{"id":11413,"date":"2021-05-26T10:24:15","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T02:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefooduntold.com\/?p=11413"},"modified":"2021-05-27T13:34:55","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T05:34:55","slug":"everything-you-need-to-know-about-lactose-intolerance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefooduntold.com\/health\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lactose-intolerance\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything You Need To Know About Lactose Intolerance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Everything<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you think you are intolerant to lactose? If you do, you are not alone. In fact, there are more people who experience this digestive disorder than those who do not. It is said that around 70% of\u00a0the world’s population are experiencing intolerance to lactose. That is around 5 billion people! Anyway, what exactly is lactose intolerance? What are the symptoms? The treatment? What do food manufacturers do to help lactose-intolerant individuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we’ll discuss all of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is lactose intolerance?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Lactose is composed of two simple sugars glucose and galactose<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carbohydates is one of the 3 basic macronutrients that we need daily\u2014the other being fats and proteins. Carbohydrates are the main sources of energy that fuel our bodies. In foods, these carbohydrates come in 2 main forms. First are simple carbohydrates. They are so called because they are the most basic forms. Second are complex carbohydrates such as starches and fibers, they are made of many simple sugars strung together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The simple carbohydrates are categorized into two forms based on chemical structure: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Disaccharides are sugars composed of two molecules of simple sugars. A good example of this is lactose, the milk sugar composed of glucose<\/strong> <\/a><\/strong>and galactose<\/strong>. Obviously, dairy products are rich in lactose. Cheese, cream, butter, yogurt, and milk are rich in it. Although out of all these, milk contain the most amount with 13 grams of lactose in 1 cup serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that once inside our body, this milk sugar needs to be broken down and digested in the gut<\/strong>. The enzyme lactase is responsible for this part. Lactase is produced by cells in the small intestine, in the enterocytes. These are cells that help us absorb the nutrients from the food we eat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lactase enzyme catalyzes the break down of lactose into simple sugars, glucose and galactose. If the bond between glucose and galactose is cut, then you are fine and good to go. But if the lactose is not broken down, water goes into your intestine via osmosis<\/strong>. As a result, you will feel bloated and experience diarrhea. And what’s more, as lactose travels from your gut to the colon, the natural bacteria that are able to digest lactose will feast on it, producing mix gases of carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen. This is what lactose intolerance is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms of lactose intolerance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The following are the common symptoms of lactose intolerance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n