Jump to content
This site uses cookies. Continued use is acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. More Info... ×
  • Welcome to Celiac.com!

    You have found your celiac tribe! Join us and ask questions in our forum, share your story, and connect with others.




  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A1):



    Celiac.com Sponsor (A1-M):


  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com!
    eNewsletter
    Donate
  • Jefferson Adams
    Jefferson Adams

    How is Lactose Intolerance Related to Celiac Disease?

    Reviewed and edited by a celiac disease expert.

    Once the damaged villi and microvilli to grow back, and the gut heals, the sensitivity to lactose often disappears.

    How is Lactose Intolerance Related to Celiac Disease? - Many newly diagnosed celiacs cannot digest lactose for a while. Image: CC BY 2.0--Senado Federal
    Caption: Many newly diagnosed celiacs cannot digest lactose for a while. Image: CC BY 2.0--Senado Federal

    Celiac.com 03/12/2020 - Lactose intolerance is one of the most common food intolerances. Many people with celiac disease also have lactose intolerance, especially at the time they are first diagnosed.

    Lactose intolerance happens when the gut fails to produce enough lactase, and enzyme that breaks down the lactose sugar in milk. Lactose intolerance can be inherited, but it can also happen as people get older and their bodies produce less lactase. Studies consistently shows that only about one in three people worldwide can digest lactose beyond seven or eight years of age.

    Celiac.com Sponsor (A12):
    Celiacs who eat gluten can become lactose intolerant after the villi and microvilli in their small intestine become damaged, and can no longer intercept and break down lactose molecules. 

    However, most people recover on a gluten-free diet. Once the damaged villi and microvilli to grow back, and the gut heals, the sensitivity to lactose often disappears. This can take time.  In most people, full gut healing takes between six months and a year.

    In some cases the villi and microvilli damage can take up to two years to heal fully. In any case, once the gut heals, lactose intolerance issues should disappear.

    Also, most people who are lactose intolerant can eat goat and sheep products, such as milk, yogurt and cheeses, such as feta and pecorino Romano, without any problems. Many people with lactose intolerance can also consume raw, unpasteurized dairy without symptoms. 

    Links to Goat, Sheep, and Raw Cow Milk Products 



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Guest Amy Schear

    Posted

    I am very newly diagnosed with Celiac. I wanted to know if i need to avoid dairy for a while in the beginning.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Michelle Gwilliam

    Posted

    I was diagnosed with celiac disease 9 months ago, after suffering for 34 years with various unexplained health issues, but I was always lactose intolerant, and that problem has resolved since eliminating gluten! It's cool to realize why! Thanks

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Susie

    I was diagnosed with Celiac in September but didn't understand why my doctor told me to lay off the dairy - this helps - Thanks!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest tammie

    Good info to know. It helped me, because I'm still learning about this disease. It was good to know how long to stay away from dairy.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Shelly

    Posted

    What I would like to know is additional info re: can the gut repair while still exposed to dairy or do you have to give up the dairy to heal; a longer article/more detail would be helpful.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Evie Oberfield

    Posted

    What a shock to think that I might have lactose intolerance now after being diagnosed 8 years ago with celiac and being so careful with the diet. Too much milk and cheese in my diet??? Shelly's rating (#5) is asking what I would like to know also. . . is there more detail available??? Is repair possible?

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest mari

    I have been on a gluten-free diet for almost 3 years and it has not helped my celiac symptoms much. Until very recently, I was eating dairy products and thinking nothing of it. Well, I finally started taking a Lactaid tablet before consuming dairy and- voila!- much, much better now. Can't believe I suffered for so long without knowing I had become lactose intolerant due to the celiac.

    Best wishes to all gluten & lactose

    allergic folks out there. Don't give up HOPE!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Elise
    I am very newly diagnosed with Celiac. I wanted to know if i need to avoid dairy for a while in the beginning.

    If you keep consuming dairy it won't affect your health but you'll have bad gas!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Anne Loder

    Posted

    I have been on a gluten-free diet for almost 3 years and it has not helped my celiac symptoms much. Until very recently, I was eating dairy products and thinking nothing of it. Well, I finally started taking a Lactaid tablet before consuming dairy and- voila!- much, much better now. Can't believe I suffered for so long without knowing I had become lactose intolerant due to the celiac.

    Best wishes to all gluten & lactose

    allergic folks out there. Don't give up HOPE!

    I was diagnosed with celiac in 1990 and have had dairy for all these years until this past month. I decided to give dairy up for one month to see if it made any difference in the bloating I have after eating breakfast every morning. Sad to say I didn't find any change.

    However, for the pass 20 years since I've been diagnosed I feel very healthy and have been running in races for years, and yes! I'm a senior.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Lola

    Wonder if anyone would have help for us here - my husband was diagnosed w/celiac 2 yrs. ago, and has done wonderful in eliminating gluten from his diet. About 2 weeks ago he began to have some of the same symptoms again - namely dermatitis herpetiformis & hearing loss -- only this time it is more widespread over his body. He is miserable and desperate for relief, which doctors. are working on - but wonder if anyone else has experienced the same relapse after being gluten-free for a couple of years and a complete cessation of symptoms?. Lactose & dairy haven't been a problem.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Sue Jones

    Posted

    Wonder if anyone would have help for us here - my husband was diagnosed w/celiac 2 yrs. ago, and has done wonderful in eliminating gluten from his diet. About 2 weeks ago he began to have some of the same symptoms again - namely dermatitis herpetiformis & hearing loss -- only this time it is more widespread over his body. He is miserable and desperate for relief, which doctors. are working on - but wonder if anyone else has experienced the same relapse after being gluten-free for a couple of years and a complete cessation of symptoms?. Lactose & dairy haven't been a problem.

