Do you ever wonder why you feel stomach upset after ingesting milk, or other diary products? Well, it can be LACTOSE INTOLERANCE or you are probably allergic to milk. But don't mix these two, they are different conditions.
WHAT IS LACTOSE?
Yeah, what is lactose? Lactose is a disaccharide (Disaccharides are sugars with 2 monosaccharide units). You should probably be think "what is saccharide? It simply means sugar". Lactose contain glucose and galactose.
Lactose is the sugar unit found in milk we consume. It makes up 0% to 7% of milk. But unlike glucose, it cannot be assimilated by the body for usage. It must be split into glucose and galactose for assimilation. And the enzyme that does the job is know as LACTASE. The lactase is found in the intestine.
THEN WHY WON'T I TOLERATE LACTOSE?
During infancy, we have sufficient lactase in our intestine, which does the splitting of lactose. This is obviously due to the high intake of milk. But as we grow and become older, the quantity of the lactase in our intestine drastically reduce. This starts at late childhood or early adulthood.
SO, LACTOSE INTOLERANCE...
When we take in milk, there is insufficient lactase in the intestine to split the sugar contents of the milk to it units for assimilation into the bloodstream. Much of this lactase moves through the digestive tract and stay in the colon. The bacterial in the colon ferment the lactose, this produce large quantities of CO2, H2 and some irritating organic acids. This results in an embarrassing and often painful digestive upset termed lactose intolerance.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include:
+. Abdominal bloating or pain
+. Rumbling sound in the stomach
+. Nausea
+. Diarrhea
+. Gas
Lactose intolerance is common to most of adult Africans, and almost all Asians. In some African country where they rear milking animals like cattle, and consume milk in high quantity, the adults don't usually experience lactose intolerance. This is because they are adapted to production of lactase, and they express lactase gene which can be passed to the next generation.
BUT MILK IS GOOD FOR MY HEALTH, CAN IT BE CURED?
The simple answer is NO. Lactose intolerance cannot be cured, because there is reduction in the quantity of lactase as we become older. But there are synthetic lactase that can be consumed with milk, to aid it's digestion. Some milk manufacturers also use the technique of enzymatically splitting the lactose to it's unit during production. Some include lactase in their milk during production.
NOTE: If you experience other symptoms, like rashes, wheezing and hives, after consuming milk, it is probably not lactose intolerance but milk allergy. And this should be treated as emergency. This condition indicate that you are allergic to the protein in milk. Your immune system is reacting with the milk as an external dangerous substance.
Do you experience lactose intolerance? And is this useful? Let me know in the comment section.