I drink milk, and after few minutes, my stomach is so sick. Diarrhea symptoms are increased, loose stools full of sour or foam. All kind of milk, such as, 2% reduced fat, fat free, vitamin D, or whole milk hurt me.....Can you help me?

The symptoms show that you may be having lactose intolerance. That means you have no or very little lactase to metabolize lactose.  Undigested lactose stays in your stomach and intestine to give problems and this also results diarrhea.

60% of the world population has lactose intolerance or milk protein allergy. If you avoid milk completely the symptoms disappear very quickly. After that, try with very small quantities of milk or dairy products to find out the amount that may be acceptable for your body. If there is no lactase present in your body look for soy milk.

You must be careful in taking processed food as most of these contain milk powder or dairy products. In extreme cases all the food must be avoided with milk or dairy products. This is applicable to ice cream too.

If you have further problems after avoiding milk and dairy products go to your doctor for a complete check up.

Lactose intolerance / Lactase deficiency

Lactose, the milk sugar is a molecule with glucose and galactose. This must be split into glucose and galactose, otherwise the absorption of lactose is not possible in the small intestine.

Lactase, the enzyme in charge to do this is present in the lining of the small intestine. If lactase is present in small amount or it is absent the splitting of lactose is prevented partially or completely.

Lactose intolerance is therefore an inability to digest and absorb lactose, the milk sugar by people who have no lactase. If milk or milk products are consumed gastrointestinal symptoms is the result.

The unabsorbed lactose passes through the small intestine into the colon. The bacteria present there split the lactose into glucose and galactose. In this process of utilization of glucose and lactose by the bacteria hydrogen and methane gas. A part is absorbed into the body and the rest is expelled from the body. There is still no 100% splitting and the rest could absorb water from the body which could cause diarrhea.

The symptoms of lactose intolerance include:

• Abdominal pain
• Abdominal bloating
• Abdominal swelling
• Diarrhea
• Flatulence
• Nausea

These symptoms are also common in other gastrointestinal diseases and so even most of the doctors miss this. I have helped several patients. If the intake of milk and milk products are stopped this problem vanishes immediately.
Not in all patients the lactase is 100% absent. It is individual and many can have it in different amounts. You have to test how much milk you could drink or milk products you could eat.
The best thing to master this problem is not only avoiding milk and milk products but also avoiding all the processed food where milk powder or condensed milk is present. The food which may contain hidden lactose include:

• Bread, cakes and other baked foods
• Processed breakfast cereals
• Breakfast drinks
• Ready made soups
• Margarine
• Salad dressings
• Chocolates, cabndies and other sweet snacks
• Icecreams
• Mixes for pancakes, biscuits and cookies

There are many other food where it is declared as whey, curds, milk bye-products, dry milk solids, nonfat dry milk powder etc. mean that lactose is present in these foods.
Powdered coffee creamer and whipped toppings may also contain ingredients from milk and can contain lactose. Be careful, these are normally declared as nondiary on their labels.
The long-term health consequence of lactose intolerance may be calcium deficiency which leads to osteoporosis. But without milk and milk products it is possible to manage the calcium intake if you eat the right food. Here your doctor or dietician could help you. Otherwise, it is better to take calcium supplements and these must be taken between two meals so that it will not disturb iron absorption. Before taking the supplement always consult with your doctor.

Milk allergy

Milk allergy is the most common food allergies. It is suspected a particular protein present in the milk is responsible for this allergy.

An allergy is an immune response which results in inflammation in any part of the body. In the long run tissue damage is the result. Therefore it could cause several health problems.

The symptoms of milk allergy include:

• Abdominal Pain
• Acne
• Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Ear Infections
• Fatigue
• Fibromyalgia
• Gas
• Headaches
• Heartburn
• Indigestion
• Iron deficient anemia
• Irritability
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Joint Pain
• Lactose Intolerance
• Osteoporosis
• Poor Growth
• Poor immune function – frequent sickness
• Sinusitis
• Sores

The common symptoms in children include:

• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Ear infections
• Heartburn
• Sinusitis

If you avoid milk and milk products the symptoms milk allergy could disappear. 60% of the world population have either milk allergy or lactose intolerance. Milk is not good for infants and very small children. Although it has all the nutrients except antibodies as in breast milk, the composition is entirely different which is not healthy for an infant. Avoiding milk and milk products in the first twelve months reduces the risk of all the allergies and also asthma.
Milk allergy could be determined in your blood by testing the antibodies to milk with an ELISA food allergy test
.

Milk is a balanced food. But I do not like taking milk. Does it lead to unhealthy condition?

Milk and milk products are very good foods as long as you have no milk allergy or lactose intolerance.

More than 60% of the world population have any one of these problems. In Western countries their main calcium source is milk and milk products. When they eat excess of milk products, particularly cheese, these can bring problem in calcium metabolism. The problems include:

• Too much calcium excretes more calcium from the bones
• Too much of salt from the cheese makes more calcium excretion from the body
• Too much of protein makes the body acidic which in turn increases the excretion of calcium

If somebody is having unexplainable gas problems and no medicines help, ask them to avoid milk and milk products for few days. If they have lactose intolerance the problems will disappear immediately.

The villain for the milk allergy is a protein present in milk.