Lactose Intolerance

If you have issues eating dairy, talk to your doctor to see whether you’re allergic to the protein in milk or intolerant to the sugar in milk (lactose). Allergies can be more serious, and you may need to avoid dairy entirely.

But if it’s lactose intolerance, there’s hope for you yet.

What is it?

Lactose intolerance is when your body doesn’t produce enough of the enzyme lactase (with an “a”) to digest the sugar lactose (with an “o”). This could be due to genetics, ethnicity or age, or can be triggered by certain surgeries, infections or medical conditions.

Try these tricks.

There are lots of ways you may be able to enjoy dairy even if you have lactose intolerance. But everybody is different – find the trick that’s right for you.

• Try it. Opt for lactose-free dairy milk. It’s real milk, just without the lactose.
• Stir it. Mix milk with other foods, like soups and cereal. Solid foods help slow digestion and give your body more time to digest the lactose.
• Slice it. Choose natural cheeses like cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella and queso fresco, which are low in lactose.
• Shred it. Try sprinkling those natural cheeses over other foods, too.
• Spoon it. Choose yogurt that says “probiotics” or “live and active cultures” on the label. That’s the gut-healthy bacteria that helps your body digest lactose.
• Sip it. Start with a small amount of regular milk daily and increase it slowly over several days or weeks to find out how much milk you can digest.
• Scoop it. Love a boost from protein powder? Opt for whey protein isolate instead of whey protein concentrate. Isolate removes non-protein nutrients, so you will get little to no lactose.
• Supplement it. Talk to your doctor about trying an over-the-counter lactase supplement, taken before you eat dairy. There’s limited research on the effectiveness, but it could work for you.

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