#why study for bootcamp when you can stress/vent write ENTIRE research papers am i right?

[lloydaesthetic]

Some general information about lactose intolerance, because I’m getting tired of all the misconceptions around it.

First of all, what is lactose intolerance? Many people think of lactose intolerance as being entirely unable to process lactose. In most cases, that simply is not true(that’s usually more along the lines of a milk allergy, or the more severe cases of lactose intolerance). Lactose intolerance is simply a deficiency of the enzyme lactase in the body. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down the sugars in milk! It breaks down lactose.

That being said, someone with a mild lactose intolerance can usually still have small portions of yogurt and cheeses, but a cup of milk might still cause a noticeable level of discomfort(slight bloating, indigestion)--often within just a half hour or so of drinking it. If someone with lactose intolerance experiences this discomfort, a way to alleviate it would be to completely avoid dairy the next day or so while homeostasis works its magic. Personally, I go easy on dairy the next few days(I tend to eat small portions of dairy in general because the discomfort is common).

There are many types of lactose intolerance(and many, many, many names, I’ll stick to these): 1) Primary/Technical lactose intolerance- The body naturally produces less and less lactase as you age until you become intolerant. Happens slowly over time. 2) Secondary/Temporary lactose intolerance- The intestines experienced an infection, disease, surgery, or other illness that caused the lactose intolerance. Often this intolerance in noticeable rather immediately, and the intolerance can even be reversed with proper treatment of the underlying cause/disease. 3) Congenital lactose intolerance- The body is born without proper functioning lactase or lactase production. The first two types of intolerance are rather common, this one is much rarer, many people have never even heard of it.

Not everyone with lactose intolerance completely avoids dairy. Since lactose intolerance is simply a deficiency of lactase, it’s usually okay to still have a little(especially with dairy such as yogurt or cheese rather than milk—since yogurts and cheese are much less hard to digest even with less lactase than milk). Some people’s bodies stop producing lactase entirely, but many still produce a bit of lactase, just in much smaller amounts. 

There’s also lactase supplements(like Lactaid), which work to help your body breakdown the lactose that it has trouble dealing with on its own. Not everyone takes the supplements, and often the people who do tend to have worse cases of lactose intolerance anyway so will still mainly avoid dairy. In many cases, having just a bit of dairy in the diet can help build up a bit of tolerance(note that lactose intolerance—aside from secondary lactose intolerance, as of yet cannot be cured, this really doesn’t help too much, and can be counterproductive if you’re on the more severe spectrum).

Hell, I really love ‘Mr. Heisenburg’s article he wrote on the subject himself(link in quote), so I’ll just share with you what type of stuff he’ll eat as he wrote himself.

“I am a technically lactose intolerant person. My body does not produce the lactase enzyme, confirmed by genetic testing (23andme). But guess what? I consume the hell out of dairy. Cheese and yogurt are daily staples. But that’s not all. Sometimes, I go ahead and do something crazy: I drink a glass of milk. If it’s a small one, not much happens at all. If it’s a tall one? Maybe I shouldn’t be too social that evening. And that’s exactly what technical lactose intolerance is: it’s just a limitation on how much lactose you can consume before things get less than comfy.”

For me, I do small substitutions. I like protein, don’t have much money, can handle a bit of lactose, love the taste, and am slightly addicted(when we do manage to digest dairy, we’re digesting the protein casein which is literally broken down by our bodies into morphine which has an opiate effect), so I continue having small portions. I really can’t drink regular milk by itself without feeling sick, but I’ll have the more fermented dairies. 

I’ll have parmesan cheese with pasta, mix yogurt with fruit, make a smoothie with water instead of milk, use almond milk for cereal as well as scrambled eggs and baked dishes, have water based ice cream rather than regular if I have it at all. Usually I try to keep to less than a serving or two of dairy(non milk) a day, but I’ll make the exception for socializing, holidays, or if I haven’t had any dairy for a couple days. If I feel unwell, or know I felt discomfort the other day, I’ll refuse dairy even if it’s a holiday or special occasion.

Problem is, I eat dairy sometimes, and other people can’t really tell if I feel unwell because I ate dairy or not(notice how I said ‘other’ people, I know because I’ve experienced it so often). So people will say I’m not lactose intolerant. People with lactose intolerance are usually very aware of their limitations, so don’t say they’re lying if they still eat a bit of dairy. I also ate a lot of dairy growing up, I loved dairy! Funny thing is that you can grow into being lactose intolerant! That’s a real thing!

In fact more than half of the population become lactose intolerant some time over the course of their life times. Many of the cases are much more moderate of even undiagnosed simply because all it is is a lactase deficiency. Since you can usually still eat some lactose without getting the more intense symptoms, I’d assume many simply chalk it up to getting older. People who don’t get lactose intolerance over their life time actually have a thing called lactase persistence, since that’s rarer than lactose intolerance!

The human body naturally produces the most lactase as a baby, since the body is getting most its nutrients from breastfeeding. As the baby grows, the lactase production decreases as the child starts to eat and gather nutrition for their self or from other sources(cereals, breads, salads, weening off of breast milk and more into a varied diet). Many people as they grow become intolerant entirely, some just lose a bit of enzyme production, while in the most rare cases they continue making more than enough lactase to continue digesting lactose their entire lives.

Aside from the most natural deficiency that comes with age, it’s exceedingly common for lactose intolerance to develop after intestinal infections or diseases(of which I’ve had many infections and have a non curable disease, unfortunately).

Common symptoms of having more dairy than you can digest are indigestion, bloating, gas, diarrhea, nausea, and just gut discomfort and pains in general(if you’re unable to digest dairy, it can sit and ferment uncomfortably in your intestines for a while). Symptoms usually occur between 30 minutes to 2 hours after consumption, but oftentimes can last for a long time, or in worse cases kick in almost immediately.

TL;DR: There are tons of lactose intolerant people with varying levels of intolerance, please don’t erase their lactose intolerance just because you personally don’t see them as having it. This is one of those chronic illnesses that isn’t so blatantly obvious, but is incredibly widespread(much more common than you think, it effects more than 1 out of every 2 people).

Sorry this got so long, it’s been something that’s been building up for a while. Thanks so much for reading!

Sources: x, x, x, x, x, and my own experiences.