Feb

Lactose Intolerance and Milk Allergy

There has been a lot of media interest in the existence of food intolerances recently.

I have noticed that most of the information relating to lactose intolerance and milk allergies comes from studies that have been sponsored by The Dairy Council. I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the implications this has on the validity of the studies.

Here is some information about lactose intolerance and milk allergy

Lactose intolerance
Lactose is a sugar found naturally in milk. It’s important to distinguish between lactose intolerance and milk allergy, because milk allergy can cause severe reactions.

Lactose intolerance is caused by a shortage of the enzyme lactase, which is needed to break down lactose so it can be absorbed into the bloodstream.

When someone doesn’t have enough of this enzyme, lactose isn’t absorbed properly from the gut, which can cause symptoms such as bloating and diarrhoea.

Milk Allergy

Allergy to cows’ milk is the most common food allergy in childhood, and affects 2-7% of babies under one year old. It’s more common in babies with atopic dermatitis.

A reaction can be triggered by small amounts of milk, either passed to the baby through the mother’s breast milk from dairy products she has eaten, or from feeding cows’ milk to the baby.

Children usually grow out of milk allergy by the age of three, but about a fifth of children who have an allergy to cows’ milk will still be allergic to it as adults. The symptoms of milk allergy are often mild and can affect any part of the body.

They can include rashes, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps and difficulty in breathing. In a very few cases, milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis.

Cows’ milk allergy is caused by a reaction to a number of allergens in cows’ milk, such as casein and whey. Casein is the curd that forms when milk sours, and whey is the watery part that is left when the curd is removed.

People can be allergic to either whey or casein, or both, and an allergic reaction can be triggered by very small amounts of these allergens in people who are sensitive.

Heat treatment, such as pasteurisation, changes whey, so people who are sensitive to whey might not react to pasteurised milk.

But heat treatment doesn’t affect casein, so someone who is allergic to casein will probably react to all types of milk and milk products.

Milk from other mammals (such as goats and sheep), and hydrolysed milk and soya formulas, are sometimes used as a substitute for babies who are at risk of developing cows’ milk allergy.

However, the allergens in milk from goats and sheep are very similar to those in cows’ milk.

This means that someone with a cows’ milk allergy might react to these other types of milk as well, so goats and sheep milk aren’t suitable alternatives for people who are sensitive to cows’ milk.

Some highly hydrolysed milk formulas are suitable for babies with cows’ milk allergy, but other types of formula, such as partially hydrolysed milk and soya formulas, aren’t suitable, because many babies with cows’ milk allergy might react to them as well.

For more information about dairy substitutes and ways to get your calcium subscribe to my RSS feed.