Lactose Intolerance: Foods To Eat -

What is lactose intolerance?

If you are lactose intolerant, you may notice after you drink or eat dairy that you are uncomfortable, have some bloating, or even diarrhea. This happens because your body doesn’t have the ability to break down the naturally occurring sugar, lactose. Your body stops making the enzyme lactase, which breaks lactose down, and you are left with uncomfortable abdominal symptoms.

Lactose intolerance is common, and it usually isn’t serious, but it can be unpleasant. In some cases, lactose intolerance can be serious when an individual doesn’t get enough nutrients, like calcium or vitamin D, and becomes deficient in these important substances.

Let’s start with a few different types of lactose intolerance:

Primary

You were able to digest lactose when you were younger, but as you aged, your lactose tolerance went down. It’s thought this happens because as we age, we eat different things that are not primarily milk. This results in the gradual decline of lactase.

Secondary

You become lactose intolerant due to another condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, surgery, or other injury to your small intestine. Usually lactose tolerance is restored after the injury or illness is resolved.

Congenital

Sometimes, though it is rare, individuals may be born with lactose intolerance, inherited, and the child cannot make lactase at all. The baby will be intolerant to breastmilk, having diarrhea.

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance?

Typical symptoms of lactose intolerance are:

– gas

– bloating

– diarrhea

– abdominal pain (cramps)

– sometimes nausea or vomiting

You will notice these symptoms soon after eating something that contains dairy.

Can lactose intolerance be diagnosed?

Yes, it can! You can head to your doctor’s office, where your doctor will ask about symptoms, family and medical history, and may even perform a blood test, a hydrogen breath test, or a stool acidity test (this test is more commonly done in children.

A hydrogen breath test is common and reliable. After you consume something high in lactose, the bacteria in your intestine will start to break it down if you have lactose intolerance; this is called fermentation.

Fermentation will produce hydrogen and other gases. So if you aren’t breaking lactose down properly, you’ll have a higher than normal amount of hydrogen coming off your breath.

How do I treat lactose intolerance?

There isn’t “treatment” for lactose intolerance, only managing it with your meals.

1) You can avoid lactose altogether if that’s how you want to live your life. If you do so, it will important for you to get calcium from other foods that aren’t dairy. Adults needs around 1000 mg of calcium per day. Not consuming enough calcium can put you at risk for low bone density and osteoporosis. Your doctor may recommend a calcium with vitamin D supplement. You can also try these non-dairy foods:

– almond, flax, soy, oat, or rice milk

– dark green leafy vegetables

– soy beans & tofu

– nuts

– fortified with calcium grains (like bread – read the label to make sure calcium was added!)

– sardines (or other fish where you eat the bones)

2) If you go to the doctor, they may recommend you buy an over-the-counter lactase enzyme you take with dairy products when you eat them. This is will give your body the amount of lactase it needs to break down the lactose you just ate so you can avoid those uncomfortable symptoms we mentioned earlier.

3) If you can tolerate it, you can add some dairy back into your meals slowly, and monitor your symptoms. Some dairy products that can be tolerated for those living with lactose intolerance include:

– yoghurt

– kefir

– small amounts of milk or cream (like a splash in coffee or tea)

– products that have milk in them, but not in a large amount (salad dressings, margarine, baking mixes, or instant soup)

It is very important you read the nutrition label on some items you buy to ensure you are indeed buying items with calcium in them.

Can I exercise with lactose intolerance?

Absolutely! Please do! Exercise is so good for you, both mentally and physically.

You may be wondering about a recovery beverage, or a pre-workout beverage. While water is what you should go for when re-hydrating, milk is touted as the gold standard for recovery as it has some electrolytes (calcium, sodium, potassium), protein, and water. But since you’re lactose intolerant, milk may not be what you want.

You can always make your favourite protein shake or smoothie with milk alternatives, such as oat, soy, almond, flax, or rice milk. Be sure to read the nutrition label of the milk alternative you choose to see how much calcium the product will give you.

Many protein powders have whey in them, which contains lactose. Choose whey isolate containing protein powder, which will have the least amount of lactose. Casein may also contain small amounts of lactose. You can also try vegan protein powder if you’re worried about the effects of anything that has any dairy in it

You can also just enjoy a glass of milk alternative, just like you would a regular ol’ glass of milk.

Bottom line

Lactose intolerance is common, and often not serious. It will be imperative you get your calcium from non-dairy foods to keep your bones strong throughout your life.

Many of these alternatives have plenty of calcium in them. Spinach, for example, has 99 mg of calcium per 100 g of spinach.

Living with lactose intolerance doesn’t mean you have to stop exercising or stop enjoying your favourite workout beverage. You just need to tweak the ingredients a little bit.