Just wondering: How do you know if you are lactose intolerant?

[Maddy McCall]

Someone mentioned the condition in another thread. I was just wondering how you find out if you are--what are the symptoms?

Do you give up milk products altogether? Is there a way around the condition, like medication, so that you can eat dairy foods?

This is something about which I've always been curious, but never asked anyone.

[mike_c]

1. real lactose intolerance causes diarrhea....

It changes the osmotic gradient within the colon, and prevents the usual water absorption from feces. That's probably more than you wanted to know....

[Maddy McCall]

2. Sounds terrible.

Thanks for the info.

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. My bro is lactose intolerant. I am from time to time..... He can't have

any dairy. None. We have to be very careful what we make for him when he visits and always read labels looking for whey and other sneaky milk ingredients.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. Here's something that works very well

http://www.ganedenbiotech.com/index.php?page=DALI

They make stuff for people who are lactose intolerant and folks with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. They're not the same thing, as I once thought, although there's a lot of crossover.

There are a lot of medications out there, but this stuff has the best reputation.

[Maddy McCall]

9. I had always thought that perhaps they were the same thing.

I'll check out that website. Thanks.

[KitchenWitch]

13. I have IBS but am not lactose intolerant

Mr KW is lactose intolerant but does not have IBS

Jack Spratt....

[Longhorn]

4. I checked into this when I had severe stomach cramps after drinking

protein shakes. They were made with whey protein. Apparently, there are different levels of intolerance. I had never had a reaction before the shakes, nor have I had one since then, even if I drink a big glass of milk.

When I was still trying to drink the shakes, I took some Lactaid beforehand and didn't have any symptoms. They also make a Lactaid milk.

Hope this helps! :D

[Jean Louise Finch]

5. Your grilled cheese thread

was hilariously just placed below the this one. That's funny stuff.

I know there is something called Lactaid that helps you to digest dairy products. Works well for me, just an over the counter pill. It's good stuff. I have a pretty mild lactose intolerance, I think caused by when I quit eating any dairy for about three years. I think it's more common than people realize, because it's hard to figure out if you eat a lot of dairy.

[Maddy McCall]

11. LOL! Yeah, if I were lactose intolerant, a grill cheese would not be on

the menu. Fortunately, I'm not lactose intolerant. I've just always wondered what it's like. I took some anthro classes, and in one class the prof told us that people of Eastern heritage and American Indian heritage often are lactose intolerant. I wrote it in my notes, but I never thought to question what that might mean for the people with the condition.

[Redstone]

14. The reason that white people are better able to

tolerate cow's milk as adults is that they, living in the north where there isn't as much sunlight as in the south, needed to drink milk as adults to get Vitamin D, which the body produces in reaction to sunlight.

We darker people didn't need the milk, so never deveoped the enzymes necessary to break it down.

That's the story, though plenty of us Indians lived in northern climates, so I'm not sure it's entirely true.

Redstone

[Redstone]

6. Cheese generally won't bother you if you're

lactose intolerant.

Redstone

[SarahB]

10. Yeah, I'm fine with cheese.

Lactose intolerance hit me at 29. I don't eat much dairy now, but cheese is ok and if I take Lactaid (which are enzymes- called lactase) that supplement what your body is missing to digest the milk sugar (lactose) with milk, yogurt, and ice cream, I'm ok.

[Redstone]

12. Yup. Anyone who claims to be lactose intolerant

and says that cheese bothers them as well is either lying or has something ELSE wrong with them. There's no lactose in cheese.

Not an issue for me one way or the other; I'd have to be dying of thirst before I'd drink a glass of that revolting white stuff anyway. Yuck.

But please don't tell anyone that I don't eat ice cream, or they'll throw me out of New England. I think not eating ice cream is a felony here.

Redstone

[cmf]

7. I never "liked" milk when I was a kid, but didn't know why

I would tolerate small amounts on cereal, though. But sometimes after eating milk with cereal, I would get wicked stomach aches. Eventually, as an adult, I put two and two together and found out that I was LI. I have found out that there is a spectrum of LI - some people can't have any dairy, but other people can have certain amounts of dairy before having a bad reaction.