Lactose Intolerance: Why Do So Many People Not Want to Drink Milk?

Lactose Intolerance: Why Do So Many People Not Want to Drink Milk?

Humans can be intolerant of milk and milk products for several reasons. Sugar intolerance results from the inability either to digest or to metabolize certain sugars. This problem differs from a food allergy, which involves an immune response. A negative reaction to sugars in the diet usually involves intolerance, whereas proteins, including those found in milk, tend to cause allergies. Most sugar intolerance is due to missing or defective enzymes, so this is another example of inborn errors of metabolism.

Lactose is sometimes referred to as milk sugar because it occurs in milk. In some adults, a deficiency of the enzyme lactase in the intestinal villi causes a buildup of the disaccharide when milk products are ingested. This is because lactase is neces-sary to degrade lactose to galactose and glucose so that it can be absorbed into the bloodstream from the villi. 

Without the enzyme, an accumulation of lactose in the intestine can be acted on by the lactase of intestinal bacteria (as opposed to the desir-able lactase of the villi), producing hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide, and organic acids. The products of the bacterial lactase reaction lead to digestive problems, such as bloating and diarrhea, as does the presence of undegraded lactose. In addition, the by-products of the extra bacterial growth draw water into the intes-tine, thus aggravating the diarrhea. This disorder affects only about one-tenth of the Caucasian population of the United States, but it is more common among African-Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and Hispanics.

Even if the enzyme lactase is present so that lactose can be broken down by the body, other problems can occur. A differ-ent but related problem can occur in the further metabolism of galactose. If the enzyme that catalyzes a subsequent reaction in the pathway is missing and galactose builds up, a condition known as galactosemia can result. This is a severe problem in infants because the nonmetabolized galactose accumulates within cells and is converted to the hydroxy sugar galactitol, which can-not escape. Water is drawn into these cells and the swelling and edema causes damage. The critical tissue is the brain, which is not fully developed at birth. The swelling cells can crush the brain tissue, resulting in severe and irreversible retardation. The clinical test for this disorder is inexpensive and is required by law in all states.

The dietary therapy for these two problems is quite different. Lactose-intolerant individuals must avoid lactose throughout their lives. Fortunately, tablets like Lactaid are available to add to regular milk, as are lactose- and galactose-free formulas for feeding infants. True fermented food products such as yogurt and many cheeses (especially aged ones) have had their lactose degraded during fermentation. However, many foods are not processed in this way, so lactose-intolerant individuals need to exercise caution in their food choices.

There is no way to treat milk to make it safe for people who have galactosemia, so affected individuals must avoid milk during childhood. Fortunately, a galactose-free diet is easy to achieve simply by avoiding milk. After puberty, the development of other metabolic pathways for galactose alleviates the problem in most afflicted individuals. For people who want to avoid milk, there are plenty of milk substitutes, such as soy milk or rice milk. You can even get your latte or mocha made with soy milk at Starbucks nowadays.