Have you experienced having tummy discomfort after consuming milk or some dairy products?

Have you ever heard Lactose Intolerance?

Lots of us doesn’t know what is it all about, well take some time to read and maybe you’re one of these patient of lactase deficiency.

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Symptoms of a Lactose Intolerant:

Bloating

Gas

Diarrhea

Stomach Pain

Abdominal Cramps (after taking dairy products)

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Causes of Lactose Intolerance

Lactose Intolerance is the inability of the body to digest the lactose intake. Lactose is commonly found as a natural sugar from dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. A lactose intolerant is unable to produce enough lactase (enzyme) in the small intestine to breakdown the lactose in the body. After this happens, the lactose triggered the bacteria in the large intestine which causes the symptoms above. The symptoms vary on how much the lactose consumption in the body. Typically, the symptoms occur for about 30 to 2 hours after the consumption of dairy products or foods that have high dose of lactose.

Types of Lactose Intolerance and Cause

Primary Lactose Intolerance (Increasing Age)

Most of us are born producing enough lactase in our body. However, as we aged the lactase production in our body slowly decreases which can result to lactose intolerance mostly on old people. This is very common to Asian, African, American, or Mediterranean ancestry.

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Secondary Lactose Intolerance

A Celiac Disease and Crohn’s Disease are the common illnesses that affects your small intestines and causes your body to produce less lactase in the body. These diseases happen because of an injury, illness or from a surgical operation.

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Congenital Lactose Intolerance

A very rare occurrence of no lactase or a very small amount of lactase is produce by the small intestine from birth. More of it is a genetic disorder, that is passed from either of the parents. This stage is very crucial to newborns because this can cause diarrhea to the infants and results to dehydration and electrolyte loss.

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Developmental Lactose Intolerance

When the baby is born pre-maturely usually babies temporarily happens to be a lactose intolerant. Temporarily because it will only last for a short period of time after their birth. The normal production of enough lactase occurs for about 34 weeks after the birth.

How this can be treated?

Lactose Intolerance cannot be prevented but it can be treated, being diagnosed to intolerance of lactose is not a life-threatening. It can be avoided by consuming less lactose from foods or drinks. Lactase enzyme supplements are also helpful to let your body produce enough lactase in your intestines. Consuming less dairy products may get you lack of calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin and protein which are essential for bones, so it is better to seek a physician and talk about the do’s and don’ts of being a lactose intolerant and discuss about taking supplements.

The patients should look out for the foods that contains less milk or milk products. To be safe, try the low- fat milks or fat free milks for they contain less lactose. Some foods are not expected or derived that contains lactose, some of these are:
Butter
Yogurt
Cheese
Margarine
Milk solids or powder
Nougat
Curds
Whey/ whey protein concentrate
Sauces
Dressings
Cereals
Baking mixes
Instant soups
Frozen waffles

"To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."
- Buddha

Thank you for reading and please don’t hesitate to leave comments. Hopefully you learned something from me today. Have a pleasant day!

Truly yours,

Unicorn-Girl
@ja9garnett