Lactase - What is Lactase

Lactase is a digestive enzyme which is produced by the small intestine. The body contains many different kinds of enzymes, each with their own specialist functions to perform. The primary function of lactase is to digest a sugar compound called lactose . Lactose is one of two main sugar compounds found in milk. It is lactase deficiency which is responsible for lactose intolerance.

Lactase is a far more important enzyme to us during infancy where our staple diet consists mostly of milk. After infancy, levels of lactase production begin to drop.

Why do levels of lactase decrease, and is it possible for me to boost my levels of lactase?

Lactose can be converted by our bodies into glucose, the body's most important sugar and source of energy. As a baby, often the only way we can get glucose is from milk and the lactose within milk, therefore our bodies are optimised with high levels of lactase to do just that. Lactase can provide a sufficient amount of glucose to give a baby enough energy to do what baby's do – which isn't a lot.

On an adult scale therefore, lactose is a poor and uneconomical source of glucose and would be incapable of sustaining the day to day activities of an adult. As an adult, most of our glucose comes from carbohydrate foods which are much more efficient. Because of genetic evolution, our bodies know that eventually we won't be requiring such high production of lactase, therefore begins turning production levels down between the age of 2 and 5.

Since the continued consumption of milk into adulthood is a relatively recent cultural shift, we can find ourselves experiencing symptoms of lactose intolerance where we consume too much lactose for our levels of lactase to cope with. In some cultures, particularly those of northern Europe where high lactose consumption has been part of a staple diet for generations, many people have developed a higher tolerance to lactose through genetic adaptation.

Genetic adaptation of course occurs over an extreme amount of time and across generations spanning perhaps thousands of years. As for the rest of us, there are currently no permanent ways to boost your levels of lactase in your lifetime. There are lactase pills which you can chew or swallow prior to consuming lactose which temporarily boost lactase levels, thus aiding digestion. There are also lactase drops which can be mixed into milk or milkshakes which perform the same function as the pills. The best way of combating lactose intolerance is avoidance, and substituting as much of your current foods for those which are lactose-free, particularly milk and other obvious dairy products.