What are some natural remedies for lactose intolerance?

What are some natural remedies for lactose intolerance?I'm looking primarily for dietary ingredients/herbs that could be included into a daily/weekly diet plan that would help combat the intolerance, but also would appreciate hearing about any supplemental product suggestions. ...  haven't been able to find any information on natural dietary methods to avoid the intolerance. ... Want to avoid prescription or over the counter medication. The reason you can't find any useful or reliable information on natural or herbal remedies for lactose intolerance is that there isn't any such information and there aren't any such useful remedies.  Except the lactase enzyme, which is natural, and which works when the other stuff doesn't.BTW, medication doesn't work, whether prescription, over-the-counter, or alternative.  Lactose-intolerance isn't a disease.  It's also not an allergy.There ARE, however, dairy products that are naturally lactose-free or very low in lactose, and others that are produced to be lactose-free or low in lactose.Aged, hard cheeses, and cheese produced to be lactose free.  (Real, dairy cheeses from cows' milk.)Look at the bottom of the nutrition panel on the wrapper of Kraft cheeses (or shredded cheese made from the blocks), including their Cracker Barrel line.  Your favorite pizza place may well agree to make you a pizza with the Kraft shredded cheeses. Look at the front of packages of Cabot brand cheeses.Buy Finlandia brand aged Swiss, and look at the wrappings of their other packaged sliced cheeses.Lactose-free cows' milk.  Cows' milk is a supermarket staple, and there IS price competition.  Look for store brand lactose-free milk, and then compare the price of Lactaid brand, too, because the Lactaid stuff is often priced lower.  Cows' milk has a taste that many people prefer to other "milks" made from nuts or grains.Lactaid-brand cottage cheese is low in lactose, seems to be unique in the market, and it serves as a good substitute for ricotta cheese in a baked lasagna. Lactose-free ice cream.   The manufacturer of Lactaid markets "Scoopfuls" ice cream, in vanilla, chocolate and a few other flavors.  Breyers' makes (prominently marked as Lactose-free) an outstanding vanilla ice cream and an excellent chocolate ice cream.Lactose-free cream cheese.  Until recently, the only acceptable substitute seemed to be Tofutti brand "Better Than Cream Cheese," sold in three different packages;  They also produce a good "Sour Supreme" substitute for sour cream.  Now there's real cream cheese, lactose free, from Green Valley Organics -- It tastes like Neufchatel, a creamy cheese. 

Your best option is to minimize lactose exposure, or eliminate lactose from your diet entirely. Taking medications or supplements to allow you to eat something your body can't handle is not a good plan when you can simply avoid it. In addition, repeated exposure to something your body has an issue with can lead to a true allergy. This can put your life in danger, risking anaphylactic shock, which can kill you.

You should determine first your level of lactose intolerance, Try avoiding lactose containing foods for a month. After that, try some small quantities of milk or ice cream. Monitor this to See how much lactose you can take. This will help you know your limits when it comes to dairy products.

Reintroducing dairy after a three week abstinence is a disaster and could lead to anaphylaxia, the most dangerous of allergic responses.  The three weeks without dairy makes sure you can not handle lactose any more. The production of lactase can be extended by continual suckling but stops within weeks after the suckling stops and dairy is removed from the diet. Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction and is potentially life threatening. It must be treated as a medical emergency, requiring immediate treatment and urgent medical attention Anaphylaxis is a generalized allergic reaction, which often involves more than one body system (e.g. skin, respiratory, gastro-intestinal, cardio-vascular ) A severe allergic reaction usually occurs within the first 20 minutes to 2 hours of exposure to a trigger but can sometimes take longer What causes Anaphylaxis?  Common triggers of Anaphylaxis include; Food Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, fish, crustaceans, and soy are the most common food triggers which cause 90% of allergic reactions, however, any food can trigger anaphylaxis. It is important to understand that even trace amounts of food can cause a life threatening reaction