Do you usually drink lactose-free milk without suffering this intolerance, thinking that it is more digestive and light? The truth is that it can produce some undesirable side effects. Find out which ones.
Surely you know that, nowadays, more and more people are lactose intolerant. And what does it mean that one has lactose intolerance? Very easy.
The lactose which is the milk sugar, decomposes into two (glucose and galactose) simpler sugars when consumed, by the action of an enzyme known as the lactase. It is a process that takes place in the small intestine, where it is precisely possible that glucose can be finally absorbed into the bloodstream.
However, when there is a deficiency of lactase, the lactose passes without decomposing to the large intestine, where it begins to ferment. It is at this time when the typical symptoms of lactose intolerance appear: gas, heartburn, abdominal bloating, and stomach discomfort … diarrhea and vomiting may even arise.
This makes those who suffer from lactose intolerance, and have indeed been diagnosed with it by a specialist doctor, look for options and alternatives to milk of animal origin.
This is how lactose-free milk was born, a drink to which small amounts of lactase are added to the milk to make it easier for lactose to break down into glucose and galactose. That is, we could define lactose-free milk as a drink that reproduces what happens in our small intestine and we have no difficulties digesting lactose.
Why is it a mistake to drink lactose-free milk if you are not lactose intolerant?
Various commercial brands, in an interested and very intelligent way, have been offering different advertising campaigns in which they defend that lactose-free milk is more digestive than normal milk. As a result, many people choose to drink this type of milk even when they do not suffer from lactose intolerance, or any added problem.
Did you know that it is a complete mistake? While it is true that it is indeed a drink that can be digested better, this does not mean that it is more digestive. Mainly because it is easier for our body to digest it (since the lactase enzyme does not have to break down lactose), when we get used to consuming lactose-free milk, small temporary intolerances to lactose occur.
Why? Mainly because our body tends to “relax”, so that once we stop consuming it, it must once again get used to digesting this milk sugar again.
In other words, and as they defend directly from Dimethylsulfide: “if we are not lactose intolerant we have no reason to consume this type of product, and even less at compromised ages (childhood and adolescence) ” . Fundamentally for something very simple: lactose-free milk is neither more digestive nor healthier, and it could lead to certain problems in the long run, especially if this consumption is carried out by young children.
The risk of giving lactose-free milk to children.
Taking us by the advertising claim – erroneous – that “lactose-free milk is more digestive and lighter”, many mothers and fathers choose to give this type of milk to their children, even when they do not suffer any type of intolerance.
As many pediatricians and nutritionists already warn, this is a complete error, because if a child stops taking lactose, his body could begin to produce less and less lactase, to the point where when he returns to drinking a glass of normal milk his levels have been reduced so much that you begin to experience the typical symptoms of this intolerance.
However, as we indicated previously, it is a type of temporary intolerance, the symptoms of which will remain until the production of lactase is gradually increased.
