Diet for someone who is lactose intolerant

Lactose is the name of the sugar found in milk. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include:. Take small amounts. You may be able to eat or drink small amounts of dairy products without having any symptoms. It can be helpful to keep a food diary. Lactose intolerance happens when your small intestine does not make enough of a digestive enzyme called lactase.

Lactase breaks down the lactose in food so your body can absorb it. People who are lactose intolerant have unpleasant symptoms after eating or drinking milk or milk products. These symptoms include bloating, diarrhea and gas. Both children and adults can have lactose intolerance.

Here are some common causes of this condition:. Symptoms often start about 30 minutes to 2 hours after you have food or drinks that have lactose. How severe your symptoms are will depend on how much lactose you have ingested and how much lactase your body makes. The symptoms of lactose intolerance may look like those of other health problems. Always see your healthcare provider to be sure. Your healthcare provider will talk to you about your past health and family history. He or she will give you a physical exam.

You may be asked not to have any milk or milk products for a short time to see if your symptoms get better. While lactose intolerance and irritable bowel syndrome IBS are two different conditions, both can cause similar symptoms for people who drink milk or eat milk products. This article explains why. There is no treatment that can help your body make more lactase. But you can manage your symptoms by changing your diet. In the past, people who were lactose intolerant were told to avoid dairy products.

Today, health experts suggest you try different dairy foods and see which ones cause fewer symptoms. That way you can still get enough calcium and other important nutrients. He or she can suggest other foods to be sure you get enough calcium. Larger text size Large text size Regular text size. What Is Lactose Intolerance? What Happens in Lactose Intolerance? Besides age, people can become lactose intolerant due to: Ethnic background. People of Asian, African, Native American, and Hispanic backgrounds are more likely to develop lactose intolerance at a young age.

Other problems with the digestive tract. People who have inflammation of their upper small intestine, such as celiac disease or Crohn's disease, have less of the lactase enzyme. Some antibiotics can trigger temporary lactose intolerance because they affect how the intestine makes lactase.

After a bout of infectious diarrhea, some people can develop a temporary lactose intolerance that usually improves after a few days or weeks. Usually within 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating, someone with lactose intolerance will have: nausea stomach cramps bloating gas diarrhea How Is Lactose Intolerance Diagnosed?

How Is Lactose Intolerance Treated? What About Calcium? You also can eat non-dairy products like: calcium-fortified juice or soy milk green, leafy vegetables like broccoli, collard greens, kale, and turnip greens beans salmon almonds soybeans dried fruit tofu Talking to a registered dietitian is a good idea.

What Else Should I Know? Here are some tips for dealing with lactose intolerance: Choose lactose-reduced or lactose-free milk. Take a lactase enzyme supplement such as Lactaid just before you eat dairy products. These can be taken in drops or tablets and even added directly to milk. Butter is a dairy product, made from cream. However, it contains almost no lactose so it is often allowed on dairy-free diets.

If you have lactose intolerance, even just a glass of regular milk may trigger unpleasant symptoms. This article looks at the similarities and…. Though dairy milk is widely consumed, some can't or choose not to drink it. Here are the 9 best nondairy milks. Some people can't tolerate dairy or choose not to eat it for other reasons. This article lists substitutes for 7 common dairy foods. It seems like there are more questions than answers when it comes to the foods we eat.

Is milk bad for you, or will it make you strong and healthy…. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Target group Foods to eat Foods to avoid Lactose status Bottom line The lactose-free diet is a common eating pattern that eliminates or restricts lactose, a type of sugar in milk. In fact, many baked goods, candies, cake mixes, and cold cuts contain lactose as well.

Share on Pinterest. Who should follow a lactose-free diet.