Lactose intolerance is easily and cheaply solved with lactase pills. Lactase is lactase, the pill form is chemically indistinguishable from the stuff your gut produces. I am lactose intolerant myself and average 2 cups of milk/day.
edit: I should mention that a small percentage of people show “true” lactose intolerance in that they get bad symptoms from ANY undigested lactose in their system, for these people lactase pills are not 100% effective. The majority of lactose intolerant people do have some tolerance.
Is there research on whether whole milk has the same good effects on lactose intolerant people that it does on lactose tolerant people? I’ve gotten cynical about theories based on the idea that the biology sounds plausible.
Also, when you say whole milk, are you including whole milk cheese, yogurt, etc.?
In this particular case, the chemistry is simple enough that I would find it shocking to discover that drinking either lactaid, or regular milk with lactase pills would have any bad effects that overwhelm the benefits.
I’m not 100% sure about the micronutrient makeup of other diary products.
My concern is more that people who are lactose intolerant might have some additional features which mean that milk isn’t quite as good for them (or even slightly bad for them) which aren’t affected by taking lactase.
That would be very weird/unlikely IMO. It’s not like lactose is actually a variety of compounds the way, say, gluten allergies are actually an umbrella for quite a few things going on. In terms of n=1, I get regular blood panels and my system seems to be kicking ass on a milk heavy diet.
Even for people with lactose intolerance?
Lactose intolerance is easily and cheaply solved with lactase pills. Lactase is lactase, the pill form is chemically indistinguishable from the stuff your gut produces. I am lactose intolerant myself and average 2 cups of milk/day.
edit: I should mention that a small percentage of people show “true” lactose intolerance in that they get bad symptoms from ANY undigested lactose in their system, for these people lactase pills are not 100% effective. The majority of lactose intolerant people do have some tolerance.
Is there research on whether whole milk has the same good effects on lactose intolerant people that it does on lactose tolerant people? I’ve gotten cynical about theories based on the idea that the biology sounds plausible.
Also, when you say whole milk, are you including whole milk cheese, yogurt, etc.?
There’s nothing magical about milk that you can’t get elsewhere if you have concerns. http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/lactosestatement.htm#q4
In this particular case, the chemistry is simple enough that I would find it shocking to discover that drinking either lactaid, or regular milk with lactase pills would have any bad effects that overwhelm the benefits.
I’m not 100% sure about the micronutrient makeup of other diary products.
My concern is more that people who are lactose intolerant might have some additional features which mean that milk isn’t quite as good for them (or even slightly bad for them) which aren’t affected by taking lactase.
That would be very weird/unlikely IMO. It’s not like lactose is actually a variety of compounds the way, say, gluten allergies are actually an umbrella for quite a few things going on. In terms of n=1, I get regular blood panels and my system seems to be kicking ass on a milk heavy diet.