Could Someone Tell Me Exactely What Is Lactose In?

[gflooser]

Trying to figure out some things......

Is lactose an ingredient in dairy(cheese, yogurt, ice cream)? Can dairy be lactose free? Lactose is an ingredient in one of my medications and I'm wondering if it's giving me a problem. But if it is, wouldn't dairy be giving me a problem too??????????

[mbrookes]

Lactose is in anything made from milk... cheese, butter, ice cream. If those foods don't bother you, look for another culprit.

[mushroom]

Let me elaborate on that a bit further. There are varying concentrations of lactose in dairy products, with milk having (now this is not scientific but experiential) probably the highest. Dairy products consist of two major ingredients, lactose (the milk sugar) and casein (the milk protein). Some people are able to digest the casein in milk but not the lactose, because they are digested by different enzymes. The enzyme lactase is made at the tips of the villi in the small intestine which are destroyed by gluten, so most diagnosed celiacs are unable to digest lactose for a period of time but may be able to do so once they have healed. Other people have problems with the digestion of casein, and if you are one of these you may or may not be able to resume eating dairy products.

In dairy products that have been cultured, like cheese, the lactose has been pre-digested by the culture to a great extent and only a small amount remains - the harder the cheese the less lactose in the products (and the more casein and fat). Cheddar and parmesan are two examples of low lactose cheeses. Some lactose intolerant people can eat these. Some can also eat yogurt which is digested by the lactobacilllus (and other) cultures, some can eat sour cream. My experience was that I could not touch milk, ice cream, cream, frozen yogurt, but other dairy products contained a sufficiently low level of lactose that they did not bother me. And I was not casein intolerant.

So you have to experiment for yourself to see if it is all dairy (and therefore probably casein) or just the high lactose products that give you problems. And some may have lost all their villi and not be able to eat any dairy for a while but one healed will be okay.

As for the amount of lactose in medications, if you are able to tolerate hard cheeses and yogurt, you will probably have no problems. I have never had to worry about it. But it could be a problem if you tolerate no dairy at all.

[gflooser]

Let me elaborate on that a bit further. There are varying concentrations of lactose in dairy products, with milk having (now this is not scientific but experiential) probably the highest. Dairy products consist of two major ingredients, lactose (the milk sugar) and casein (the milk protein). Some people are able to digest the casein in milk but not the lactose, because they are digested by different enzymes. The enzyme lactase is made at the tips of the villi in the small intestine which are destroyed by gluten, so most diagnosed celiacs are unable to digest lactose for a period of time but may be able to do so once they have healed. Other people have problems with the digestion of casein, and if you are one of these you may or may not be able to resume eating dairy products.

In dairy products that have been cultured, like cheese, the lactose has been pre-digested by the culture to a great extent and only a small amount remains - the harder the cheese the less lactose in the products (and the more casein and fat). Cheddar and parmesan are two examples of low lactose cheeses. Some lactose intolerant people can eat these. Some can also eat yogurt which is digested by the lactobacilllus (and other) cultures, some can eat sour cream. My experience was that I could not touch milk, ice cream, cream, frozen yogurt, but other dairy products contained a sufficiently low level of lactose that they did not bother me. And I was not casein intolerant.

WOW!!! that is some great information. thank you so so so very much!!!! it really helps me to understand more about it. i am pregnant, and since becoming pregnant dairy has affected me differently where it never bothered me before! so weird!

Thank you again!!!!