Who Is Affected By Lactose Intolerance
For most people, lactose intolerance develops over time as the body produces less lactase.
It is estimated that 36% of Americans and 68% of the world population have some degree of lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance affects people from certain ethnic populations and racessuch as Latin Americans, African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians, East Europeans and Middle Easternersmore than others.
What Is Lactose Intolerance
Lactose intolerance is a very common digestive problem. In fact, it affects around 75% of the worlds population .
Interestingly, its most prevalent in Asia and South America, but much less common in parts of the Western world like North America, Europe and Australia .
Those who have it dont have enough of an enzyme called lactase. Produced in your gut, lactase is needed to break down lactose, the main sugar found in milk.
Without lactase, lactose can pass through your gut undigested and cause unpleasant symptoms like nausea, pain, gas, bloating and diarrhea .
Fear of developing these symptoms can lead people with this condition to avoid foods that contain lactose, such as dairy products.
However, this isnt always necessary, as not all dairy foods contain enough lactose to cause problems for people with an intolerance.
In fact, its thought that many people with an intolerance can eat up to 12 grams of lactose at a time without experiencing any symptoms .
To put that in perspective, 12 grams is the amount found in 1 cup of milk.
Additionally, some dairy foods are naturally low in lactose. Below are 6 of them.
Is All Cheese High Histamine
If youre a cheese lover, you might wonder whether you can include ANY cheese in your diet, and if some types are safer than others. The amount of histamine in cheese varies with how the cheese is made, stored, and the type of cheese.
Raw milk contains natural bacteria that increase the histamine content of the product, so cheese made from unpasteurized milk will also be high in histamine. Another type of cheese to avoid is hard cheese since it takes more time to ripen.
Examples of hard cheese usually high in histamine include:
- Asiago Hard Cheese
- Pecorino Romano Cheese
- Cotija Cheese
Cheddar, Parmesan, and Alpine cheese also take a long time to ripen and accumulate more histamine. If you still want to add cheese to your diet in small quantities, choose semi-hard cheese that doesnt take a long time to mature. Dutch-style cheese tends to have lower quantities of histamine and other biogenic amines.
Its best to avoid all processed cheeses too, not only because of their processing, but because manufacturers often use Emmental cheese to make processed cheese products, and its a high-histamine cheese.
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Is Blue Cheese Ok For Lactose Intolerance
Cheeses come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Cheddar, Camembert, Cheshire, Pecorino Style, Swiss, Brie, Blue Cheese, Harvati, or Parmesan are examples of cheeses that can be digested by lactose intolerant persons.
Does Blue Cheese Have Lactose? Cheddar has a lactose content of 0-2.1 percent. Lactose content of 0-2.2 percent in gouda. Lactose content: 0-2.5 percent.
What Is The Best Cheese For Lactose Intolerance? You can still consume cheese if you have lactose intolerance, but you must choose wisely. Lactose content is reduced in hard, matured cheeses such as Swiss, parmesan, and cheddar. Cottage cheese and feta cheese derived from goat or sheeps milk are two other low-lactose cheese choices.
Can Dairy Free Eat Blue Cheese? All lactose intolerant people, rejoice: you can eat cheese! Lactose is converted to lactic acid during the cheesemaking process. Any cheese that has been matured for at least two months. Or more is lactose-free almost entirely.
Does Ricotta Contain Lactose Or Is It Lactose
Ricotta cheese is a popular ingredient for a variety of Italian dishes such as cassata, lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, pasta, and pizza.
Ricotta is an Italian cheese made from sheep, goat, cow, or buffalo milk whey. Good quality ricotta is usually firm, fine, and has a distinct flavor which makes it a perfect accompaniment for diverse dishes and recipes. It is high in protein and low in fat. Further, ricotta cheese makes an excellent substitute for mayonnaise in salads, sandwiches, and sauce thickening. It can also be used to make omelets and quiche.
If you have lactose intolerance, you lack the enzyme lactase, which breaks lactose down into glucose and galactose in the small intestines. When lactose fails to be absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream, it gets absorbed intact into the colon undigested, thus causing lactose intolerance symptoms.
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What Cheese Has The Most Lactose
Fresh cheeses and highly processed cheeses contain the greatest amounts of lactose in their composition. The following are the primary perpetrators: Feta contains 4.1 percent lactose on average. Ricotta has a lactose content ranging from 0.2 to 5.1 percent.
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Vegetables and fruits.
Yogurt is another popular dairy product often unnecessarily avoided by people with lactose intolerance. It contains more natural sugars than cheese , but the probiotics in yogurt actually help to digest the lactose for us.
Other dairy-based products that may be well-tolerated, depending on a persons lactose sensitivity, include 100-percent whey protein powder , half and half , and cottage cheese .
