Thanks- Colleen
Lactose
Moderators: Rosie, Stanz, Jean, CAMary, moremuscle, JFR, Dee, xet, Peggy, Matthew, Gabes-Apg, grannyh, Gloria, Mars, starfire, Polly, Joefnh
Hi Colleen,
Good question! Many folks become lactose-intolerant as they age. In this case they can no longer tolerate the milk SUGAR, lactose. But if one takes Lactaid, the milk products can be eaten.
However, most here who have intolerances are intolerant to the milk PROTEIN, casein. In this case you cannot eat any dairy at all - no milk, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, etc. Lactaid does not help.
Your doc can order a test for lactose intolerance if you are interested. Of course, Dr. Fine tests the stool for casein intolerance if you order it.
Or you can test by trial and error. If the Lactaid isn't helping, then I would suspect a full dairy (casein) intolerance.
Love,
Polly
Good question! Many folks become lactose-intolerant as they age. In this case they can no longer tolerate the milk SUGAR, lactose. But if one takes Lactaid, the milk products can be eaten.
However, most here who have intolerances are intolerant to the milk PROTEIN, casein. In this case you cannot eat any dairy at all - no milk, ice cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, etc. Lactaid does not help.
Your doc can order a test for lactose intolerance if you are interested. Of course, Dr. Fine tests the stool for casein intolerance if you order it.
Or you can test by trial and error. If the Lactaid isn't helping, then I would suspect a full dairy (casein) intolerance.
Love,
Polly
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
As far as I really know anything about this: the answer could be yes, no or to both. You could react to milk, you could react to lactose or to both. If you have MC and do the Enterolab testing, the outcome can be that milk (dairy) is one of your intolerances and causes MC. In that case the reaction on milk is a reaction of your immune system to casein (same as with soy and gluten). If lactose is the problem, your bowel can not digest the lactose, due to a lack of an enzyme in the small bowel. It enters than the colon undigested, what can cause problems as diarrhea, cramping, pain and gas. It is quite simple to find out if lactose causes your problems, just try some lactose free dairy and see how you react to it.
But both reactions can be related. Lactose intolerance can have different causes. Sometimes it is genetic, quite a high proportion of the world population can not digest lactose. Other causes can be a bowel disease, like celiac disease but also Crohn and MC. Due to the bowel disease, lactose is not digested anymore. If the bowel disease is cured, digesting of lactose should than not be a problem anymore.
So theoretically the casein in milk could be the course of MC which also results in lactose intolerance.
the stuff you are asking about (if I understand it well), is drops that you can add to the milk to break down the lactose (what normally the small bowel would do). What I have read about it, breaks it only down up to 90% of the lactose. So quite a portion is left. If you buy lactose free dairy product, there is only 1% or 0,1% left. Some cheeses are lactose free. Hard cheeses should be lactose free, soft cheeses are not. For the Dutch hard cheeses I know for sure that they are lactose free (at least the bovine ones). Brands of other countries I have no idea (no chauvinistic reasons
) I know all this stuff because I have been lactose free for about two years before I was diagnosed with MC.
But both reactions can be related. Lactose intolerance can have different causes. Sometimes it is genetic, quite a high proportion of the world population can not digest lactose. Other causes can be a bowel disease, like celiac disease but also Crohn and MC. Due to the bowel disease, lactose is not digested anymore. If the bowel disease is cured, digesting of lactose should than not be a problem anymore.
So theoretically the casein in milk could be the course of MC which also results in lactose intolerance.
the stuff you are asking about (if I understand it well), is drops that you can add to the milk to break down the lactose (what normally the small bowel would do). What I have read about it, breaks it only down up to 90% of the lactose. So quite a portion is left. If you buy lactose free dairy product, there is only 1% or 0,1% left. Some cheeses are lactose free. Hard cheeses should be lactose free, soft cheeses are not. For the Dutch hard cheeses I know for sure that they are lactose free (at least the bovine ones). Brands of other countries I have no idea (no chauvinistic reasons
) I know all this stuff because I have been lactose free for about two years before I was diagnosed with MC.
Colleen,
Based on your Enterolab results, you are one of the lucky ones here - you should be able to eat casein without any problems. If you seem to be reacting to milk, it is probably the lactose, and in that case, lactose-free milk should work for you. Most people who are "lactose-intolerant", (due to a deficiency of lactase enzyme), still produce a small amount of lactase, so dairy products do not have to be 100% lactose-free, in order for them to work OK. As Harma pointed out, you should be able to eat aged cheeses, now, without any problem. Once your enteritis passes, (intestinal inflammation), then your lactase production should return to whatever your normal level might be.
If your lactase enzyme production is low, you can "stretch" it's effectiveness by about a factor of 6, (IOW, make it 6 times as effective), by adding a small amount of cocoa powder to the milk, (or by drinking/using chocolate milk). No one knows why this works, but I discovered that trick while I was heaing, and it does work, (as long as you're not casein-intolerant).
Tex
Based on your Enterolab results, you are one of the lucky ones here - you should be able to eat casein without any problems. If you seem to be reacting to milk, it is probably the lactose, and in that case, lactose-free milk should work for you. Most people who are "lactose-intolerant", (due to a deficiency of lactase enzyme), still produce a small amount of lactase, so dairy products do not have to be 100% lactose-free, in order for them to work OK. As Harma pointed out, you should be able to eat aged cheeses, now, without any problem. Once your enteritis passes, (intestinal inflammation), then your lactase production should return to whatever your normal level might be.
If your lactase enzyme production is low, you can "stretch" it's effectiveness by about a factor of 6, (IOW, make it 6 times as effective), by adding a small amount of cocoa powder to the milk, (or by drinking/using chocolate milk). No one knows why this works, but I discovered that trick while I was heaing, and it does work, (as long as you're not casein-intolerant).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.