Does being lactose intolerant mean I won’t take calories from lactose?

Question

I’m not thinking about using this as a “life hack” to somehow slim down. (even if true, cause I don’t like feeling ill). But I always wondered if the gut bacteria eats the Lactose since I myself can’t process it, does that mean I don’t take in the calories that come with the lactose?

In: 8

Answer 1

You are sort of right. However the gut is able to digest the bacteria which does consume the lactose. It is far less efficient then using lactase to digest the lactose and only returns about 5-20% of the energy. There are actually quite a bit of difference in how well we can consume different sugars, not just lactose.