Lactose Intolerance Symptoms | Causes and Cure for Lactose Intolerance
what is Lactose Intolerance
Milk contains a type of sugar in the form of lactose and it is digested by an enzyme called lactase. If the milk is not completely digested and when it moves down to the colon, the bacteria cause fermentation, leading to gastrointestinal problems like bloating, abdominal pain and excessive gas formation.
Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance
- Abdomen and bowel “grumble”.
- Within a few hours of consuming milk or milk products there is bloating, abdominal pain and cramps.
- Excessive gas and diarrhea
Lactose Intolerance Causes Some infants are born with the ailment and others develop it at around at the age of 3 years, when there is a steady decrease in the production of lactase enzyme and it continues throughout the life.
Cure for Lactose Intolerance
- If you drastically cut down on dairy products, compensate by eating calcium rich sources.
- Go in for lactose-reduced milk. You can even add lactase drops or tablets to the milk yourself, to reduce lactose.
- Hard, aged cheese like Cheddar, Parmesan and Swiss have most lactose removed, and can be consumed.
- Eat dairy products along with food so that more time is available to lactase to act upon the food.
- Drink 2 glasses of skim milk on empty stomach and see if there are lactose-intolerance symptoms for the next 3 hours.
- Prepared and processed food and sweeteners may contain lactose, so read the label carefully before buying any product.
- Soymilk can be tried.
- Fermented milk products such as yogurt with active cultures are easier to digest.
- Whole milk causes fewer symptoms than skim milk. People can consume moderate amount of milk and dairy products without symptoms.
April 1, 2009 | Filed Under
Alternative therapies
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