mardi 10 septembre 2013

Facts About Lactose

By Scarlet Black


Lactose is a kind of carbohydrate or sugar that is mostly found in milk and other dairy products. Lactase, on the other hand, is an enzyme that is found in a person's digestive system and is the one able and responsible Lactose into simple form in order to be absorbed and used by the human body. Symptoms of digestive problems like abdominal pain and diarrhea are examples of what a person may experience if there is insufficient amount of lactase in the body and lactose is not broken down appropriately. The inability of the body to produce ample supply of lactase and the inability to break down, digest and metabolize Lactose or sugar in milk is called lactose intolerance.

Babies are not usually affected by lactose intolerance but there are instances that babies experiencing irritability that is caused by consuming some foods are wrongly diagnosed and parents are recommended to change their usual baby formula into lactose free formula. Usually, lactose intolerance develops after weaning stage and this is also known as the secondary lactose intolerance. Different factors can cause secondary lactose intolerance but one of the main causes of secondary lactose intolerance is frequent occurrence of gastroenteritis which causes the lining of the stomach to weaken. However, this kind of secondary lactose intolerance is normally temporary and will improve once the stomach lining is healed and strengthened.

A person that is lactose intolerant usually shows symptoms of lactose intolerance after consuming milk and other dairy products and some of the basic symptoms include diarrhea, flatulence, abdominal pain and swelling. But there are degree of lactose intolerance in different people varies. While there are people who need to completely avoid consuming milk and other dairy products, there are also other lactose intolerant people who are allowed to consume limited quantity of milk and other dairy products since their digestive system can tolerate little amounts of lactose without the risk of experiencing the symptoms.

Below are the four main causes of lactose intolerance:

-Congenital is the main cause of lactose intolerance. This means that it is in your genes and that the genes are the reason why lesser than normal amount of lactase is produced by the body.

-Another main cause of lactose intolerance is parasitic infection which decreases the body's lactase levels temporarily which results in the body's inability to properly produce lactase.

-Gastroenteritis which causes the stomach lining to be weakened and lactase may be stripped from your intestines. Lactose intolerance caused by gastroenteritis are mostly temporary and when the stomach linings are healed and repair, normal functions of the stomach as well as normal production of lactase will resume.

-The body's inability to digest and absorb lactose properly may also be caused by iron deficiency. This is one of the four main causes of lactose intolerance.

People who are usually lactose intolerant tend to avoid foods that contain milk and other dairy products especially desserts since these are the kind of foods that normally contain milk. But nowadays, there already different foods that can substitute milk as the main ingredient for many different recipes and there are already milk that are lactose free which helps people who are lactose intolerant to be able to consume food that they normally would not eat or consume because of the fear of experiencing symptoms of lactose intolerance.




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