Milk Intolerance and Milk Intolerance Symptoms

Do You Have A Milk Intolerance?

  • Within many cultures of the world, especially the Western world, humans continue to consume milk beyond infancy, using the milk of other animals (in particular, cattle) as a food product.
  • For many hundreds of years cow’s milk has been processed into dairy products such as cream, butter, yogurt, kefir and cheese. Industrial processing has brought us casein, whey protein, condensed milk, powdered milk, and many other milk based food ingredients.
  • Humans are an exception in the natural world for consuming milk past infancy, despite the fact that a high percentage of adult humans are lactose intolerant.
  • The prevalence of lactose intolerance is above 50% in South America, Africa, and Asia, reaching almost 100% in some Asian countries. In the United States, the prevalence is 15% among whites, 53% among Mexican-Americans and 80% in the Black population.

Lactose Intolerance

  • In Europe it varies from around 2% in Scandinavia to about 70% in Sicily.
  • The sugar lactose is found only in milk, forsythia flowers, and a few tropical shrubs.
  • The enzyme needed to digest lactose, lactase, reaches its highest levels in the small intestines after birth and then begins a slow decline.
  • On the other hand, those groups that do continue to tolerate milk have been able to benefit from using the milk of domesticated ungulates, not only of cattle, but also sheep, goats, yaks, water buffalo and camels.
  • While lactose intolerance is caused by a reaction to the sugar in milk, it is NOT the same as milk allergy or milk intolerance.
  • Milk intolerances can cause symptoms that are not related to the lactase enzyme deficiency, however, they are very real.
  • Food intolerance tests such as the YorkTest FoodScan 113 assess the level of anti-milk antibodies in the blood.  They do not measure the levels of lactase, and therefore do not diagnose lactose intolerance.
  • If food intolerance test results indicate that you may have a milk intolerance, it does not mean that you have lactose intolerance, although you may wish to consult your doctor for further tests.

More and more alternatives to cow’s milk are becoming readily available. Examples are oat, rice, coconut, soya and almond milks. Of course it is important to test whether an individual has intolerance to any of these alternatives before embarking on any dietary changes.

Do you think you may suffer from food intolerance?

Taking a First Step Food Intolerance Test enables you to eliminate uncertainty and confirm whether you have food intolerance through a ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ test result. This way you can check if you have a food intolerance before taking the Second Step FoodScan 113 which is the comprehensive service that identifies the specific foods you are intolerant to.

Need further information?

Please call our food intolerance specialists on 01 2022701 who will be happy to provide you with free, confidential expert advice and guidance on the First Step food intolerance test. Alternatively click here for further information.
 

 
 
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