About Dairy Allergies

Dairy allergies are one of the most common food allergies found. Many patients with dairy allergies tend to have, or have a predisposition to the following:

• heart or cardiovascular problems
• diabetes (adult onset)
• diabetes (childhood)
• asthma, airborne allergies, excess mucus production
• arthritic conditions
• ear infections in children

Dairy allergy is a protein phenomenon. It is the protein in the dairy products that the patient has an allergy to. Many people think they have a lactose problem, but most are allergic to one or more of the specific proteins in dairy products. Therefore, lactose-free milk is not a good alternative unless a patient only has a lactose allergy and does not have an allergy to the milk proteins, whey, casien and lactoalbumin (rarely the case).