Contents:
- Medical Video: How to Treat Intestinal Gas | Stomach Problems
- What Is Lactose?
- What is lactose intolerance?
- Symptoms of lactose intolerance
- What is the impact on health if you have lactose intolerance?
- Can you not drink milk if you have lactose intolerance?
- Dairy products
- Lactase supplement
Medical Video: How to Treat Intestinal Gas | Stomach Problems
If drinking milk makes your stomach upset, uncomfortable, or even diarrhea and diarrhea, this might be because you have a disorder called alias lactose intolerancelactose intolerance. Is this disorder dangerous? And does this mean you can't drink milk again?
What Is Lactose?
Lactose is a type of sugar found in dairy products, such as milk and cheese. The body produces an enzyme called lactase which converts lactose into two simple sugars, called glucose and galactose. Both types of sugar can enter the bloodstream, and the body uses it as nutrition.
What is lactose intolerance?
Lactose intolerance occurs when the body cannot produce enough lactase, or cannot digest lactose efficiently. Statistically, Asians are indeed more vulnerable to this disorder.
Lactose intolerance can occur due to one of two causes:
- Lactase deficiency: if you have lactase deficiency, then your body produces low levels of lactase. You cannot have enough lactase to use lactose.
- Lactase malabsorption: This condition can occur due to lactase deficiency, but not all people with lactase deficiency have lactase malabsorption. For these people, usable lactose is transported to the large intestine. Here, the bacteria will break down the extra lactose and produce water and gas. When it cannot be used and cannot enter the bloodstream, lactose becomes useless to the body.
People with lactose intolerance can still eat or drink milk products without experiencing unpleasant symptoms. This all depends on the amount of lactose that can be used by the body or the amount of milk products consumed.
Some people think that lactose intolerance is an allergy. However, intolerance is a disorder of the digestive system, while allergies are a reaction by the immune system. These two things are different.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance
Symptoms of lactose intolerance are usually immediately seen in 30 minutes or several hours after consuming dairy products or other foods containing lactose. Common symptoms are:
- diarrhea
- bloated
- nausea
- stomach ache
- feeling full in the stomach
Symptoms can be different for each person, and this depends on health conditions and the amount of food containing lactose consumed.
What is the impact on health if you have lactose intolerance?
Besides being able to cause unpleasant symptoms, this disorder can make you unable to get enough nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. Because dairy products are the biggest source of these two nutrients, if you cannot consume them you cannot get enough calcium and vitamin D .
Calcium and vitamin D are very important for bones because they make them stronger. If you don't get enough calcium, you can have bone problems later on.
Can you not drink milk if you have lactose intolerance?
Lactose intolerance can be overcome by changing your diet. You may have to limit the amount of food containing lactose, or you may also need to avoid lactose for life.
If you have secondary lactose intolerance, you can improve your condition with treatment, but if you have primary lactose intolerance, you must be willing to leave milk products forever.
You should consult a doctor, and he will provide treatment or advice to correct or control your lactose intolerance condition.
Dairy products
If you can still eat lactose foods, you can increase your lactose tolerance by slowly increasing the amount of lactose food into your diet, or drinking milk with other foods such as cereals, biscuits, or bread.
Even though yogurt and milk can contain lactose in the same amount, you might be more able to tolerate yogurt than milk. So, eat more yogurt to avoid unpleasant symptoms.
If you cannot use lactose food, even if only in small quantities, you can try lactose-free dairy products. Manufacturers decompose lactose in milk products with lactase at the factory before selling it on the market. Therefore, you do not need to have enough lactase to use lactose milk.
Lactase supplement
You can get lactase using lactase supplement products. This product contains lactase enzymes that help you tolerate lactose products. However, before using it, you should discuss with your doctor to find out if this type of product is suitable for you.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
