I am slightly lactose intolerant. I only say “slightly” because *think* I have a higher tolerance to dairy than other people but ofc still have limits.
A little TMI below so please be warned ^^;
Like for today for instance. I ate a Philly cheesesteak (it was so good), it didn’t give me diarrhea, but it did soften my stool and made me go about 15~25 minutes after eating it. But there are other times where I have dairy and it will just give me mild constipation.
In: Biology
Lactose intolerance is generally the absence of lactase enzymes in your digestive flora.
This causes the body to fail to break down and absorb the lactose, and so try to flush it out as fast as possible. It’s presence also interferes with the intestines ability to absorb water and other fluids – so you end up with gas, and rapid onset diarrhoea – all that excess water that isn’t being absorbed in the intestines has to get out of your body, and there’s nothing to really stop liquids in the intestines, hence the rapid onset.
In people with lactase producing enzymes, the lactose is broken down into other, normal, absorbable sugars, so the digestion functions normally.
Interestingly, you can take Lactase tablets with dairy (if your issue is actual lactose intolerance) and eat like a normal person while the added enzymes are present in your guts.
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