Biohacking Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is a digestive reaction caused by milk sugars that cannot be broken down, in contrast to allergies caused by antibodies in your immune system.
Symptoms may include diarrhea, bloating and cramping. You can alleviate them by pairing dairy foods with other food items to slow digestion and limit how much lactose enters your intestine at one time.
1. Adding Lactase Enzyme to Your Diet
Many lactose intolerant individuals find that dairy products like milk and cheese, among others, cause painful digestive symptoms like bloating, flatulence and diarrhoea upon consumption. These symptoms result from their body’s inability to break down lactose — an indigestible natural sugar found in these dairy foods — properly; biohackers have discovered that lactase can help break down lactose more effectively through supplementing with this natural digestive enzyme in their diets.
Normal digestion involves the small intestine secreting an enzyme called lactase that breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose for absorption by your body. But if you’re lactose intolerant, your small intestine doesn’t produce enough lactase and lactose will end up undigested in your large bowel, where bacteria ferment it into hydrogen and carbon dioxide gases causing gas pain, bloating, or other unpleasant digestive symptoms.
While lactose intolerance symptoms can be managed, many individuals remain reluctant to completely forgo dairy foods and beverages altogether, fearing they won’t get enough vitamins or calcium from these sources. But the truth is most people can still enjoy dairy in moderation without experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms; try eating or drinking whole-milk yogurt or cheese, which contains fats that help slow the milk’s journey through your intestines; or choose low-fat products such as skim milk as these will less likely trigger reactions than whole-milk products would.
Your doctor can verify whether or not you’re lactose intolerant by asking about your family history and conducting an abdominal exam for signs of intestinal disorders. They may also administer a hydrogen breath test in which they request you drink lactose-containing liquid and then measure how much hydrogen has entered your breath several times, with increased hydrogen levels signaling impaired digestion of lactose.
2. Adding a Lactase Supplement
Lactose-intolerant individuals often struggle with digesting milk sugar (lactose) due to a deficiency of lactase enzyme in their bodies. This causes gas, bloating and diarrhea upon eating dairy foods – adding lactase supplements can help alleviate such side effects.
Lactase is produced by cells lining your small intestine, with levels decreasing over time due to age or genetics. If lactase deficiency develops due to disease or intense diarrheal conditions, however, genetic testing could reveal deficiencies as well.
Traumatic events may trigger epigenetic changes that turn off lactase-producing genes, although researchers remain unsure why this happens in certain people and not others. Trauma to the digestive tract might increase your likelihood of this happening or perhaps it just takes lots of stress for change to take place.
As previously discussed, gradually introducing dairy into your diet is one way to gradually build tolerance, sipping smaller servings up to 4 ounces at a time and sipping smaller drinks such as skim milk may help with this process.
Before taking a new supplement, it’s essential that you consult with a healthcare professional first. They will be able to suggest the ideal brand and dosage. It is also wise to discover any other health problems or at-risk conditions you have as certain supplements may have negative interactions with medications you already take or any existing conditions you have.
As part of your health regimen, it’s also important to get enough calcium. This can typically be found in fortified milk or nondairy alternatives as well as dark green leafy vegetables, eggs and liver; but you should consult your healthcare provider about how best to achieve these goals in light of lactose intolerance; they may suggest other treatment options or suggest taking a calcium supplement; they’ll also be able to explain if your intolerance stems from an underlying condition or lifestyle choices.
3. Adding a Lactase Supplement to Your Diet
Lactase enzyme supplements offer an affordable way for those who can’t give up dairy entirely (perhaps to indulge in a quattro formaggi pizza with friends or a Portuguese tart on vacation) to digest dairy foods without suffering unpleasant symptoms. Lactase supplements can easily be found online or in stores as tablet or liquid forms – the latter being more convenient!
However, it should be remembered that the long-term health impacts of taking lactase supplements are still unknown and it would be prudent to consult a healthcare provider prior to beginning regular dosage of this form of lactase supplementation.
Sometimes the body’s inability to process lactose may be the result of an underlying condition. These could include disorders like gluten sensitive enteropathy and lymphoma infection as well as diseases that affect the small intestine such as Crohn’s disease and radiation exposure. Some of these conditions may be treatable; if this seems likely for your lactose intolerance symptoms, discuss treatment options with your healthcare provider as soon as possible.
Slowly adding dairy foods into your diet is one way to build tolerance. Select low-fat milk products, which tend to cause less gastrointestinal discomfort. Also try sipping small servings (up to 4 ounces at once). Also helpful is starting off with lower lactose foods like yogurt or kefir before gradually progressing up the lactose ladder.
If dairy is part of your diet, it is vitally important that you get enough calcium. Talk with a healthcare provider about meeting the recommended daily allowance of calcium and vitamin D.
4. Adding a Lactase Supplement to Your Diet
Lactose intolerance is a digestive condition in which your body has difficulty breaking down lactose sugar found in dairy products such as milk. It can lead to uncomfortable symptoms like gas and bloating. Although you can avoid dairy altogether to alleviate symptoms, many find that taking lactase supplements helps. Lactase acts like an enzyme breaking down lactose into simpler sugars that your body can more easily absorb.
People genetically lactose intolerant often do not possess enough lactase enzyme to effectively digest milk, known as primary lactase insufficiency. It generally begins during early childhood; however, it can also arise as a result of trauma to the small intestine due to intense diarrheal diseases, celiac disease, Crohn’s disease infections such as Giardia infection radiation exposure or certain medications including Olmesartan.
Good news is that gradually adding dairy products into your diet can increase your body’s ability to process lactose more effectively. Try sipping low-fat skim milk which contains less lactose; or consume smaller servings (one to two ounces at a time) of dairy as its fat can slow the digestive process and relieve gastrointestinal symptoms.
As part of your experimentation process, try out different types of dairy to see which ones cause your symptoms most severely. Many lactose intolerant individuals can tolerate hard cheeses like Swiss or cheddar as these contain relatively small amounts of lactose. Yogurt may not trigger symptoms since its composition depends on cultured milk products rather than fresh ones.
Even though many individuals struggle to digest lactose, dairy consumption remains essential for most adults as an excellent source of calcium, helping prevent osteoporosis and other bone conditions. If lactose intolerance runs in your family, speak to your physician about adding dairy into your diet – particularly if this would involve supplementing with lactase supplementation or lactase enzyme replacement therapy (LST).
Biohackers are investigating new methods to assist those suffering from genetic or acquired lactose intolerance. One such gene therapy technique, AAV, was recently employed in rats to treat this condition; scientists employed AAV to deliver an increase in lactase production to increase levels of lactase enzyme production in the small intestine; although not tested in humans yet, its potential reappears optimistic.