The cause of lactose intolerance is the lack of lactase, an enzyme necessary for the decomposition of lactose, which can be naturally found in a person’s mucus and small intestine. If it’s present very little or not at all, the lactose molecules come undigested into the colon, so the bacteria from the colon are then trying to decompose them through the process of fermentation which leads to the creation of gases, flatulence, as well as cramps.
In some difficult cases, people can also experience vomiting and diarrhea. So, if every time you have a glass of milk, you experience pain and stomach cramps in only 20 minutes, or you feel sick, you experience flatulence and gases, it’s very possible that you’re lactose intolerant e.g. your organism has the problem to digest milk sugar.
Unlike milk allergy, which appears because the immunological system reacts to milk proteins and mostly appears in children, especially the youngest ones and follows them all their lives, lactose intolerance mostly appears in adolescents and adults and it’s often temporary e.g. after some time, the problem can be relieved significantly, but also disappear completely.
In milk allergies, the only solution is to throw them out of your nutrition completely and use replacements, like almond milk or oat beverage. You can acquire a lot in lactose intolerance by patient tests. You should only avoid products which contain great quantities of lactose. Everyone should determine for themselves which milk products are bad for them and in which quantities.
Why is goat milk so healthy: A small amount of calories, many healing properties!
In order to make a proper test, we should completely throw out products that contain lactose from our nutrition for at least 3 months. Then, we can start to intake small quantities of ingredients with small quantities of lactose and then start increasing that quantity until we can confirm which quantity of certain ingredients causes problems.
That gradual returning of the lactose in someone’s nutrition helps people become more lactose tolerant, even completely tolerant. You should always have in mind that every organism is different and that someone can have problems even after several sips of milk while other people won’t mind the milk in their coffee.
If you have problems with lactose intolerance, the safest thing to do is throw out milk from your nutrition, while you can use products with a very small percentage of lactose without any problems.
That’s also the case with fresh cow cheese that most people tolerate. Many people can also eat goat cheese without problems because it contains a smaller quantity of lactose, like yoghurt or kefir.
You shouldn’t fear of the possible lack of vitamin D and calcium because we don’t drink milk, and we shouldn’t also think how to compensate them through nutrition or some additives.
On the contrary: vitamin D can melt in fats and we can mostly intake it through healthy fats, like olive oil or flax seed oil. A glass of yoghurt or fresh cheese contain two times more calcium related to the same quantity of milk and in that way, they’re more worthy than milk, add nutritionists.
Learn how to distinguish intolerance and allergy from lactose intolerance:
Lactose intolerance:
Common pain and stomach cramps after you’ve consumed ingredients with lactose, flatulence, and gases, sickness, rarely vomiting and diarrhea.
Milk allergy:
There can be rash, symptoms similar to intolerance: stomach pain, sickness, vomiting, diarrhea, symptoms similar to rhinitis, runny nose, sneezing and asthma.
Be careful! You can also find lactose in medicines, bread, and sauces!
Besides in milk and milk products, you can also find lactose in food which contains starch (some types of bread, cereals, crackers, pasta and pizza dough). You should also be careful to sauces based on sour cream that you buy in stores: most of them contain lactose.
Many salad dressings contain a small amount of milk that can also be a problem, as well as cooking cream, some cream soups, pudding, ice cream and frozen yoghurt. Some medicines can also contain lactose, so you should warn doctors that you suffer from intolerance.
Be careful with the intake of calcium: More leafy vegetables, sesame etc.
People with greater problems with lactose intolerance should avoid most dairy products and they must be sure that they lack calcium. That’s why they should increase the intake of green left vegetables, sesame, nuts and dry fruits, as well as fresh cheese.