Lactose intolerance is a common word these days. More and more people are getting to know about the condition and its repercussions. More people have been diagnosed with it – it is said that about 30 to 50 million people in the United States are lactose intolerant. With the increase in number of lactose intolerance cases, there is also an increase in myths about the condition. This article will throw insight into such prevalent myths and point out the truths behind the condition.
Lactose Intolerance – Causes: Many people think that it is milk which causes lactose intolerance. This is a myth. Milk can cause only milk allergy and not lactose intolerance. Milk allergy is a reaction of the body to the proteins in milk and hence, drinking milk results in the allergy. With lactose intolerance, it is different. Any product or food item that contains lactose can make one lactose intolerant. Since milk has the maximum amount of lactose, people tend to think that milk is the culprit behind the condition.
Lactose intolerance is actually caused by the lack of a key enzyme in the small intestine – lactase. It is lactase which breaks down the lactose (a disaccharide carbohydrate) into monosaccharide sugars, glucose and galactose. Glucose is crucial for the body’s functioning as it is an energy-giving sugar. When there is a lapse in the production of lactase, the body accumulates the lactose it receives in the form of food and this causes symptoms like bloating, stomach cramps, abdominal pain and gas. Hence lactose intolerance is actually a case of lactase deficiency and not anything else.
However, lactose intolerance can be affected or influenced by a lot of factors and these are:
1. Grains and Celiac disease: If you are allergic to grains, which is a symptom of Celiac disease, you run the risk of getting lactose intolerance. This is because, like every other stomach or gastro-intestinal ailment, Celiac disease affects the inner lining of the stomach and the intestine, arresting the secretion of lactase enzyme. This leads to lactose intolerance and the complications that follow it.
2. Race/ethnicity: Yes, your ethnic background can cause your lactose intolerance. If you belong to an ethnic background that is a non-dairy community, chances are you can be lactose intolerant. This is because, the condition has been observed to be a genetic one which affects mostly the non-dairy communities. Except for a few in the world like the Northern Europeans, East Africans and some Asians (like Indians), every other race/ethnic group in the world is lactose intolerant. It has been said that lactose intolerance is the norm and lactose persistence is the absurdity.
3. Age: Age is a factor in lactose intolerance. The older you grow, the more lactose intolerant you become. Only children who are 1 to 3 years of age have sufficient lactase in their bodies. After the weaning period, their lactase secretion drops drastically, resulting in lactose intolerance. This is why adults have increased allergies to milk and milk products.
If you are one among the millions suffering from lactose intolerance, understand that the condition is natural to anyone belonging to a particular race or ethnic group and you have no role to play in it. Accept the condition as the norm and learn to cope with it. It is definitely no fault of yours.
