What's Lactose Intolerance?

Individuals who have lactose intolerance have trouble digesting lactose, a sugar type found in other dairy foods and milk. Lactose intolerance doesn't mean you're sensitive to milk, but you'll most likely feel bad after eating cheese or drinking milk, ice cream, or perhaps anything else containing lactose.

As with everything else you eat, your body has to digest lactose to have the ability to use it for fuel. The small intestine normally makes an unique substance called lactase, an enzyme that breaks lactose down into simpler sugars called glucose and galactose. These sugars are actually not hard for your body to absorb and turn into electricity.

Individuals with lactose intolerance don't make enough lactase in the small intestine of theirs. Without lactase, the body cannot properly digest food which has lactose in it. Which means that in case you consume dairy foods, the lactose from these foods will pass into the intestine of yours, which may result in gas, cramps, a bloated feeling, and diarrhea, and that is loose, watery poop.

A large amount of folks have lactose intolerance, but no one has to put up with feeling awful. If you've lactose intolerance, you are able to figure out how to watch what you eat and the doctor of yours may suggest medicine which may help.

Who Gets It and Why?

Between thirty million and fifty million folks in the United States have lactose intolerance. Which means at least one out of every ten Americans is lactose intolerant.

Many cases of lactose intolerance are actually genetic. Which means that something in these people's genes makes them much more prone to develop it. The condition is much more common among several groups of individuals - aproximatelly 90% or even more of Native Americans and asian Americans are actually lactose intolerant, and up to 80% of Hispanic Americans and african Americans get symptoms when they eat dairy foods. Should you belong to one of these groups, you are also far more prone to have lactose intolerance while you are younger.

Individuals also can develop lactose intolerance for other reasons. Sometimes another illness may keep the intestine from producing enough lactase. For instance, folks with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), such as Crohn's disease, and any other long term problems that affect the intestines are often lactose intolerant. Individuals also can develop lactose intolerance in case they are taking certain medicines or perhaps simply had an infection that caused diarrhea. Luckily, this type of lactose intolerance does not usually last long.

Even in case you do not have trouble with lactose now, there is a chance you may one day. Why? Because the body starts making less lactase when you are around two years old. The older you get, the more likely it's that you might have difficulty digesting dairy foods.

Source: kidshealth.org