Lactose intolerance. This term is familiar to some mothers of newborn babies, as well as those whose body cannot normally perceive dairy food.
What is this disease? What are its causes and symptoms? How to overcome the disease? And is it possible to somehow prevent its occurrence?
All this (and much more) you will find in our article!
What is lactose
Lactose is a carbohydrate found in milk and dairy products, sometimes called milk sugar. For the human body, it is very important and useful.
For example, lactose stimulates the formation of beneficial bifidobacteria, activates the production of vitamins C and B, promotes the absorption of calcium and serves as a source of energy.
Also, this organic substance can be used as a food additive to improve the taste and quality of products such as toffee, marmalade, chocolate and even sausage.
Very often, lactose is consumed for medicinal purposes, for example, during the production of penicillin, as well as formanufacture of infant formula. A very valuable drug is obtained from lactose - lactulose, which is used to treat serious intestinal diseases, effective for constipation, dysbacteriosis and other ailments of the gastrointestinal tract.
However, despite the medical use of lactose, some people reject it, causing digestive problems and a lot of inconvenience and discomfort.
Why is this happening?
Specific disease
The fact is that an enzyme such as lactase is responsible for the absorption of lactose. It takes part in the hydrolysis of the disaccharide of this carbohydrate, so enzyme deficiency constantly affects the digestion of milk and dairy products.
Lactose, previously insufficiently split in the body, reaching the large intestine, begins to cause unpleasant pain. It is noteworthy that some people suffering from this type of disease are not able to process dairy products at all, so they do not even touch them. Other patients can digest lactose products little by little, so they periodically consume milk and any of its varieties in small doses.
Lactose intolerance is more common in adults than in children. It is noteworthy that it affects mainly Americans, Asians and Africans. Europeans in general suffer from this disease very, very rarely.
What causes lactose intolerance?
Reasonsdiseases
The fact that a person cannot tolerate this type of carbohydrate is often influenced by reasons beyond his control.
For example, with age, the human body begins to produce less and less enzymes to process lactose.
In addition, sometimes this disease is affected by hormonal or genetic failure. Sometimes babies are already born with lactose intolerance.
In addition, gastrointestinal diseases such as gastroenteritis, dysbacteriosis, ulcerative colitis, chemotherapy, intestinal trauma, and others can affect the efficiency of milk sugar breakdown.
How can you tell if you or your child is lactose intolerant?
Anxiety symptoms in children
It should be remembered that lactose intolerance manifests differently in each individual. However, there are a number of main manifestations of this disease. The total is bloating and gas.
How to identify lactose intolerance in infants? Symptoms can be very obvious and intense.
First of all, observe how your baby feels when breastfeeding. Does he reach for his breast on his own or refuses to eat, realizing that it will hurt?
Does he sleep sweetly after a feed, or does he spit up milk and cry loudly?
In general, strong, sudden and repeated crying of a newborn often indicates that he is worried about colic and pain in the tummy. This may be due to intolerancelactose.
You should also pay attention to the baby's feces. Does it have a strong sour smell? Is the stool frequent and frothy, with a lot of mucus?
When examining a sick baby, bloating is also detected.
Adult symptoms
How does lactose intolerance manifest itself in adults?
The symptoms of this disease are as follows:
- sharp periodic pain in the abdomen (following the use of dairy products);
- diarrhea (frequent and watery);
-flatulence (bloating and loud gas);
- nausea.
Consequences
Against the background of the symptoms of lactose intolerance described above, other disturbing manifestations may appear. First of all, these are:
- restless sleep;
- weight loss;
- headaches;
- constant fatigue;
- irritability and bad mood.
If an advanced form of milk sugar intolerance is found in a newborn, then it is accompanied by growth and developmental delay.
What to do if you or your baby have the above symptoms?
Disease diagnosis
Of course, you need to see a doctor who will prescribe the necessary examination and conduct an analysis for lactose intolerance in order to make sure the diagnosis is correct.