    I have had a similar experience with dermatitis coming back after a period of years. For me the skin rash seems to be closely connected to my difficulty to digest fat. I have had success with liver flushes causing me to get rid of many gallstones. My information came from Dr. Hulda Clark who has written many books. I am recently also adding more digestive aids to help with fat digestion.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites
    Guest Katie
    If you keep consuming dairy it won't affect your health but you'll have bad gas!

    Wow, this explains a lot! Thank you!

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites



    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now

  • Get Celiac.com Updates:
    Support Celiac.com:
    Donate
  • About Me

    Jefferson Adams

    Jefferson Adams is Celiac.com's senior writer and Digital Content Director. He earned his B.A. and M.F.A. at Arizona State University. His articles, essays, poems, stories and book reviews have appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and websites, including North American Project, Antioch Review, Caliban, Mississippi Review, Slate, and more. He is the author of more than 2,500 articles on celiac disease. His university coursework includes studies in science, scientific methodology, biology, anatomy, physiology, medicine, logic, and advanced research. He previously devised health and medical content for Colgate, Dove, Pfizer, Sharecare, Walgreens, and more. Jefferson has spoken about celiac disease to the media, including an appearance on the KQED radio show Forum, and is the editor of numerous books, including "Cereal Killers" by Scott Adams and Ron Hoggan, Ed.D.

    >VIEW ALL ARTICLES BY JEFFERSON ADAMS

     


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):
    Celiac.com Sponsor (A17):





    Celiac.com Sponsors (A17-M):




  • Related Articles

    Scott Adams
    Digestion. 2005 Mar 16;71(2):106-110
    Celiac.com 03/30/2005 – According to Italian researchers, those with lactose intolerance have a much higher incidence of celiac disease. In an effort to determine how many cases could be caused by undiagnosed celiac disease, the researchers screened 54 lactose intolerant patients (15 males and 39 females - positive H2-lactose breath test and a negative H2-glucose breath test) for celiac disease. All patients were screened using serum IgA antibodies to endomysium, anti-transglutaminase and total IgA, and anyone with positive results for any one of these markers was give an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. The researchers found that a full 24% of those with lactose intolerance had biopsy-confirmed celiac disease. These results were compared t...


    Jefferson Adams
    Celiac.com 03/14/2017 - Recent studies of adult celiacs have suggested that complete, not just partial, mucosal recovery and healing is possible, but, in many cases, may take longer than is currently understood.
    Recently Dr. Hugh James Freeman of the Department of Medicine, Gastroenterology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, conducted a study to assess healing time in celiac patients. In this study, 182 patients (60 males, 122 females) referred for evaluation of symptoms, including diarrhea and weight loss, were selected only if initial biopsies showed characteristic inflammatory changes with severe architectural disturbance.
    All patients were treated with a strict gluten-free diet, and diet compliance was regularly monitored. Up to 90% or more of patients showed...


    Jefferson Adams
    Celiac.com 04/15/2019 - A new report says pills often contain so-called “inactive” ingredients that can cause allergic or gastrointestinal reactions in some people sensitive to specific compounds, and gluten and lactose are at the top of the list of offenders.
    Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital analyzed data on inactive ingredients from a database of more than 42,000 prescription and over-the-counter medicines. An average pill contains eight inactive ingredients, but some contain 20 or more.
    For the patient of one doctor, Dr. Giovanni Traverso, a Brigham gastroenterologist, hidden gluten in a new prescription was causing a reaction and making him sicker. The man had celiac disease. “There’s a tremendous under-apprec...


    Posterboy
    Celiac.com 02/29/2020 - It has been a long and winding road, and around each curve something new has been discovered. I have learned more than I ever thought there was to know about celiac disease. I am forever grateful for having received a celiac diagnosis because it was on that day that I began my journey back to health.
    On my first day of diagnosis I set out to find out as much as possible about this seemingly rare, but obviously complicated disease. My diagnosis answered a lot of questions for me, yet I was also struck by how many new questions arose.
    What was the trigger for celiac disease, of course gluten played a part, but what in my past history put me over the edge? What had changed? Did the doctors know so little about the trigger for celiac disease that it was...


  • Recent Activity

    1. - TessaBaker replied to MiriamW's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      54

      Hair loss

    2. - Celiac16 replied to Sultana's topic in Related Issues & Disorders
      3

      Thiamine supplementation

    3. - Fluka66 replied to Fluka66's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Waiting for urgent referral.

    4. - trents replied to Fluka66's topic in Celiac Disease Pre-Diagnosis, Testing & Symptoms
      2

      Waiting for urgent referral.


  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A19):



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      120,986
    • Most Online (within 30 mins)
      7,748

    Mazzamaloo
    Newest Member
    Mazzamaloo
    Joined

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A20):


  • Forum Statistics

    • Total Topics
      120.3k
    • Total Posts
      1m

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A22):




  • Who's Online (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online

  • Celiac.com Sponsor (A21):



  • Popular Now

    • Blanco
      12
  • Popular Articles

    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
    • Scott Adams
  • Upcoming Events

×
×
  • Create New...