# Healing and Wellbeing > General Health >  >  Lactose intolerant = the new normal???

## Total Eclipse

I recently found out I was lactose intolerance. My doctor did not seem shocked and told me milk wasn't healthy and she was glad I chose not to consume it. However, sadly-- lots of things contain milk and will keep making my autoimmune ill from being contaminated on machines. 

I wanted to share this because a lot of us get IBS or other bowel issues and she said it can be a direct cause from dairy :/ 






> Overall, about 75 percent of the world's population, including 25 percent of those in the U.S., lose their lactase enzymes after weaning.7 The recognition of this fact has resulted in an important change in terminology: Those who could not digest milk were once called "lactose intolerant" or "lactase deficient." They are now regarded as normal, while those adults who retain the enzymes allowing them to digest milk are called "lactase persistent."
> 
> There is no reason for people with lactose intolerance to push themselves to drink milk. Indeed, milk does not offer any nutrients that cannot be found in a healthier form in other foods. Surprisingly, milk-drinking does not even appear to prevent osteoporosis, its major selling point.



[Note at the bottom of the page shows a list of things you can get calium out of] 

I'm going through the jouney of trying to stay away from all dairy related products and wanted to share.  :group hug:

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## Lunaire

I too am lactose intolerant and didn't quite realize it until I cut dairy out of my diet completely. 

Within only a few weeks I began to feel less bloated, more energetic, and just healthier in general!  :Guitarist:

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## Total Eclipse

> I too am lactose intolerant and didn't quite realize it until I cut dairy out of my diet completely. 
> 
> Within only a few weeks I began to feel less bloated, more energetic, and just healthier in general!



iGiven that 75% of the population is.. makes sense...  ::(:  ....Glad you feel better without it! What are some of your fav dairy replacers?

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## Lunaire

> iGiven that 75% of the population is.. makes sense...  ....Glad you feel better without it! What are some of your fav dairy replacers?



I really love anything with coconut in it.... so delicious brand yogurt comes to mind, as does fieldroast chao cheese slices. I also love homemade oat milk!  :: 

How about you?

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## Total Eclipse

> I really love anything with coconut in it.... so delicious brand yogurt comes to mind, as does fieldroast chao cheese slices. I also love homemade oat milk! 
> 
> How about you?



Oat milk is amazing, so is almond, cashew, coconut milk and soy!

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## Total Eclipse

There is a difference between natural human breast milk and other species milk. We are currently the only species that drink breast liquid from another animal. So there isn't much study on outside of humans, however we do know humans around age 5 start loosing the ability to fully have dairy. We also know that cats and dogs get ill if they drink dairy past an age.

My doctor has been doing allergy testing and has been the leading person verifying diary allergies and intolerances for over 30 years. I trust her, as well as the pleather of goverment health sites -- that also backup a 75-85% worldwide Diary sensatvity/ intolerance (they are the same thing but not the same thing as allergy). Lets just say, I believe that over an non-medical non-trained opinion online. 

Mine came close to an allergy but listed as high end of intolerance and was given an epi pen. For people with autoimmune dieases this is vital as all allergies and intolerance exacerbates the dieases. My tests also show high allergies to corn, garlic and seafood. The last even theoretically if shared on the same machine or smelled could set me into a throat closing reaction. 

Back to the topic. It's very important to find out what your intolerant to and what your allergies are. It's also very important (even if certain food is 'yummy') to realize --- it might acutally be causing harm. In this case I'll state the stats again (with more sources).

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides...ance-14/primer

http://milk.procon.org/view.resource...ourceID=000661

https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archi...1204health.pdf

To some degree 75%  of the world population is lactose intolerance. Even on Webmed -- a article that one of the main triggers for IBS is dairy and you'll find several others. Your body may also make less lactase if your small intestine is injured or you have certain digestive problems, such as Crohn's or celiac disease. For some people, esp without IBS -- the main trigger in a dairy products other than GI... can produce migraine, fever, achyness. 

For me, this is a new journey. I was ethically OKay with using machinary that was shared with egg, and dairy. However, now --- I want to be more mindful of dairy and seafood. This means reading every label, every clause of a label and forcing myself to question restraunts, do my research before going to a restraunt and etc. One of the major reasons I posted it here. Yes, I'm going to follow this, epsically given all the traces of badness it has... However, this is going to cause a 'hella lot of anxiety. Hence posting it on an anxiety support site.

For more statistics ---the 25% that don't have the low levels come from highly consitraded Northern European decent. Also, something interesting to note: dogs and cats also have the same issue. Which is very interesting. They loose their enzymes to process and break down the lactose. I had one kitty that would still have dairy and get "gassy", one that would get physically ill and one that showed no signs of lactose intolerance. Every persons reaction is different. However, it's very likely a lot of people feel cruddy and not realize it's from the slice of pizza two nights before last.

