August 24, 2023
IF YOU SUFFER FROM LACTOSE INTOLERANCE, YOU’LL KNOW ONLY TOO WELL HOW DISRUPTIVE THE SYMPTOMS CAN BE TO EVERYDAY LIFE. BLOATING, ABDOMINAL CRAMPS, NAUSEA, AND/OR DIARRHOEA CAN BE ENOUGH TO PUT YOU OFF MILK PRODUCTS ALTOGETHER. BUT NOW THERE’S A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE IS EMERGING TO SUGGEST THAT PROBIOTICS, SOME OF WHICH ARE COMMONLY FOUND IN MILK PRODUCTS SUCH AS YOGURT, MAY ALLEVIATE THE TROUBLESOME SYMPTOMS OF LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. Lactose intolerance arises when we don’t have sufficient levels of the enzyme needed to digest lactose, the sugar naturally present in dairy products. Undigested lactose passes into the colon where bacteria break it down into short-chain fatty acids and gas – and that’s when we become painfully aware of the problem.
Lactose intolerance is common whatever your ethnic origins but Asian and African people seem particularly prone to it: 50-90% of these populations suffer from lactose intolerance compared with 5-15% of Europeans and North Americans.
PROBIOTICS – FRIENDLY LIFE FORMS
In efforts to ease this heavy burden of lactose intolerance, researchers have focused their attention in recent years on probiotics – the bacteria and yeasts that can be used to supplement the trillions of tiny life forms that inhabit our intestine: the gut microbiota. Probiotics are live micro-organisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Not only can they help our gut health, but they’ve also been associated with several other benefits, including boosting our immune system and reducing cholesterol in our blood.
