What is Lactose and Why is it a Problem?

Here's the simple answer. Lactose is milk sugar. It's a naturally occurring sugar just like fructose is a naturally occurring sugar found in fruit.

Lactose becomes a problem for people when their body can no longer break down the milk sugar. The body can't break it down and use it, so it has to get rid of it. Your body first retains water since the lactose can't be absorbed into your blood. This creates bloating, gas and eventually the 'D' word... yes, diarrhea. Unfortunately for us lactose intolerant... and also for all around us, this is an unpleasant event.

So, why does your body stop breaking down lactose? Well, your stomach contains enzymes that help break down many different foods. Lactase is the enzyme that breaks down Lactose. For some people, their body begins producing less and less lactase over the years. This is one reason why lactose intolerance comes later in life for a lot of people. This is also why it gets worse for some people as they get older.

Many people, myself included, have asked if it's possible to make your body start producing lactase enzymes again. Unfortunatley, no one seems to have figured out how to make that happen yet. There have been some attempts, however, to find alternate ways to digest lactose that don't require lactase. For example, lactobacillus is a naturally occuring bacteria that breaks down milk sugar. So, can you get your body to break down milk this way? That's the big question some companies are trying to answer.

You can always take the lactase enzyme pills as you eat dairy products to aid your body to break down the lactose. Depending on the severity of your lactose intolerance, the success of taking thes pills ranges from great to... "oh, I shouldn't have eaten that."