Lactose Intolerance Vs. Casein?

[David]

Hi All:

I am hoping you guys can give me some guidance. I don

[tarnalberry]

there aren't any dairy products that contain casein and *no* lactose. the best way to test is to take something low lactose - cheese or yogurt, for instance - and eat it with lactaid (over the counter lactase enzyme), and see how you do (that's testing for casein, as you're using the enzyme to digest the lactose). then have some milk (something HIGH in lactose) without the enzyme, and see how you do.

[David]

there aren't any dairy products that contain casein and *no* lactose. the best way to test is to take something low lactose - cheese or yogurt, for instance - and eat it with lactaid (over the counter lactase enzyme), and see how you do (that's testing for casein, as you're using the enzyme to digest the lactose). then have some milk (something HIGH in lactose) without the enzyme, and see how you do.

That is an excellent suggestion!!! Thank you so very much for all of your help. For some reason, I was able to research and understand a lot about celiac disease (thanks to this forum, of course), but lactose and casein confuse me.

I think I just need to narrow it down between one or the other, then start researching whatever allergy I have

[Bee-Jr]

David, hi,

It sounds like what you need is an "elimination diet." Elimination diets are used exactly for the purpose you're describing - isolating food intolerances and allergies. These diets are also called "anti-inflammatory diets" too; the two are very similar.

I may have this wrong, but my understanding of the lactose/casein thing is as follows: (1) If you react to lactose (because it's a sugar), the reaction is because of an intolerance, and results mainly in digestive disturbances, but (2) if you react to casein (because it's a protein) the reaction can actually be because of an allergy, and can result in manifestations on your skin (such as hives) or in the respiratory system (such as anaphylaxis). What I had read is that only proteins can cause true allergic reactions; other substances cause intolerances. An antihistamine like Benadryl can help with an allergy but not an intolerance.

In a nutshell, though, to go through an elimination diet, you'd start by removing the following (these are the most common allergens): wheat (of course), dairy, soy, peanuts, corn, eggs, sugar, artificial sweeteners, nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers except for black pepper), sugar, and citrus fruits. This part of the diet should last at least a couple of weeks. Then, once every few days, you add back ONE FOOD AT A TIME and see how you react.

There are tons of sites on the Internet that will give you more thorough information about this, if you should decide to try it. I did it myself, and it has helped me take off 63 pounds. It has changed my life, and pulled me back from the edge of what I really believe was an impending health catastrophe. I also learned of my gluten and lactose intolerance and a peanut allergy this way. I'd had no idea that I was sensitive to any foods before, just couldn't understand why my health was so terrible and I absolutely could not lose weight. It's been a miracle for me.

Good luck.

Janie

[David]

Janie:

Thank you so very much for all of your help.

What I love about this forum is you can always find someone who has already experienced the same issues you are going through. Not only does it help solve the problem, but it also eliminates the feeling of isolation.

At any rate, I

[missy'smom]

I recently learned of a blood test that can be done. Someone pointed out this lab to me Open Original Shared Link. Look under allergy testing to find the egg milk subfraction test. They used it. I have not so check it out for yourself and don't just take my word for it. For the heck of it, I ran it by my doc. and he checked with the lab that his office uses and they had a similar tests available so I'm going to have it done there and hope that insurance helps. Without insurance, the test through my doctor's office was very close in price, but it excluded one of the milk proteins and offered testing for that particular one as a stool test. I'm going to opt for the serum panel and see what it turns up and skip the stool test for now. After a lifetime of dairy issues, I'm out of patience for figuring it out myself so I hope for clear direction! I eliminated all dairy for a long time and felt much better overall without it but I have other significant restrictions on my diet so if there are some forms that I can include in my diet it would be helpful. Good luck in your search for answers.

[David]

MissysMom:

Thanks for your response. I am so grateful for all of these excellent responses! I just did a preliminary check on their website, and the fees actually look reasonable (much better than going to a doctor without insurance, at least).

I think I

[JenCO]

I'm both lactose intolerant and dairy (probably casein) intolerant.

For me, the two intolerances cause different reactions.

If you are lactose intolerant it means that your body does not produce the enzyme lactase which is needed to digest the lactose. My symptom is that I will feel sick within a few minutes of eating something containing a pasteurised dairy product.

The pasturisation process destroys the lactase enzyme which naturally occurs in milk. In the UK, it is possible to get unpasteurised milk (but only directly from the farm). I tried this, and sure enough, I didn't feel sick after eating it. However, within a couple of weeks I started to get eczema, which I had never had before (I used to be a vegan). So obviously I was dairy intolerant too. If you are dairy intolerant, you may have ezcema, or of course you may have a completely different reaction.

I hope this helps.

To answer one of your other questions, the only place I've seen lactose without casein is in some medications, but they tend to be in very small amounts, so you would have to be very sensitive to notice them.

[KevinG]

there aren't any dairy products that contain casein and *no* lactose.

Interesting, tarnalberry. On the flip side, are there any foods that contain high lactose but low casein?

In one of your other posts, you mentioned 4 types of adverse reactions to dairy (temporary lactose intolerance, genetic lactose intolerance, dairy allergy, and casein intolerance). Is there any kind of ad-hoc dairy elimination diet I can try in order to isolate what aspect of dairy is the culprit in my case? I tried your recommendation of eating yogurt with lactaid, and I still have problems. Now I'm trying to figure out if I can narrow it down even further (e.g. cow vs. non-cow, casein vs. some other ingredient, etc). Any ideas?

Thanks,

Kevin

[RollingAlong]

I haven't tried it, but there's a product at www.countryfreshfarms.com that is a whey based milk. They claim to cater to the lactose and casein intolerant.