Can you advise whey protein substitutes for gluten/dairy free diets?

Hi Rosemary,

A good whey protein isolate or whey hydrolysate is practically lactose free and the majority of people who are lactose intolerant have no issues with WPI or hydrolysate.

Good protein sources for vegetarians are legumes like chick, soy, kidney and baked beans and lentils. Plant sources of protein contain "incomplete protein" unlike animal products which contains "complete protein". This means that to get all of the essential amino acids you need to eat a variety of plant protein sources, so make sure your diet has plenty of variety.

Hope this puts you in the right direction.

Hi Rosemary,

If you are willing to try whey protein (despite it being dairy), this is by far the healthiest protein of them all. Not to mention it should help make up the calcium deficit you may have from avoiding dairy foods and from not eating the high-quality proteins that can only be obtained from animal foods.

If you are avoiding dairy due to lactose and/or stomach upset, this should not be a problem because good whey proteins are very low in lactose (as Scott says, low enough for lactose-intolerant people to use) and very unlikely to cause digestive issues (unless you have a rare dairy protein allergy).

If you don't want to go with whey protein, then eggs are probably your best and healthiest protein source. The best vegetable protein is soy protein isolate but with either of these, I would urge you to get your calcium intake evaluated by a nutrition expert, as adding protein to the diet is great for bone health if calcium levels are at least 800mg but ideally 1200mg or more per day but many vegetarians and especially vegans don't meet this minimum level and for them, adding protein could have a detrimental effect on bone.

Feel free to send me a typical day's dietary intake and an idea of your activity level and I'll advise!