As a note if anyone is intrested: one of the main ways people test for intolerances of dairy, glutten, soy, is to remove from your diet 100% for at least 12 weeks, and than slowly add it in ie teaspooon once a week, half cup yogurt another. And see if you notice any differences. If you think it's a fluke, cleanse for a month and try again.

I have a bucket load of allergies (more than the listed above) and had to do this test to verify most of them. Thankful glutten or soy isn't a intolerance for me!!

Respectfully and Bless Be,
~ Total Eclipse

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## Wishie

Couldn't have worded a post better than the above.

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## Otherside

I have IBS but I end up being a bizarre case. My IBS comes in bouts. I'll go for months being fine, and then be bad for months on end.) Milk/anything with lactose in it is a trigger for me. It makes my IBS considerably worse if I'm going through an episode of it. If I'm not struggling with IBS I don't have so much of a problem with it. Can have the stuff just fine. 

I'm not completely avoiding it. But I've cut down my consumption and my IBS isn't so bad. Cheese is a hard one for me to cut down on. Yes, there's alternative, dairy-free cheeses, but for some reason, they all seem to be mildly flavored, and I'm used to eating mature/max-strength (at least, not the ones that I can buy at the store). It's like I'm eating plastic. Milk - didn't really drink much of it anyway. Might have had a small amount with tea/coffee but otherwise didn't really drink the stuff. Yoghurt - Ate a lot of that, but I'd eaten soya yoghurt even before I had IBS for a while (Solely because I prefer the texture of it, believe it or not.)

IBS though doesn't necessarily mean lactose intolerant. There's a whole list of food that you're supposedly mean to avoid if you have it (FODMAP). Not that I really ever adhere to that list to be honest (Given that I'm a students, it's compulsory that I break the "one max beer" thing at times  ::D:  ) Lactose Intolerant is not an easy one to test for though. Supposedly the only way to do it is go a week without lactose, then go a week for (and if the week without is better...lactose intolerant.) Supposedly there's Hydrogen Breath Testing (drink lactose solution, then it measures the Hydrogen in your breath and there's an amount that supposedly means your intollerant), but it's not really ever used over here.

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## Otherside

> @Otherside
>  -- Yeah, I have issues finding good dairy-free cheeses. They are better melted and or if you make your own. You can make pretty easy cheese spreads made from cashew and nutritional yeast and it taste pretty good.Here is a more simple one... instead of water, I would sub it with veggie broth or a creamy non-dairy milk. For me, going dairy free... was very hard.. because of the cheese >.< As for the tea/ coffee... the UK has "Oatly" which is suppose to be pretty amazing.



I've heard about oatly, and I'm sure I've seen it in Tesco (our Walmart lol) Also heard good stuff about it (my other half's mum has pretty bad IBS to the point of "don't even consider work the next day" if she eats/drinks something bad. She says it's pretty good. As is almond milk. Keep meaning to try the stuff. 

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## lethargic nomad

Well, only babies need milk. The ability to digest milk by adults is just a weird mutation that happened in certain parts of Europe and Africa.  


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence

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## Otherside

> Well, only babies need milk. The ability to digest milk by adults is just a weird mutation that happened in certain parts of Europe and Africa.  
> 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase_persistence



Yup. 

We're a really bizarre species in that way, when you think about it. Not only do we continue to drink milk beyond infant-hood, but we drink the milk of another species all through adulthood.

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## Koalafan

I tend to go through periods where digesting diary can cause issues so I'm not really sure if I'm full on lactose intolerant though I do tend to shy away from most dairy products (yay for almond milk!). My stomach is a piece of [BEEP] though so that definitely plays into quite a bit  :Tongue:

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## Otherside

> I tend to go through periods where digesting diary can cause issues so I'm not really sure if I'm full on lactose intolerant though I do tend to shy away from most dairy products (yay for almond milk!). My stomach is a piece of [BEEP] though so that definitely plays into quite a bit



If it's episodic, and the issues you're referring to are stomach cramps/painful diahorrea/constipation/anything stomach related it could be IBS. That's what happens to me, and my issues are caused by IBS rather than lactose intollerance.

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## Ironman

My brother has always had lactose intolerance, to the point where he would have to drink soy formula.

A couple of years ago, he told me that he had a piece of the frozen lasagna from a nationally-known brand.....he passed out and had to go to the ER.  It just happened to be a cheese combination that he didn't see coming.
He has to take lactase tablets to break down that protein.

That's really all it is - it's the lactose protein that can't be broken down correctly.  

I have actually had it myself several times - I have to be careful when I eat or drink dairy.  I cannot ingest and then go to sleep or I will have problems in just a few hours.....

