To confirm the presence of lactose intolerance, the diagnosis can be made by a gastroenterologist and it is almost always necessary, in addition to the assessment of symptoms, to perform other tests, such as respiratory test, stool test or intestinal biopsy.
“Lactose intolerance is the body’s inability to digest milk sugar, lactose, causing symptoms such as colic, gas and diarrhea, which appear moments after ingesting this food.
- Although often diagnosed in childhood.
- Adults may also develop lactose intolerance.
- With more or less severe symptoms depending on the severity of intolerance.
- See a more complete list of symptoms of this intolerance.
If you think you have lactose intolerance, select your symptoms to know the risk:
These symptoms usually occur moments after ingesting cow’s milk, dairy, or milk products, so if any of these symptoms appear, the food exclusion test should be done for 7 days to see if the symptoms go away.
Symptoms can also occur with varying degrees of intensity depending on the degree of inability to produce lactase, which is the enzyme that digests cow’s milk.
If you think you are not digesting cow’s milk well, try not to consume it for 7 days, if you don’t have symptoms these days, get tested and drink milk, then wait to see your body’s reaction.it can be lactose intolerant and you may not be able to drink cow’s milk.
This test can be done with all foods prepared with milk, such as cheese, butter, pudding and food, for example.And depending on your level of lactose intolerance, your symptoms may be more or less severe.
Here’s how to follow a diet without including lactose
To make sure it’s lactose intolerant, in addition to taking the food exclusion test, you can do tests such as:
These tests may be requested by your family doctor or allergist in case of suspected lactose intolerance or when the food exclusion test leaves doubts.
It is very important to diagnose and treat lactose intolerance, as it is a condition that causes unpleasant symptoms and affects the absorption of nutrients important to the body.
The treatment of lactose intolerance involves excluding cow’s milk from the diet and everything prepared with cow’s milk such as sponge cake, sponge cake, biscuit and pudding, however sometimes a person can take a lactase supplement, an enzyme that digests milk, when they need it or wants it.eat foods prepared with cow’s milk.
Lactase can be purchased from pharmacy or pharmacy and is very easy to use, this enzyme can be added to the cake recipe or ingested for a few moments before ingesting these foods.Examples include Lactrase, Lactosil, and Digelac.Another possibility is that charcoal capsules relieve symptoms after a person has ingested a lactose source and may be helpful in an emergency.
Cow’s milk is rich in calcium, which is important for maintaining bone health, so lactose intolerant people should increase intake of other calcium-containing foods, such as prune and blackberries, for example.See more examples at: Calcium-rich foods.
However, there are several levels of lactose intolerance and not everyone needs to stop consuming dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt, as these foods contain less lactose and it is possible to eat a small amount at some point.
Breast milk also contains lactose, but to a lesser extent, mothers who breastfeed lactose-intolerant babies can continue to breastfeed without problems, eliminating dairy products from their own diets.