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Living With Lactose IntoleranceWritten: 2009
I have congenital lactose intolerance. Since I was a baby it's basically been a battle between my digestive tract, my medicine, and my overwhelming desire for the foods Iabsolutely cannot have anymore. I’m twenty years old now, and I’d like to think I'm somewhatof an expert on how to avoid and compensate for dairy.I'm only one of approximately 30 to 50 million people in the United States who suffer from lactose intolerance. (FBCH, 1999) This paper is mostly written for those who have lactoseintolerance, to discuss ways in which to cope with this deficiency, but I hope that it may alsohelp educate those who don't know what lactose intolerance is, or maybe know someone wholives with it.You may wonder, What exactly
is
lactose intolerance? It is the inability to digest lactose,a type of sugar found in milk, through a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme generated in your digestive tract that helps you digest the lactose. Lactose intolerance is
not 
the same as a cow’smilk allergy. Also referred to as lactase deficiency, the condition can be divided into four types: primary, secondary, developmental, and congenital.Primary lactose intolerance, also called adult-type hypolactasia is caused by the body
 
simply losing the ability to digest milk. (Reilly, 2004) Your body produces less and less lactaseas you become older, because milk becomes less of a primary source of nutrition. An illness or injury to the small intestine can result in secondary lactose intolerance. Secondary lactoseintolerance may be temporary or permanent, depending upon the severity of the illness or injury.Congenital conditions are ones that you are born with. This is the least common type of lactoseintolerance, affecting about 1 in 1,000 births. (Reilly, 2004)Developmental lactose intolerance occurs in premature infants, and usually becomes better as the gastrointestinal tract matures. (Leeds & Sanders, 2008) People with congenitallactose intolerance, like myself, have lived with the symptoms all their lives. (MayoClinic, 2009)Lactose intolerance may be detected through medical tests. Right now there are four typesof test in use. In one test, the patient drinks water containing 200 ml of lactose, then they and thedoctor wait for symptoms to occur; in another, the patient simply cuts dairy out of their diet for anumber of days, then reports back to his or her physician to discuss the difference in the patient’sstomach pain and stools. (Aziz, 2008) Another, the most sensitive test at about 90% sensitive, isthe lactose hydrogen breath test. The last test for lactose intolerance is an invasive one; it is a biopsy “performed on duodenal [...] specimens” that “measures lactase activity directly.” (Leeds& Sanders, 2008)As stated previously, lactose intolerance is not the same as a cow’s milk allergy.
*
Symptoms of lactose intolerance range from stomachache, cramps or pain, and gas to vomitingand the most common symptom, diarrhea, depending on the severity of an individual’s*
Milk allergy manifests in the same way as most food allergies, with hives, nausea, and head- and stomachache.(Williams, 2006) If you believe you might have a cow’s milk allergy, you should avoid consuming dairy and seeyour health care provider.
 
intolerance. (WebMD, 2007)If you're lactose intolerant, you probably know how hard it is to find foods that are non-dairy these days. What you may not know is that milk has two components: whey and curd. Bothof these components contain lactose, and are found in many foods. (Cavette, 2009) Whey, whichmakes milk watery, is used in processed foods, and can be found in the ingredients lists of manyfoods you'll find in boxes. (Food Lovers Companion) This makes up most of our daily indirectdairy intake. Curd in milk coagulates when the milk goes sour or is treated with enzymes, and is primarily used to make cheese. (RhymeZone)For the purpose of this article, there are two types of dairy products: basic, “no-brainer”dairy foods, and sneaky dairy products. The basic dairy foods are: milk, cheese, yogurt, butter,sour cream, cream cheese, ice cream, and pizza. Obviously, anything containing any of these isalso a dairy product. Sneakier dairy products include some medications, processed foods, driedfruit, margarines, breads, breakfast cereals, and pre-prepared meals. Lactose is also used itself incommercial foods for texture, flavor, and “adhesive qualities.” (Wikipedia) Some of the sneakier  products now have the bold warning on the nutrition labels that the product contains milk, but it'salways a good idea to look through the list of ingredients. Remember that the ingredient that's inthe most quantity in a food item is listed first on the list, and if you have a good feel for howtolerant you actually are of lactose, you can gauge about high up on the ingredient lists certainmilk products can be before they make you sick.An inherent difficulty with lactose intolerance is replacing the nutrients in our diet that
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