and yogurt (yes, yogurt) on the other hand - forget it.

I think a lot of people with food intolerances say "allergic" to avoid getting into the graphic details. Intolerances almost always have to do with bodily functions, which some people are averse to discussing.
posted by chez shoes at 12:34 PM on September 25

Sometimes it bees like that. I'm a variation of her.

Additionally, when people say they can't eat something, believe them. I doubt she has some sort of evil plan that centers on her inability to digest milk properly.

Fiffed. And can we also extend this to pet allergies? "I'm allergic to dogs"...."Oh no, you can't be allergic to fluffffyyyyyy!" Yes, I can be - your pet is as cute as can be but you letting it jump on me means I will be sneezing and sick for the next 5 days unless I take medicines that basically knock a person unconscious.
posted by cashman at 12:35 PM on September 25

I'm lactose-intolerant, not allergic. Since different foods contain different amounts of lactose, my tolerance of them varies. For example, a glass of whole milk will cause me to bloat for 12 hours (among other unpleasant things) but some cheese on crackers usually isn't too bad. Two, maybe three scoops of ice cream is okay, but half a carton of Ben & Jerry's is not. A little serving of yogurt is fine, but a 16oz yogurt smoothy from Smoothy King -- no matter how delicious -- is a bad idea.

This is me.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 12:51 PM on September 25

I've got a friend who will break out in hives when she consumes dairy—any dairy. Every once in a while, she'll put up with that to eat something especially good. This is an allergy, clearly.

Allergies can be of different intensities, so it wouldn't be too surprising if someone had a mild allergy to lactose (or whatever) that wasn't triggered by some foods with a small amount of lactose.

I've got other friends with lactose intolerance, which is completely different, and manifests as GI distress. This seems to get worse with age, so they go from not being able to drink a glass of milk to not being able to have a little cream in their coffee to not being able to have a slice of cheese on a sandwich over time.
posted by adamrice at 12:52 PM on September 25

Lactose intolerance frequently doesn't happen for fermented, matured, or processed dairy products because there's no lactose left in them.

Most people older than a few months don't actually have a milk allergy, but might be allergic to an incidental additive. Going organic for dairy generally mitigates things like hives and such.

I'm not saying that an adult can't be genuinely allergic to cow's milk. It's just really, really rare.

IANAD.
posted by Citrus at 1:11 PM on September 25

What everyone else said. She's probably lactose intolerant, but only minorly so. I can't drink a big glass of milk or virtually any quantity of sour cream, but in general cheese, butter, yogurt, and ice cream are all fine for me.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 1:21 PM on September 25

I am savagely jealous of all you mildly lactose intolerant people. I can't even have deli meats that have been processed with minimal amounts of whey as a filler without horrifying results. :/
posted by elizardbits at 1:40 PM on September 25

My boyfriend is like that. He doesn't drink milk or eat cheese at all, but the rest (ice cream, cheesecake, etc) he can eat because it wouldn't be as concentrated as milk alone (as long as he doesn't have too much).

And he also uses "allergy" as a way of saying he's intolerant to it.
posted by cobain_angel at 1:46 PM on September 25

Like many others above, I am lactose intolerant. The fact that your buddy's girlfriend claims equal difficulty with cooked and uncooked milk suggests that she is not lactose intolerant, though, as boiling the milk starts the process of breaking down the lactose.

My mother actually is allergic to milk and milk products; she gets horrible migraines and endures great suffering beyond the discomfort lactose intolerant people endure. She knows how much she can consume without getting an allergic reaction, though, and is careful not to exceed her limit.

Incidentally, no one ever believes her either when she says she's allergic until she details what happens when she overindulges.
posted by DrGail at 2:02 PM on September 25

Yep, it sounds more like intolerance (lactose=sugar) not allergy (casein=protein). Peopple are allergic to proteins (and polysaccharides). Sciencey people like me get annoyed by non-Sciencey people casually mixing up the two. Intolerance will give you an upset stomach, an allergy will give you the same symptoms any other food allergy will (like DrGail's Mom.)
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 3:07 PM on September 25

She may be mildly allergic to whey proteins which are going to be a lot less in cheese and butter at least. If it's crappy ice cream without much whole milk or cream in it then there may be less of whatever she reacts to in there also. There are a whole bunch of proteins in milk besides casein, although that is by far the most abundant one, and it's possible to have a really specific allergy to any of them.

The lactose intolerance thing as others have described is more likely but still, whey protein allergies are possible.
posted by shelleycat at 3:50 PM on September 25