Disclaimer: I have not been tested for lactose intolerance; however, I do know that dairy messes with me and lactaid pills help so I’m assuming I have it.
I understand humans aren’t meant to drink milk forever, so I’m more curious about what happens after someone has dairy. For example, when I drink milk, the first thing I notice is that my stomach feels extremely full. Not quite gas bloating or carbonation from sodas, but just full. And there’s a pressure that makes it feel like my body is trying to compress it or push it back up. Then, later, I’ll get a lot of gas rumbling around in my stomach. Eventually it messes with bowel movements and is done.
Now, I don’t know if this is the same process for all lactose intolerant people, but what’s happening here? What creates that almost bloated feeling even though you’re not ingesting air/carbonation/etc? I’m assuming what comes after is all due to the gas I hear rumbling around, so what happens in the stomach that makes the gas and all of that happen?
In: 3
Basically the enzymes in your gut don’t break down lactose which goes further down and meets your intestinal flora. With the abundant source of complex sugar certain strains of bacteria like lactobacilli, streptococcus etc grow faster than other, and upset the balance of the flora, which then cascades into everything from gas, diarrhea, cramps etc because other food in the gut is not processed the usual way and you have over/undergrowth of other strains, some of which inhibit other enzymes, which slows down the breakdown/absorption of other foods too.
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