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Why Lactose-Free Milk Should Always Be Avoided

By: Russell Eaton Lactose is present in all animal milks. Goat's milk, for example, usually has 5 to 10% more lactose than cow's milk. It used to be thought that only a minority of people suffered from lactose intolerance, but the latest research dispels this myth. The reality is that virtually all people are lactose intolerant - it's just a matter of degree.

With lactose intolerance the body is unable to digest lactose properly, causing varying degrees of nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhea, which begin about 30 minutes to 2 hours after milk consumption.

The symptoms vary depending on the amount of lactose consumed and the tolerance of the consumer. Lactose intolerance usually gets worse as you get older (you don't outgrow it), with men and women suffering equally.

Lactose is the main sugar in milk. When it is consumed it gets broken down by lactase bacteria into glucose and galactose. But if, like most people, you don't have enough lactase you will not be able to break the lactose down and this then causes the symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Human babies have enough lactase to digest the lactose in human milk. But in the first few months or years of life the baby gradually loses the capacity to breakdown and digest lactose.

In the USA, for example, over 50 million people are regarded by the medical profession as being clinically lactose-intolerant. Certain ethnic and racial populations are more widely affected than others. As many as 75 percent of African-Americans and American-Indians (and 90 percent of Asian-Americans) are lactose-intolerant. The condition is least common among persons of northern European descent.

Even those who do not think they are prone to lactose intolerant will suffer from the condition whenever dairy or goat milk is consumed. But the effects for such people may be mild and hardly noticeable. Typically, slight feelings of indigestion or bloating will be associated with a rushed meal or poor food, rather than with lactose intolerance.

There are dozens of studies showing how lactose in dairy milk causes human illness (too many to quote here). A quick search on Internet will reveal lots of studies into the subject.

Typical government advice for people wanting to avoid lactose in milk is to say they should eat other calcium-rich foods such as fortified juices, fish and broccoli. But this doesn't help much because what most people need is information on alternative kinds of milk.

You may, of course, consume 'lactose reduced' or 'lactose free' milk. For example in North America you can buy 'Lactaid' which is a brand of lactose-free milk. The drawback is that lactose-free milks are in general not so widely available, and are usually more expensive.

The biggest drawback for lactose-free milk is that it is ultra-pasteurized (also known as 'UHT' or 'Long Life' milk). Virtually all the research is showing that UHT milk is a lot worse for health than regular pasteurized milk. For example, the evidence is showing that UHT milk may be the biggest dietary cause of serious brain diseases such as Huntingdon's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

How then can you best avoid lactose in milk? Quite simply, switch to milk made from a variety of nuts, seeds, or soybeans. These non-dairy milks are super-nutritious and they offer a wonderful variety of delicious creamy flavours.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

For easy ways to make milk see Make Your Own Milk - The word's best milk-making recipes. See also Organic Milk Myth - Why organic and UHT milk are much worse for health than regular milk.

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