Lactose Intolerance

The water of human kindness" might not sound as poetic as "the milk of human kindness." But to anyone with lactose intolerance, there's no kindness at all in milk.

Lactose intolerance is the condition that leaves some people unable to consume dairy products without serious repercussions. The list of symptoms is long and includes such discomforts as bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and abdominal distress. If you get these symptoms after eating dairy products or drinking milk, you may have already pegged your problem as lactose intolerance. And perhaps you've already cut way back on dairy products, and now you feel better.

Well, you may really be lactose-intolerant. Then again, you may have another digestive problem that mimics lactose intolerance, such as irritable bowel syndrome. Or you may be one of many people who simply have nervous stomachs.

Between ages 5 and 14, many of us lose as much as 95 percent of our ability to produce an enzyme called lactase. Without lactase, we can't very well digest lactose in milk and milk products. The result is lactose intolerance, says Michael Levitt, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis.

The rate of lactose intolerance varies widely among racial and ethnic groups. People of Mrican-American, Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, or Native American heritage have a four-in-five chance of being lactose-intolerant. But if your ancestors came from Central or Northern Europe, your risk of having lactose intolerance is more like one in five.

To find out for certain whether you're lactose-intolerant, talk to your doctor about getting a breath hydrogen analysis. Prior to the test, you must fast for 8 to 12 hours, then eat a food containing about 1 ounce of lactose. If your stomach doesn't digest the lactose, it passes into your large intestine. There, the sugar ferments, releasing unusually large amounts of hydrogen. You'll begin exhaling this hydrogen starting about an hour after you eat the food and continuing for several more hours.

Even if you are indeed lactose-intolerant, you may not have to give up milk and other dairy products altogether. With a combination of dietary changes, lactose supplements, and perhaps a few other blended-medicine options, you can enjoy dairy while still being kind to your digestive tract.

Best Choices

Nutrition

Spread out your indulgences. If you're lactose-intolerant, you're smart to monitor the amount of milk and milk products that you consume. But more important than cutting back on dairy is making sure that you don't eat a lot of dairy all at once, Dr. Levitt says. In other words, don't invite trouble by having cheese and milk in the same meal. Such a meal can really punish your digestive tract.

Pair dairy and nondairy. Unless you're severely lactose-intolerant, you can probably consume a modest amount of dairy-about 2 cups of milk or its equivalent-every day without problems. Pair a dairy food with nondairy foods, and eat the nondairy foods first. This helps prevent digestive symptoms.

Find foods that don't offend. You may find that certain dairy products don't cause much trouble at all, such as yogurt with live­culture bacteria. That's because the live cultures in the yogurt predigest the lactose, so it doesn't cause problems.

Not all yogurt contains live cultures, however. Make sure that the one you choose says "live active cultures" on the label.

Other dairy products that may go down easy are buttermilk-which is cultured like yogurt-and certain cheeses. Also, look for milk and other dairy products with added lactase.

Keep up your calcium intake. If you're cutting back on your dairy consumption, you may be shortchanging yourself on calcium, a mineral that's absolutely essential for strong bones. So add other calcium-rich foods to your diet. Good sources of the mineral include sardines, mackerel, salmon, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach and other leafy greens, tofu, and bean sprouts.

Supplements

Latch on to Lactaid. An over-the­counter lactose supplement, Lactaid is a safe and inexpensive way to make milk tolerable. Just add the recommended number of drops to your milk, then refrigerate for 24 hours.

Other Good Choices

Homeopathy

Look at the big picture. According to homeopath Dana Ullman, the symptoms of lactose intolerance often are just part of a larger symptom picture. To treat such a broad spectrum of symptoms, many homeopaths prescribe constitutional medicines, which heal the whole body. To find out which constitutional medicine would work best for you, consult a homeopath.

Chinese Medicine

Get an expert's opinion. Practitioners of Chinese medicine view lactose intolerance as a weakness within the Spleen and Stomach organ networks, accompanied by stagnation of qi. Because the symptoms of lactose intolerance vary, a practitioner must assess your unique situation before deciding on an appropriate course of treatment.

Use your fingers for relief. Acupressure can help relieve the symptoms of lactose intolerance, according to Michael Reed Gach, founder and director of the Acupressure Institute. Apply steady, penetrating finger pressure at each of the following points for 3 minutes.

• Conception Vessel 12, located halfway between the end of your breastbone and your navel on the midline of your abdomen (do not stimulate this point if you've just eaten or if you're a woman who's pregnant)
• Conception Vessel 6, located three finger-widths below your navel
• Stomach 36, located four finger-widths below your kneecap and one finger­width toward the outside of your shin­bone
• Pericardium 6, located in the middle of your inner wrist, 2 1/2 finger-widths above the wrist crease.
• Spleen 4, located on the arch of your foot, one thumb-width behind the ball of your foot