Lactose

What is lactose, and where does it come from?

Lactose is a one of the types of sugar compound which is found in milk. Any natural and untreated milk produced by animals or humans contains some lactose, and given the wide application of milk as an ingredient in other foods, lactose is extremely wide spread.

Lactose in itself has little nutritional value for an adults body other than the small amount of glucose our which our bodies often struggle to derive from it. Because of carbohydrates – which are our biggest source of glucose in adulthood – lactose isn't really needed.

During the earliest times of infancy however, lactose is one of the most important sources of glucose for our tiny bodies. As a baby, because we tend to eat nothing but drink plenty of milk, our bodies have been geared up to perform at an optimum level when it comes to deriving glucose from lactose as this is the main way we can get important glucose as this age.

As we get older however, we get glucose mainly from carbohydrate foods, and we often find we aren't as tolerant to lactose as we once were. This is down to an enzyme called ‘lactase'. Lactase is the enzyme which once worked so hard to derive glucose from lactose during infancy, and as we leave early infancy and begin to find more economical and rich sources of glucose, our bodies can begin to abandon production of lactase. This transition usually begins happening around the ages of 2 – 5.

Is this the same lactose which causes lactose intolerance?

You've got it. This is indeed the same lactose many people suffer with, especially adults. Since lactose is present in so many other foods due to milk been a popular ingredient, this can leave many people suffering from lactose intolerance with quite a hard task when it comes to eliminating lactose from their diets.

As by far and away the biggest source of lactose is pure milk, many people find swapping their brand for one which is reduced-lactose or lactose-free a major step in lessening their symptoms of lactose intolerance.