Lactose Intolerant Symptoms

Many people have never even heard of lactose intolerance, and of those who have, many don't know what lactose intolerance really is. Some have lactose intolerance pegged as a disease, or an allergy to milk, which isn't entirely accurate. Moreover, most people wouldn't even consider themselves as being lactose intolerant, or having ever had experienced lactose intolerant symptoms. In fact, the vast majority of milk-consuming people walking the planet have at some time or other experienced the effects of lactose intolerance, whether they know it or not.

Whilst milk may now be part of the regular diet of many people in the Western world, before man began consuming milk from cows and other animals, the only time in a person's life when milk would be consumed would have been during the earliest of infancy and the weaning period. After which, milk wouldn't have been consumed again.

If the ‘milk drinking period' of adult humans were to be plotted on the timeline of human evolution, it would be a very minute period indeed – if at all visible. The biology of an adult human was never intended to be able to cope with milk. After the weaning period, around the ages of 2-5 our tolerance to lactose drops due to a drop in ‘lactase' production within our small intestine. Lactase is the enzyme which helps digest milk. Without enough lactase, any lactose which has been consumed can begin to foster displeasing gastric symptoms.

Among the most common of lactose intolerant symptoms are stomach cramps, bloating, wind and diarrhoea. In the most severe cases of lactose intolerance, nausea may also be experienced.

Given drinking milk is the biggest source of lactose for most people, by swapping your usual brand of milk for one which is of reduced lactose or lactose free, you may eradicate the most severe symptoms. To take this further, you can also replace your other types of food for a lactose free variety, such as cheese and yoghurt.

View our complete list of foods containing lactose.