Lactose Intolerant?
Are you or your children lactose intolerant? Then stay away from dairy products, right? Wrong! The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the following: Children who are lactose intolerant should consume some dairy every day.
That is obviously wrong on so many levels. Nevertheless, doctors consider dairy foods a key source of calcium and vitamin D – essential for bone mineralization and growth.
The probiotic L. acidophilus (available in kefir, yogurt, and supplements) produces lactase, the enzyme that breaks down milk sugar into simple sugars and is lacking in anyone with lactose intolerance.
“Yogurts and cheeses may be better tolerated than regular milk and, along with lactose-free milk, can provide alternative sources of calcium,” says AAP. Has this statement been sponsored by the dairy industry?
We may never know, but they seem to like AAP’s recommendation for children who are lactose intolerant to consume dairy products, it is posted on their website. [source: Taste for Life]
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12-10-06 at 9:05 am
Actually, as crazy as it sounds, they have a point. First of all, lactose intolerance isn’t binary, on or off. It’s a spectrum. I can handle about a pint of milk at a time. After that, I get symptoms. Now, I’ve found that I can change this amount. If I start drinking less milk, I’ll become less tolerant. If I start pushing my body to drink more, eventually I’ll be able to do it without symptoms. So, you can condition your body to produce more or less lactase. This is, of course, not for people who genetically just cannot produce lactase. These people should get away from milk.
This comment from the AAP comes from a knowledge of how allergies work. In general, in order to prevent getting an allergy to X, make sure your kid gets exposed to X as much as possible. In order to create an allergy to X, expose your kid to it once, and then never again. At least that’s what I’ve heard.
12-10-06 at 3:41 pm
Ryan,
Good point! But the question is – why? Where did the idea that dairy is the main source of calcium and vitamin D come from? How did people survive without milk for millions of years?
Answer: Sunlight, vegetables, fish, and meat. During winter, cod liver oil is a much better source of vitamin D than fortified milk, not to mention an added bonus of omega 3s.
12-10-06 at 4:29 pm
Ah, now I see what this is getting at. No, milk is absolutely not necessary. I interpreted this as preserving the ability to drink milk if you have a taste for it, or just cultivating a tolerance to it in case you accidentally ingest something with milk in it.