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## lethargic nomad

> ... and the mutation doesn't mean it's good for us. It just means some of us don't get violently ill.... I have no idea why as a human race, we started drinking another species milk. Wouldn't it make more sense to have women pump milk all day (willingly) and sell that? Or make alternative non-dairy milks?



Aren't some diseases communicable through human breast milk?  I know that's how many babies get HIV from their mothers.  Not sure if pasteurization of the milk would fix that or not.  

I drink mainly soy milk.  Use it in my coffee and when eating cereal.  At first it tasted funny to me but now I actually prefer soy milk to cow milk.  I still eat dairy products though, such as cheese, sour cream, and ice cream.  I'm pretty sure I have the mutation.  

Ideally I'd like to cut out dairy and eggs in my diet for ethical reasons.

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## Otherside

> Aren't some diseases communicable through human breast milk?  I know that's how many babies get HIV from their mothers.  Not sure if pasteurization of the milk would fix that or not.  
> 
> I drink mainly soy milk.  Use it in my coffee and when eating cereal.  At first it tasted funny to me but now I actually prefer soy milk to cow milk.  I still eat dairy products though, such as cheese, sour cream, and ice cream.  I'm pretty sure I have the mutation.  
> 
> Ideally I'd like to cut out dairy and eggs in my diet for ethical reasons.



Yep. Not just HIV, other diseases to. It's a similar reason that will prevent me from ever breastfeeding (I don't have HIV). 

As for the pasteurisation...pass? I'd assume so (given that the process is there solely to kill bacteria). But maybe not. Not all microorganisms are killed by the process after all. And HIV is a virus I think, not a bacteria. 

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## Antidote

I'm not sure what to make of soy products because apparently it can interfere with thyroid function. Not sure if that's backed up by evidence but I have hypothyroidism so it's a little concerning. 

I still have soy in smoothies I make. I prefer it to cow's milk because I think it goes better with fruit. But I don't want to rely on it if it's messing with my thyroid and I don't really like other plant based milks atm.

I'm pretty sure I have the mutation because even when I don't have dairy for extended periods, nothing changes, so I'm pretty sure it's not causing me any issues.

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## Pinky

> I'm not sure what to make of soy products because apparently it can interfere with thyroid function. Not sure if that's backed up by evidence but I have hypothyroidism so it's a little concerning. 
> 
> I still have soy in smoothies I make. I prefer it to cow's milk because I think it goes better with fruit. But I don't want to rely on it if it's messing with my thyroid and I don't really like other plant based milks atm.
> 
> I'm pretty sure I have the mutation because even when I don't have dairy for extended periods, nothing changes, so I'm pretty sure it's not causing me any issues.



It's a myth http://www.todaysdietitian.com/newar...40114p52.shtml

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## lethargic nomad

I think you'd have to drink gallons of soy milk daily for there to be any effect.

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## Antidote

A review abstract from 2014: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24473985





> The evidence on male fertility and reproductive hormones was conflicting; some studies demonstrated a deleterious impact caused by soy consumption and others showed no effect. Soy supplementation also appears to affect thyroid function in an inconsistent manner, as studies have shown both increases and decreases in the same parameters of thyroid activity. Soaking, fermentation, and heating may reduce problematic antinutrients contained in soy. The authors found that consuming moderate amounts of traditionally prepared and minimally processed soy foods may offer modest health benefits while minimizing potential for adverse health effects.



And as for how much soy might cause hypothyroidism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21325465
They basically compared a group of people having the amount of soy you typically get on a Western diet (with 2 mg phytoestrogens, whatever that is), with a group having the amount of soy you typically get in many vegetarian diets (16 mg phytoestrogens):





> CONCLUSION:
> There is a 3-fold increased risk of developing overt hypothyroidism with dietary supplementation of 16 mg soy phytoestrogens with subclinical hypothyroidism. However, 16-mg soy phytoestrogen supplementation significantly reduces the insulin resistance, hsCRP, and blood pressure in these patients.



I think you need a dodgy thyroid to begin with for this to be an issue though.

When it comes to soy products I only really like soy milk, products made with soy milk, and soy sauce. But I don't think I'll ever have that much on a daily bases.

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## Ironman

> Yep. Not just HIV, other diseases to. It's a similar reason that will prevent me from ever breastfeeding (I don't have HIV). 
> 
> As for the pasteurisation...pass? I'd assume so (given that the process is there solely to kill bacteria). But maybe not. Not all microorganisms are killed by the process after all. And HIV is a virus I think, not a bacteria. 
> 
> Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk



Yes, it's a virus, but breast milk also passes immunity to the child.  It has a lot of benefits - lactose intolerance for human milk is way different than cow milk, etc.

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## Goat

What are the stats on goat milk?

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