LACTOSE INTOLERANCE

Judging from the impressive lineup of celebrities with milk mustaches in newspaper and magazine advertisements, you’d think that everyone is drinking milk. But the truth is, many adults can’t stomach milk or other dairy foods.

Doctors have estimated that up to 70 percent of the world’s adult population may have difficulty digesting lactose, a sugar found in milk, cheese, and other dairy foods. The reason for this is that adults often don’t produce enough lactase, which is the enzyme needed to digest the lactose in dairy foods. When your body can’t digest lactose, you may have gas, bloating, or diarrhea. Doctors call this problem lactose intolerance.

Some people were born with lactose intolerance. More often, the problem gradually gets worse with age, which is why children can usually drink milk while many adults can’t. Both men and women can develop lactose intolerance, but it’s a more urgent problem for women. Why? Because it makes it harder for them to get the calcium they need to prevent osteoporosis, a bone-thinning disease that mainly strikes women.

If you have lactose intolerance, even small amounts of dairy foods may make you quite ill. Most people, however, can enjoy some dairy foods without having problems. In addition, there are a number of ways to get the benefits of dairy without the problems. Here’s how.

Start small. Evidence suggests that most people with lactose intolerance are able to enjoy small amounts of dairy foods. Try having a small glass of milk and seeing if it agrees with you. Then gradually increase the amount until you discover your upper limit. In most cases, people with lactose intolerance will tolerate dairy foods better when they have them with meals.

Have a little yogurt. To get the benefits of dairy without the problems, may people turn to yogurt. Yogurt containing live cultures of bacteria is easier for the body to digest than milk or other dairy foods. In fact, eating yogurt will often make it easier for you to digest other dairy foods, as well. Frozen yogurt doesn’t work, however, because freezing deactivates the live cultures.

Take supplemental protection. To replace the lactase your body isn’t producing naturally, you can buy lactase supplements in pharmacies and some grocery stores. These supplements may be taken in pill or capsule form, or simply as drops that you put in a glass of milk. Or you can buy reduced-lactose milk, which has far less lactose that regular milk.

Explore milk substitutes. If you can’t drink cow’s milk, you can enjoy other forms of milk, such as soy milk. Many people with lactose intolerance find buttermilk easier to digest than regular milk.

Or try it with chocolate. Evidence suggests that adding a little cocoa to milk makes it easier for the body to digest. To get the benefits of calcium with a little chocolate flavor, it’s certainly worth a try.

Buy hard cheeses. Different cheeses contain different amounts of lactose. The hard cheeses, like Swiss or extra-sharp cheddar, are among the easiest for people who have lactose intolerance to digest.

Concentrate on calcium. The worst part about having lactose intolerance is that it’s often hard to get all the calcium you need without drinking milk or eating cheese. To make up for this missing mineral, it’s a good idea to eat calcium-rich foods like broccoli, kidney beans, tofu, and dark green, leafy vegetables such as cassia, amaranth, turnip greens, leaves of colocassia and fenugreek. In addition, orange juice is often fortified with calcium.

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WHEN TO SEE THE DOCTOR

Many people with lactose intolerance are able to diagnose the
problem themselves by giving up dairy foods for a while, then having
a glass of milk and seeing what happens. If you suspect you have
lactose intolerance, but you aren’t sure, call your doctor. He can
perform a test that measures how effectively your body breaks down
lactose.
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