Lactose Intolerance: What Is Happening to My Body?

lactose intolerance

If you suffer from lactose intolerance and have consumed milk or some other dairy product, you may feel some symptoms within a few hours. What happens with lactose intolerant people is that cannot properly digest the sugar in milk, i.e. lactose. Usually this intolerance occurs due to a shortage of lactase in the small intestine.

Therefore, by not being able to digest milk sugar well, this condition can cause problems or discomfort when consuming a dairy product. As a consequence, gas, bloating, diarrhea or other symptoms may appear. However, depending on the level of intolerance, it is sometimes possible to live with this condition without having to give up all dairy products.

Symptoms and causes of lactose intolerance

lactose problems

The causes of the appearance of this type of intolerance can be several, but not producing enough lactase will make milk sugar less digestible. What happens is that, in general, when you have a lactase deficiency, the lactose from food is not absorbed by the intestinal mucosa to reach the bloodstream, but rather it travels to the colon, where it is finally processed and absorbed. 

Lactose, upon reaching the colon and not being absorbed in the intestine, interacts with common bacteria and generates some of the symptoms of lactose intolerance such as diarrhea, nausea, bloating, stomach cramps, vomiting and/or gas. Signs of lactose intolerance usually appear 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods with lactose. 

In case of having appreciated some of these symptoms after consuming dairy products, it is necessary to confirm or rule out that it really is said intolerance. Through a simple study, carried out using a breath hydrogen test, it is possible to assess whether lactose is not being fully digested or absorbed and, therefore, detect whether or not there is intolerance and be able to apply the appropriate treatment. In case of severe or persistent symptoms, it is essential to avoid the consumption of dairy products or follow a low-lactose diet. In unilabs You can book your breath hydrogen test and find out if the cause of your symptoms is due to lactose intolerance or not. Schedule an appointment at any Unilabs center and let yourself be advised by its advanced techniques and the experience of its professionals.


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