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I'm lactose intolerant: Only Walmart has my favorite lactose-free milk — and I get it delivered for free!
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There was once a time when I had the carefree pleasure of not knowing what it meant to be lactose intolerant. Drink a glass of milk with cookies? No problemo. Down a pint of ice cream in one sitting? Not advisable, but I could get away with it. Oh, how I pine for those days!
A few years ago, though, I started to realize that every time I drank an iced latte, I’d be left with a raging stomachache and the kind of bloat you get only after carb-loading at an all-you-can-eat Italian buffet. The writing was on the wall: Like 65 percent of the adult population, I had become lactose intolerant.
The problem is, I'm not a fan of milk alternatives like almond and cashew milk — or even the ever-so-trendy oat milk. Luckily, lactose-free cow milk does exist: it’s treated with a lactose-destroying enzyme called lactase. People who tolerate lactose produce this enzyme naturally. For the rest of us, there’s Great Value Lactose Free Milk, which is the tastiest, creamiest lactose-free milk I’ve ever found. It also happens to be the least expensive at less than $3 for a half gallon — and it’s only sold at Walmart. It’s also delivered straight to my door when I place my Walmart Grocery order using Walmart+.
Shop it: Great Value Lactose Free Milk, $3 per half gallon, walmart.com
I signed up for a Walmart+ membership last year, and it’s been my saving grace when it comes to grocery shopping. For just $12.95 a month (or $98 a year), I get an unlimited amount of deliveries straight to my door — fresh fruits and veggies, tasty cuts of meat, freshly baked bread and anything else I’d get at my supermarket — for free. And that’s after a 15-day free trial. In fact, I took a quick survey and got an additional 15 days for nothing! Basically, a whole month of free deliveries, and I could throw in whatever other household essentials I needed from Walmart too. Needless to say, I kept my Walmart+ membership after my free trial was over.
Discovering Great Value Lactose Free Milk has been a life-changer for me. I still love lattes. And I like to pour real milk in my cereal. (Did you ever try pouring watery almond milk into a bowl of corn flakes?!) Now I can always keep a gallon or two in my fridge. Great Value Lactose Free Milk comes in skim, two percent and whole milk options, and it’s more than $1 less than Lactaid, the leading lactose-free milk brand. And here’s the thing: It tastes just as good as Lactaid, if not better. That’s probably because Great Value is Walmart’s private label brand, so it likely costs less to manufacture.
Walmart's Great Value Lactose Free Milk lives up to its name
Target has a store brand that makes dairy products too. It’s called Good & Gather. Their lactose-free milk is probably on par with Great Value taste-wise, but I haven’t bought it more than once or twice because it’s $3.29 a half gallon! Why would I? With Walmart+, I also get free next- and two-day shipping with no order minimum required. Target’s grocery delivery service would charge me for delivery. Clearly, Walmart+ is the winner here.
Even Walmart’s Great Value low fat yogurt is cheaper: $1.84 at Walmart for a 32-ounce container vs. $3.69 at Target. And, you guessed it, Great Value ice cream is cheaper too, by more than a dollar. Unfortunately, neither of those products is lactose-free, but a girl can dream.
Great Value Lactose Free Milk is a healthy choice across the board
I’m happy that I can still incorporate milk into my diet, especially because I’m deficient in vitamin D. Great Value Lactose Free Milk is packed with vitamin D3, which I consume in addition to supplements and good ol’ sunshine. Honestly, I’ll drink up as much as I can: Vitamin D is great for hair health, immunity, weight management, mood management — the list goes on and on.
And this is important: Great Value Lactose-Free Milk comes from cows that have not been treated with any artificial growth hormones whatsoever. It’s just all-around the healthiest, most delicious and cost-effective lactose-free milk on my radar — and that includes other popular brands like Fairlife and Lala. Great Value is probably Walmart’s best-kept not-so-secret.
Well, not counting the Walmart+ program itself, which, by the way, gets me free shipping on everything, no order minimum necessary. It also gets me a contactless shopping experience thanks to the program’s Mobile Scan & Go feature, which lets me check out with my phone in-store and parade out the door with my goods, no waiting in line required. I also get discounts on prescription drugs and fuel. It’s probably my smartest investment to date.
Now excuse me while I whip up a lactose-free cappuccino and go on a late-night Walmart.com shopping spree. Let’s see what other grocery hacks I can discover with Walmart+!
Shop it: Great Value Lactose Free Milk, $3 per half gallon, walmart.com
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