Lactose intolerance

Overheal

-is it an all or nothing thing? or say is it possible an intolerant person could happily digest 1 but not 2 servings, for example

-is it something that might only show up later in life?

-could symptoms be mistaken for lactose intolerance if you spend some time not eating dairy (1-2 weeks) then suddenly eat a moderate amount of dairy?

-is it like an allergy (potentially live threatening) or just benign symptoms?

I tried to read the wiki page about this but its a little confusing and dabbles too much in social studies.

tallaght01

Hi Overheal,

If this is a general discussion on lactose intolerance, then that's cool.

But if it's really a "are my symptoms lactose intolerance?" thread, then we'll haveno option but to close the thread.

I don't like doing that, but the alternative just isnt safe.

But, as things stand, the thread is ok for now. But, you know how it works, we just have to be careful.

Just keep it to general questions, and all wil be well with the world :P

Cheers,

T01

Overheal

well pop trivia to my knowledge tells me that the ability to digest dairy products at all after infancy has been a lately-developed evolutionary trait, and according to wikipedia your ability to produce lactase drops by about 90% after you reach the age of 4. wiki then goes on to say it keeps going down over time, but the rate at which this occurs varies. "The majority of the world's human population follows this trend, with the lactase producing genes largely inactivated in adulthood"

So technically speaking will not most people we see in everyday life eventually become lactose intolerant over the natural course of their lives? I mean is it like baldness, where it can pretty much happen at any age to anyone (though its kinda dependent on genes)?

just wondering. I mean when you hear someone say theyre lactose intolerant you almost feel sorry for them for never having got to really enjoy the wonderful world of cheese and ice cream (and cheese flavord ice cream) but now that i think about it they really could have enjoyed cheese flavored ice cream and then i wouldnt have to feel sorry for the little bastards anymore

dontcallmecrazy

im lactose intolerant... i mean i couldnt drink a glas of milk or eat half a tub of ice cream but i can eat a goats cheese salad or just a plain cheddar toastie, so alot depends on quantity and concentration, i love cheese to much to give it up any way no matter what they say, and have to have milk in my tea!

but if was to drink a glass of milk i woudl be quite sick, so its weird when you say to people 'oh no thanks im lactose intolerant' and then they see you with a tuna melt or something, its strange.

also depends on time of day, i cant touch anything with dairy in it before 11.00 even a splash of milk in my tea would cripple me for the rest of the day.