Lactose Intolerance: The Facts

What is Lactose Intolerance?

Lactose intolerance is a condition where larger amounts of the milk sugar (called lactose) are not tolerated well by a person.

Lactose Intolerance Symptoms

A person with this condition may experience gas, cramping, abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, and diarrhea when eating and drinking lactose-rich foods such as milk, ice cream, cheese, and pizza. One may notice that yogurt, though rich in lactose, is typically well tolerated.

What Is Considered Normal?

No adult human being has the ability to break down the lactose in milk and other dairy products. Therefore, technically speaking, every adult is “lactose intolerant”. How does this happen?

According to current research, a baby produces a substance called lactase that breaks down lactose in its mother’s milk, allowing it to be used as food. As a baby gets older, he generally stops producing the lactase. At that time, the backup plan springs into action as the good microbes in the colon take over the job of breaking down any lactose that is eaten.

In fact, we first make contact with these microbes (bacteria and other “germs”) while passing through the birth canal. We set the backup plan into motion passing through the birth canal and by that first kiss from our parents. The bacteria are swallowed and find their way to your intestines. During your first three years of life, the mother’s breast milk (among other things) supports the bacteria. Then they grow and develop into the wonderful “city” of good intestinal germs called the intestinal flora. Fortunately, by the time a child no longer makes its own lactase, the intestinal flora is ready to take over the job of producing enough lactase to break down all the lactose in food.