Lactose Intolerance: Everything You Need To Know

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Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:50 Types of Lactose Intolerance
1:40 Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance
2:16 Treatment for Lactose Intolerance

Lactose intolerance is a common condition caused by a decreased ability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products.[1] Those affected vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop.[1] Symptoms may include abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and nausea.[1] These symptoms typically start thirty minutes to two hours after eating or drinking milk-based food.[1] Their severity typically depends on the amount a person eats or drinks.[1] Lactose intolerance does not cause damage to the gastrointestinal tract.[2]

Lactose intolerance is due to the lack of the enzyme lactase in the small intestines to break lactose down into glucose and galactose.[3] There are four types: primary, secondary, developmental, and congenital.[1] Primary lactose intolerance occurs as the amount of lactase declines as people age.[1] Secondary lactose intolerance is due to injury to the small intestine. Such injury could be the result of infection, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, or other diseases.[1][4] Developmental lactose intolerance may occur in premature babies and usually improves over a short period of time.[1] Congenital lactose intolerance is an extremely rare genetic disorder in which little or no lactase is made from birth.[1] The onset of primary lactose intolerance, the most common type, is typically in late childhood or early adulthood,[1] but prevalence increases with age.[5]

Diagnosis may be confirmed if symptoms resolve following eliminating lactose from the diet.[1] Other supporting tests include a hydrogen breath test and a stool acidity test.[1] Other conditions that may produce similar symptoms include irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.[1] Lactose intolerance is different from a milk allergy.[1] Management is typically by decreasing the amount of lactose in the diet, taking lactase supplements, or treating the underlying disease.[1][6] People are usually able to drink at least one cup of milk without developing significant symptoms, with greater amounts tolerated if drunk with a meal or throughout the day.[1][7]

Most adults (around 65–70% of the world's population) are affected by lactose malabsorption.[5][8] Other mammals normally lose the ability to digest lactose after weaning and this was the ancestral state of all humans before the recent evolution of lactase persistence, which extends lactose tolerance into adulthood.[9] Lactase persistence evolved in several populations independently, probably as an adaptation to the domestication of dairy animals around 10,000 years ago.[10][11] Today the prevalence of lactose tolerance varies widely between regions and ethnic groups.[5] The ability to digest lactose is most common in people of European descent, and to a lesser extent in parts of the Middle East and Africa.[5][8] Traditional food cultures reflect local variations in tolerance[5] and historically many societies have adapted to low levels of tolerance by making dairy products that contain less lactose than fresh milk.[12] The medicalization of lactose intolerance as a disorder has been attributed to biases in research history, since most early studies were conducted amongst populations which are normally tolerant,[9] as well as the cultural and economic importance of milk in countries such as the United States.[13]

[mtcondie]

I can eat tons of cheese, yogurt, sour cream and ice cream, but if I drink half a glass of milk, I am in for a bad time. Very confusing.

[timz.]

the problem is, deciding if it's only "air" you're about to push out! If you know what I'm saying.

[Mjdnighthaze]

For me it use to make me gassy or bloated…. Now it makes me vomit 😭. I can’t enjoy dairy anymore😭.

[Bromand]

Just found out all my problems all these years was lactose intolerance and I know now

[HassanAkachab]

same here, i hate the fact that i can't drink a milk coffee, only black one
but i still consume milk everyday even that it makes you take shit like a million time
that is still nothing compared to dealing with weak bones problems

[TheGFam]

I haven’t ate cereal in forever and today I decided to have some and well I’m currently regretting it 🥴😅

[XCyberAttackX]

I use to drink milk fine but as I get older, I started to have a problem with my bowl movement. I started to have very hard time going to bathroom, and only goes there every 5 or 4 days. My rectum was going off (swollen) "that was so much pain :(" every time I go to bathroom, and it stays swollen for 30 min to 1h after bathroom and it gives me so much pain. first I thought it's hemorrhoids but after I checked with the doctor he said that I have hemorrhoids but it's internal and it's normal and not what's causing the issue as I still have room for the stool to move. I insisted to do the surgery which I already did, but I asked him if the milk make any issue here, he said "no"!! but after the surgery my rectum went off again after I drank a cup of Lattee that made with milk. I stopped drinking any milk and my rectum never bothered me again. so I figured out that I have lactose intolerance, but I never did any test. I can eat yogurt and cheese without noticing any problem as I think my body produces a little lactase enzyme enough for them but not for milk.
*When I drink milk, it makes my bowels hard "constipation" and all my intestine get swollen.

[btz]

I forgot i was lactose intolerant because it didnt really effect me too much. I ate 2 ice cream cones and chocolate milk. Now im stuck on a toilet.

[shaungregory]

Wow, after years of all the symptoms, and lost 5 stone, (60lbs)recently I've just found out I've got Lactose Intolerance. Phew !🎉.

[adamrosemeyer]

bro i have the Allergy too whenever i eat macaroni it always make me go like 10 times to the bathroom sometimes i pop a lactose pill and hope for the best

[julia]

I cut milk from my diet and my health improve. I never had digestive issues with milk, but I had very extreme fatigue and brain fog after drinking milk and milkshakes, later the problem seem to affect me even when I ate cereals. I was observing my body for long time and I can say 100% the extreme fatigue symptoms come after the milk. I can eat yoghurts, cheese and drink kefirs without any problems, so I do eat those products, but the milk I stop and this was improve my energy levels as I was leave before extreme tired, so tired that even standing a short period of time was making me want to lie down and was always short after I drink milk, milkshakes or have cereals with milk

[seeingstars]

I’m just realizing I’m might be lactose intolerant. For the past month and half I have been EXTREMELY gassy and have had a sour taste in my mouth as well as a sour stomach. I’m going to cut dairy for a week to see if my stomach improves.

[dogood]

Can lactose intolerance cause anxiety???
I started getting anxiety and diarrhoea once i started taking milk. It majically disappeared 48hrs after stopping milk

[Jelo]

hello i am from south america i am lactose intellorant as soon as i drink milk i get flatulence and diarrhea that's how terrible is it, too bad i can't drink milk?

[prabhatsharma]

I feel so frustrated and pressure in abdomen. Nice topic
Love from India🇮🇳

[KurangiKapur]

I don’t know whether I am lactose intolerant or not like I don’t get any problem if I eat curd, kheer, cheese or drink stuff like tea but whenever I drink milk it always causes abdominal pain or bloating.

[jane-iu]

Went to sever GI doctor. Did all sorts of tests. Never asked or suggested lactose intolerance. Stopped dairy and symptoms went away right away

[ametrine]

I find however, it happens almost as soon as I finish a meal that has even the slightest smattering of cheese. For example, I just consumed a frittata with a small salad that had cheese in it. Generally, I used to be okay with this sort of stuff, and I’ve always loved cheese. However: as soon as I finished that meal, my stomach felt weird. Not even 20 minutes later, I’m almost expelling from both ends. I haven’t eaten anything expired prior and I’m always having supplements. I even noticed my stomach being quite gassy and (as bad as it sounds) not smelling nice after having raisin toast with a small amount of butter. Same thing again having butter on toast before work.
Is this normal among lactose intolerant people??

[vanessamadrid]

I started drinking 3 glasses of milk a day in January and have been suffering severe back pain, Anyone else? Just last week I cut out all dairy and the pain is getting much better. That is the only thing I did differently.

[bandzdontfold]

I really be shitting 10 times per day its crazy