dimanche 25 août 2013

Lactose Free Information

By Scarlet Black


A lot of people are still not aware what lactose really is and how it affects a lot of people nowadays. That is why we will be discussing more about the topics of lactose and being lactose free. Lactose is a type sugar typically found in milk including goat's milk, cow's milk and even human milk. For lactose to be used and absorbed by the body, it needs to be broken down with the help and use of the enzyme lactase. Lactose intolerance is a deficiency wherein the body does not have sufficient supply of lactase. As a result, the body will not be able to digest and absorb lactose properly. When this happens, the person will exhibit abdominal symptoms including flatulence, stomach cramps and bloating. Causes for this include genetic disorders, gastrointestinal diseases and lactose overload in infants.

There are people that confuse lactose intolerance with milk allergy, but it should be known that these two are different. Milk allergy is a kind of allergy in food that causes adverse immune reaction to a food protein that is deemed as not harmful to non-allergic people. While lactose intolerance is a kind of non-allergic sensitivity which is caused by a deficiency in the enzyme lactase, which means there is insufficient amount of lactase in the body. When there is insufficient amount of lactase in the body, lactose will not be broken down and metabolized properly. A lot of people are lactose intolerant, they make up 70% of the world's population but this is not considered as a sickness or disease. People with milk allergy are advised to avoid taking milk and milk products at all cost while lactose intolerant individuals can either avoid taking milk or milk products or take lactase supplement for their body to be able to digest sugar in milk.

The production of the enzyme lactase has the possibility to decrease or halt two years after being born but it is uncommon for children to be born with a deficiency in lactase. Different people may show different symptoms of lactose intolerance especially that there are varying levels of intolerance. There are people that may or may not exhibit symptoms of lactose intolerance after taking milk or milk products while there are people that cannot tolerate taking milk or any milk products.

Different ways are available for a lactose intolerant individual to decrease or lessen his/her lactose intolerance symptoms. People like medical professionals, nutritionists and dieticians have been suggesting taking lactase products along with milk and milk products. Lactase enzyme supplement pills or powdered form are available in the market to be purchased. There are also dairy products that are incorporated with lactase for the benefit of lactose intolerant individuals. Lactose-free products are those regular dairy products that re added with lactase during production phase therefore the lactose found in those dairy products are already broken down before it is even ingested.

Lactose intolerance may be experienced by people from different ages but it is more likely to be experienced by infants and is more common in people of certain ethnicities. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, nausea, stomach cramps and abdominal pain.




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire