Lactose Intolerance: Definition, Symptoms & Management

There are many types of foods that humans are intolerant to but few intolerances are as wide-spread as lactose intolerance. Read on to learn about what lactose is and why many humans are lactose intolerant. 

SEE ALSO: What cheeses are lactose free? →

What is lactose?

lactose molecular structure
Molecular Structure of Lactose

Before we delve into lactose intolerance, let’s do a quick introduction on lactose. To put it simply, lactose is a natural carbohydrate (sugar) that is present in animal milk. Effectively, this sugar is present in all milks including (but not limited to) human, cow, goat, sheep and buffalo. 

Why are some people lactose intolerant?

Mammals produce an enzyme called lactase to help us digest the lactose from our diet. However, most humans stop producing lactase once they are weaned off breast milk. The exceptions to this rule are Western Europeans who continue to produce lactase throughout their life. 

Without enough lactase, most people of Asian, African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent lose their ability to digest lactose by the age of five. This condition is known as lactase deficiency or, more commonly, lactose intolerance. 

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance?

Lactose intolerant female experiencing pain from drinking milk
Stomach pain after drinking milk – Cary Gastro

So, what actually takes place in the body of a lactose intolerant person? Lactase is usually found in the lining of the small intestine. And that is where it performs its main role, convert lactose into glucose and galactose. Indeed, those two carbohydrates are more absorbable and hence easier for us to digest. 

If you don’t produce enough lactase, your body is unable to process the lactose you consume from dairy products including milk and cheese. Instead, the lactose travels further down your gut into the large intestine. Once there, your gut bacteria break it down into acids and gasses. Overall, this fermentation process causes excessive wind, bloating and pain. 

Finally, any undigested lactose attracts water molecules and remains in your faeces (poo). As a result, lactose intolerant people can experience severe diarrhoea. 

How to manage lactose intolerance

Unfortunately, many people who are lactose intolerant give up on dairy products completely. Scientific studies have shown that most people only start to experience the symptoms we described above once they have consumed 12g of lactose. 

In fact, most milks contain from 4-7g/100g of lactose. As such, they are safe to consume in moderation. Moreover, milk is an important source of calcium in our diet and should not be scrapped completely unless it is absolutely necessary. One such case is if you have milk protein allergy

Besides, most cheeses have very low levels of lactose to no lactose at all. You can read more about which types of cheeses are lactose free here

Are you lactose intolerant?

Thank you for reading our post on lactose intolerance. Our final piece of advice is to always check food labels for lactose content before you eat. If you want to limit your lactose intake, watch out for the following ingredients on the labels: milk solids, non-fat milk solids, whey and milk sugar.  

Are you able to still enjoy cheese and other dairy products? Let us know your story in the comments.

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2 thoughts on “Lactose Intolerance: Definition, Symptoms & Management”

  1. Thanks much for making this information available! The database is great (I’m a database and spreadsheet sort of person)! What’s your take on yogurt and kefir? I have kefir made from lactose-free milk, but the carton shows 12gm of sugars per serving – I assume that this is glucose and galactose..

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