First of all, the doctor may advise you to take an acid analysis of the baby's feces. If the indicator is below 5, 5, then,most likely a milk sugar intolerance.
Also, your doctor will definitely recommend to refrain from breastfeeding and the use of formulas containing lactose. If the child's condition improves, it means that he has lactose intolerance.
By the way, the rejection of dairy products will be relevant for a sick adult. This will help him determine if the lactase enzyme is really low in the body.
Also, the doctor can attribute a test for hydrogen content when exhaled. If the hydrogen ratio is above 20, then you should sound the alarm.
And here is another way to diagnose the disease - a blood test for sugar. Sometimes you will have to draw blood several times to detect fluctuations in lactose.
So, the diagnosis is made. Let's start treatment!
Treatment of disease in infants
Treatment of lactose intolerance in children and adults can be very different.
If the disease occurs in a newborn, then, first of all, it is necessary to monitor the nutrition of a nursing mother. She should use, with the permission of the pediatrician, preparations with lactase - an enzyme for the proper digestion of lactose, which, getting into the child's body with milk, will help him break down milk sugar.
To improve the structure of the intestinal microflora, you may need to use drugs such as Linex, Bifidumbacterin and others. Folk remedies can also help here, which should be used with extreme caution andcarefully.
For example, with bloating and colic, a light decoction of chamomile and weak fennel tea can help, which are recommended to be given to the baby three times a day, one teaspoon or 50-70 ml, respectively.
Moreover, herbal decoctions of coriander, fennel, anise and chamomile will help improve the child's digestion. Such a weak tea can be given three or four times a day for ten drops or less.
Medications such as Smecta, Espumizan, Bobotik and others can also be used to eliminate symptoms.
It may often be necessary to completely stop breastfeeding and transfer the baby to artificial lactose-free feeding. Such an important step should only be taken after consultation with your doctor.
However, we discussed the totality of treatments for lactose intolerance in children. How to be an adult?
Treatment of disease in adults
Often, the treatment itself in adults is manifested only in the complete and categorical rejection of milk and dairy products. And yet remember that lactose is found not only there. Products containing this carbohydrate are sausages and sausages, spices and instant food sets, muffins and chocolate, chewing gum and vodka, as well as almost all fast food products.
If the list above horrifies you, don't be discouraged - there are plenty of products without milk sugar! The lactose intolerance diet includes he althy ingredients such as:
- vegetables, fruits,berries;
- coffee, tea, juices;
- honey;
- rice, all grains, pasta and legumes;
- soy, nuts and eggs;
- homemade alcoholic drinks (beer and homemade wine).
However, do not rush to completely switch to a dairy-free diet - listen to your body. Perhaps, in accordance with your well-being, you can from time to time, in small doses, consume dairy products. Also, consider switching to lactose-free milk and cheeses available in some supermarkets.
Things to remember when dieting
It must be remembered that the complete rejection of dairy products is a huge deficiency of calcium, which is necessary for bones and the whole body. Therefore, try hard to eat foods rich in this trace element.
It could be:
- soy and nuts;
- greens and sesame;
- sardines in oil and dried fruit;
- shrimp and olives;
- oatmeal.
It may often be appropriate to take supplements rich in calcium as well as other minerals such as magnesium, sodium and phosphorus.
What about babies? How to enrich their body with beneficial trace elements with a lactose-free diet?
First of all, you can introduce complementary foods with mashed broccoli and liquid oatmeal. It is also necessary to give the baby a drug with vitamin D. Here it should be remembered that the main source of this vitamin is, of course, the sun. So walk with your babyoften and don't be afraid of the gentle morning sun.
As you can see, lactose intolerance is a rather complex and unpleasant disease. But this does not mean that you will be deprived of the pleasure of eating delicious tasty food all your life. On the contrary, with a correct diet and a wise approach, you can enjoy proper nutrition even more and feel like a complete, completely he althy person!
