The Cost of Lactose Free

Minutes before I began typing this blog entry, I tried a new type of yogurt made with lactose-free cow's milk. I ate hesitantly, since I've been dairy-free for nearly 4 years, and should know by the end of this post if the yogurt truly does not cause a lactose reaction...but I'm on the fence with how I feel about removing the lactose in the first place, and if it's a practice that consumers should embrace or pass over.

I'm no chemist, so explaining the process of removing the lactose from otherwise lactose-laden products is by no means my forte, but it involves breaking the bonds between lactose molecules. Obviously, this process does not happen naturally, and that's when I start to get pretty suspicious.

I try very hard to eliminate foods from my diet that are not made with love by human hands out of local and sustainable ingredients. Nowhere in my diet do I save space for molecularly-modified yogurt, and, just like the scary genetically-modified foods, my gut and my mind rest easier knowing that these frankenfoods are far from my plate and palate. As for the yogurt today? I think I'll keep my coconut milk substitute.