Lactose Intolerance

Lactose Inolerance - The inability to digest lactose, a component of milk and some other dairy products. The basis for lactose intolerance is the lack of an enzyme called lactase in the small intestine. The most common symptoms of lactose intolerance are diarrhoea, bloating, and gas.

Lactose or milk sugar is a disaccharide consisting of glucose and galactose. It is found only in the milk of mammals and is the main carbohydrate found in milk and other dairy products.

Lactose intolerance is the most commonly diagnosed adverse reaction to cow’s milk among adolescents and adults.

The main symptoms of lactose intolerance include flatutlence, bloating, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

The symptoms are caused by undigested lactose passing from the small intestine into the colon. The colon is the part of the large intestine between the cecum and the rectum; it extracts moisture from food residues before they are excreted. 

In the colon the bacteria normally present ferment unabsorbed lactose producing short chain fatty acids and gases (carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane). This gas production is what causes the flatulence, bloating and abdomen pain. Unabsorbed lactose also has an osmotic effect in the gastrointestinal tract, drawing fluid into the lumen and causing diarrhoea.

The most common symptoms of lactose intolerance include:

• diarrhoea
• gas
• bloating/swelling in the abdomen
• abdominal pain/cramping
• nausea, vomiting
• headaches or migraines
• acne

The severity of lactose intolerance symptoms depends upon personal tolerations, and the amount consumed. It is important to note that not all dairy products cause these unpleasant symptoms of lactose intolerance.

In fact, yogurt or kefir (a fermented milk drink that originated in the north Caucasus Mountains made with kefir "grains", a yeast/bacterial fermentation starter, prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep milk with the kefir grains) with live active cultures typically do not produce these symptoms, as the active cultures help to break down lactose before you eat it. Also, the longer the food is fermented, the less the lactose content as the healthy probiotics (live bacteria and yeasts promoted as having various health benefits) survive by eating…