Knowledge of the World of Lactose Intolerance

Normal Lactose Digestion Compared to Lactose Intolerance

           Lactose intolerance is when the body does not make enough lactase to break down lactose, a sugar found in milk and many other milk derived diary products.  The enzyme that breaks down lactose is lactase, an enzyme found on the wall of the intestines.  Lactase breaks down lactose into galactose and glucose.  The activity of lactase becomes reduced after breastfeeding, and at that point the body no longer needs as much lactase. This is not the same thing as a food allergy to milk.  When lactose moves through the colon (large intestine) without being properly digested, it can be really uncomfortable to a person.  You can get gas, bloating, and even really bad stomach pains.  Some people who have Lactose Intolerance cannot digest any milk products whatsoever.  Other people though can eat or drink small amounts of milk products, or even certain types of milk products without any problems.  Lactose is a disaccharide, C12 H22 O11, and is in animal cells.  It is also a white crystalline substance.

         Lactose intolerance is common in adults.  It occurs more often in Native American, Asian, African, and South American people that are among the European descent.  The challenge of being lactose intolerant is how to eat to avoid discomfort and to get enough calcium for strong bones.  Lactose intolerance usually runs in families, and the symptoms usually develop during the teen or adult years.  Sometimes the small intestine stops making lactase after a short-term illness such as the stomach flu or as part of a lifelong disease, or the small intestine sometimes stops making lactase after surgery to remove a part of the small intestine.  In these cases, the problem can be either permanent or temporary.  

The Hydrogen Breath Test

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance

         In rare cases, newborns are lactose-intolerant.  A person born with lactose intolerance cannot eat or drink anything with lactose.  Some premature babies have temporary lactose intolerance because they are not yet able to make lactase.  After a baby begins to make lactase, the condition usually goes away.  Symptoms of lactose intolerance can be mild to severe.  Symptoms usually begin 30 minutes to 2 hours after you eat or drink milk products.  Symptoms may include bloating, pain or cramps, gurgling or rumbling sounds in your stomach, gas, loose stool or diarrhea, or throwing up.  You can do a test called the hydrogen breath test where if you are lactose intolerant, you will produce more hydrogen gas.  You can also take over the counter products like lactaid, which helps to digest the lactose.  If you drink milk with food, that will also help.  There are also diary products like yogurt and hard cheeses that a lactose intolerant person can eat without hurting them afterwards because they have smaller amounts of lactose in them.  There are also alternatives to milk and diary products like soy, "dairy free products," or "lactose free" products too.   

Milk is bad for you altogether

           current research: April 3, 2013 by Arjun Walia.......Approximately 75% of Earth's population is lactose intolerant, and that is actually perfectly natural if you are.  The statistics vary from race to race and country to country.  We are the only species on the planet that drinks milk from another species.  Since lactose's only function is the digestion of lactose in milk, most mammal species experience a dramatic reduction in the activity of the enzyme after weaning.  People that continue to drink milk have evolved as an adaptation to the consumption of non-human milk and dairy products consumed beyond infancy.  Our diet has changed a lot, which makes our genes adapt, but it's not an easy process.  This is why most humans are lactose intolerant.  Every other species wean and then never drink milk again, and because of that we don't have an enzyme to break down the sugar in milk.  But during human evolution, some humans experienced a mutation in the LTC gene, which is the lactase gene, and these mutations allow us to process lactose as adults.  With over 75 percent of humans on the planet unable to properly process it, it is enough evidence that we are not doing what is natural for and to our bodies.  We are suppose to be lactose intolerant!  Undigested lactose in the small intestine acts like an osmotic agent, causing water and electrolytes to be pilled into the intestines, which results in diarrhea, bloating and gassiness.  The body struggles and compensates, as well as protects itself by developing coping methods for our unnatural habits.  Now, there are movements occurring to try and remove milk from school cafeterias because too much information is being released that milk is very bad for you.  Now in stores,  they are advertising more alternative milk products like rice milk, almond milk, and coconut milk.  Sadly, there is NO CURE yet for lactose intolerance people.

           

According to the National Dairy Council there are three different types of lactates deficiencies.

1-Congenital Lactase Deficiency-This is an extremely rare condition where intestinal lactase is absent at birth

2-Secondary Lactase Deficiency-This is a condition that is the result of some disease or things such as radiation treatment.  This condition is usually only temporary and a person can resume normal lactase production after they get better.

3-Primary lactase deficinecy-This is the most common type.  Primary lactase deficiency is when individuals slowly lose the ability to produce lactase as they get older.  Usually a person's ability to produce lactase is determined genetically.

            I myself am lactose intolerant.  I found out in the middle of 8th grade from my doctor.  I think it was because I was consuming too much diary products because at my middle school we were only allowed to bring diary products, or it could just be that since I am a human, milk products are just not made for me.  Now, I take the lactaid supplements before I eat diary products, which seem to help.  I learned a lot about lactose intolerance from this research though.  One thing that I was really fascinated with was with the hydrogen breath test.  I would really like to do that one day just to see if I really have lactose intolerance because my doctor just said I had it when I told her my stomach hurt after I ate lunch, but my doctor never really tested me for it.  Now, by doing this research, it makes me really want to stop consuming diary products all together because in one of the videos I watched, it says that milk is really only for young mammals, which we also learned in class.  I also learned that I have the type three lactate deficiency, which is the most common type.   It is not worth it for me and for others to consume diary products who are lactose intolerance because of the extreme pains it gives you after consuming it.  I have learned just how bad diary products is to and for your body if you are lactose intolerant, that if you consume too much of it, you could possibly even die.  The most important thing I have learned from this research is that when your body reacts to something you are doing to it in a negative way, you should stop what you are doing to it immediately because it is not worth it to be in pain all the time, and you also don't want to do something to your body that can question your life.

DOCTOR TRAVIS STORK SPEAKING ON SOLUTIONS FOR LACTOSE INTOLERANT PEOPLE

The Percentages of People Who Have Lactose Intolerance

African Blacks95%

American Indians90%

Asian Americans90%

North American Blacks75%

Mexican Americans75%

Mediterraneans60%

North American Whites15%

Fun Fact!

Celebrities have Lactose Intolerance too!

-Cindy Lauper-famous singer

-Mark Spitz-Olympic swimmer

Joanna Kerns-Mother on Growing Pains

Anne Hathaway-famous actress

Randy Jackson-American Idol judge and music producer

Nancy Kerrigan-Olympic ice-skater

Star Jones-host on The View

-Kimora Lee Simmons-fashion designer

-and many many more!

Check out these videos to learn more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pe5a4C6KmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3iIfL8q0_k

Picture sources:

Some Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance: http://lactoseintoleranceinbabies.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Lactose-Intolerance.gif

Hydrogen Breath Test: http://www.lactoseintolerant.org/wp-content/xxx.JPG

Normal Lactose Digestion & Lactose Intolerance: http://faithingeeks.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/lactose_intolerance_diagram.jpg

No More Milk: http://www.photorecipestepbystep.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/no-a-la-leche.jpg

Lactose: http://www.dairymoos.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Lactose.gif

Video Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFwZYzf0OvA

Hyperlinks:

http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/lactose_intolerance.html#

http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/tc/lactose-intolerance-topic-overview

http://www.lactoseintolerant.org/

current research: http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/04/03/over-75-of-earths-population-is-lactose-intolerant-for-a-reason-dairy-is-harmful/

http://www.dairymoos.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-lactose-intolerance-and-the-surprising-health-benefits-of-lactose/