Diarrhea And Food That Contain Lactose You May Not Know About?

Dr. Hagmeyer a Holistic Chiropractic Physician and Functional Medicine Practitioner,explains how you may be perpetuating your IBS-C, IBS-D by eating these hidden sources of lactose.

Lactose intolerance happens when the small intestine does not make enough of the enzyme lactase. Enzymes help the body absorb foods. Not having enough lactase is called lactase deficiency.

Some Facts About Lactose Intolerance.

Babies’ bodies make this enzyme so they can digest milk, including breast milk.
Premature babies sometimes have lactose intolerance. Children who were born at full term usually do not show signs of lactose intolerance until they are at least 3 years old.
Lactose intolerance can begin at different times in life. In Caucasians, it usually affects children older than age 5. In African Americans, lactose intolerance often occurs as early as age 2.
Lactose intolerance is more common in people with Asian, African, Native American, or Mediterranean ancestry than it is among northern and western Europeans.

Symptoms of Lactose intolerance

Symptoms often occur 30 minutes to 2 hours after you eat or drink milk products, and are often relieved by not eating or drinking milk products. Large doses of milk products may cause symptoms to intensify.

Symptoms include:

Abdominal bloating
Abdominal cramps
Diarrhea
Gas (flatulence)
Nausea
Infants or children may have slow growth or weight loss.

What causes lactose intolerance?

Lactose is a large sugar molecule that is made up of two smaller sugars, glucose and galactose. In order for lactose to be absorbed from the intestine and into the body, it must first be split into glucose and galactose. The glucose and galactose are then absorbed by the cells lining the small intestine. The enzyme that splits lactose into glucose and galactose is called lactase, and it is located on the surface of the cells lining the small intestine.

Lactose intolerance is caused by reduced or absent activity of lactase that prevents the splitting of lactose (lactase deficiency). Lactase deficiency may occur for one of three reasons, congenital, secondary or developmental.

Congenital causes of lactose intolerance

Lactase deficiency may occur because of a congenital absence (absent from birth) of lactase due to a mutation in the gene that is responsible for producing lactase. This is a very rare cause of lactase deficiency, and the symptoms of this type of lactase deficiency begin shortly after birth.

Secondary causes of lactose intolerance

Another cause of lactase deficiency is secondary lactase deficiency. This type of deficiency is due to diseases that destroy the lining of the small intestine along with the lactase. An example of such a disease is

celiac disease (gluten intolerance.) Research is mounting that those who have a lactose intolerant are often gluten sensitive as well.

Developmental causes of lactose intolerance

The most common cause of lactase deficiency is a decrease in the amount of lactase that occurs after childhood and persists into adulthood, referred to as adult-type hypo-lactasia. This decrease in lactase is genetically programmed, and the prevalence of this type of lactase deficiency in different ethnic groups is highly variable. Thus, in Asian populations it is almost 100%, among American Indians it is 80%, and in blacks it is 70%; however, in American Caucasians the prevalence of lactase deficiency is estimated to be 20%. I personaly believe this number is much much higher.

Obvious Sources of Lactose

· All cheeses

· Butter, many margarines

· Goat’s milk

· Half-and-half cream

· Ice cream and many sherbets

· Milk (whole, skim, dry powdered, evaporated)

· Yogurt

Hidden Sources of Lactose

· Artificial sweeteners containing lactose

· Breads, biscuits and crackers, doughnuts made with milk

· Breading on fried foods

· Breakfast and baby cereals containing milk solids

· Buttered or creamed foods (soups and vegetables)

· Cake and pudding mixes, many frostings

· Candies with milk chocolate

· Cookies made with milk

· Hot dogs, luncheon meats, sausage, hash, processed and canned meats

· Mayonnaise and salad dressings made with milk

· Nondairy creamers

· Pancakes, waffles, toaster tarts

· Pizza

· Weight loss products

· Many prescription drugs: birth control pills, thyroid medication and medications for gastrointestinal disorders (such as Reglan and Xanax)

· Many types of vitamins

· Foods containing whey, casein, caseinate, or sodium caseinate

Feeling overwhelmed about IBS, The foods you eat and it’s symptoms?

Relax, reading this information is the first step. However, correcting and getting proper treatment is can at time require a good detective. That’s where we can help. If you are tired of trying to figure it out on your own and your are ready to have your condition properly evaluated, call us at 630-718-0555. Free Phone consultations are available. We have patients all over the US and Canada that are getting their lives back thanks to the approach we use in our office.

Lactose intolerance is just one facet of correcting digestive problems, To learn about the other key areas and why Digestive Enzymes are critical read my last article here

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