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Take Control Of Your Diet
Take control of your meals by brown bagging it rather than struggling to find something that you can eat on a menu. When cooking at home, you can replace milk in recipes with lactose-free milk. You can also buy a cookbook that features lactose-free recipes and start trying them. Many classic recipes can be adapted to fit a lactose-intolerant diet. Control the ingredients that go in the meal and you may be surprised at how much variety you can eat.
And These Are The Cheeses That Are Generally Higher In Lactose
In general, fresh, wet cheeses like ricotta and cream cheese have higher levels of lactose, Strange says. These same cheeses also tend to contain higher amounts of whey, Joey Wells, senior principal product development and innovation expert for global specialty at Whole Foods Market, tells SELF. Even though they technically have more lactose than their aged counterparts, they still don’t have very much. For example, cottage cheese contains about 3 grams of lactose per serving while cream cheese contains only 1 gramnot that much more than what’s in those harder, aged cheeses. But again, we’re talking suggested serving sizes here, which isn’t always how people realistically consume cheese. Just saying.
Strange explains that the process for making fresh cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella is much faster than their aged counterparts, which means they retain more whey and have less time to convert lactose into lactic acid. They’re also usually wetter than their low-lactose counterparts because the whey hasn’t had long enough to fully drain off.
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Is Feta High In Lactose
While ordinary milk contains a lot of lactose, many classic cheeses like cheddar, feta, and even soft cheeses like brie and camembert have almost no lactose in a typical serving. Common dairy items lactose content. Feta Cheese is a dairy product. /serve lactose content 0.13g. 125g per serving Serve/classification of lactose Low. 13 Apr 10, 2016More columns
Dairy Alternatives And Substitutes
Some people need to avoid dairy products and cows’ milk because their bodies cannot digest lactose or they have an allergy to cows’ milk protein.
There are a number of lactose-free dairy products available to buy that are suitable for people with lactose intolerance.
These contain the same vitamins and minerals as standard dairy products, but they also have an added enzyme called lactase, which helps digest any lactose so the products do not trigger any symptoms.
Some people also choose not to have dairy products for other reasons for example, because they follow a vegan diet.
There are a number of alternative foods and drinks available in supermarkets to replace milk and dairy products, such as:
- soya milks, yoghurts and some cheeses
- rice, oat, almond, hazelnut, coconut, quinoa and potato milks
- foods that carry the “dairy-free” or “suitable for vegans” signs
Remember that milk and dairy foods are good sources of important nutrients, so do not cut them out of your or your child’s diet without first speaking to a GP or dietitian.
If you’re not able to, or choose not to, eat dairy products, you may not be getting enough calcium in your diet.
Page last reviewed: 18 January 2021 Next review due: 18 January 2024
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Lactose Intolerant What Can You Eat
If youre lactose intolerant, you may cringe at the thought of eating dairy products.
But theres really no need. In this day and age, there are plenty of nutrient-rich dairy products you can enjoy, without suffering the all-too-familiar consequences.
Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about lactose intolerance.
What is lactose?
Lactose is the naturally-occurring sugar found in milk and most dairy products.
What does it mean to be lactose intolerant?
Most people have an enzyme in their gut called lactase, which helps to break down lactose during digestion. People with lactose intolerance dont have enough lactase to fully digest lactose, so eating dairy products can cause digestive distress like stomach aches, bloating, gas and diarrhea.
Is lactose intolerance the same as being allergic to milk?
No. These two conditions are completely different. Lactose intolerance refers specifically to the lactose component of milk, whereas milk allergies are a reaction to the protein component of milk. Heres more on the difference between an intolerance and allergy.
Do you have to avoid all dairy if youre lactose intolerant?
What can you eat if youre lactose intolerant?
What foods should be avoided?
Top 10 Foods Highest In Lactose
Lactose is a disaccharide sugar made up of a combination of galactose and glucose. Lactose is found primarily in milk foods.
At an early age almost everyone has the ability to digest lactose since it is an important source of energy from breastmilk. Later on in life, however, some people lose the ability to digest lactose and suffer from lactose intolerance.
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include gas, diarrhea, and bloating.
Foods high in lactose are those which contain milk. These include ice-cream, milk puddings, hot chocolate, eggnog, macaroni and cheese, yogurt, pancakes, milk chocolate, cottage cheese, and mashed potatoes. Below are the top 10 foods highest in lactose.
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Nearly 65% Of The Human Population Struggles With Lactose Intolerance
These poor souls try their best to avoid dairy and the physical discomfort that comes with itnot to mention dealing with the uniquely profound emotional distress that comes from feeling like youve been cursed to a life without cheeseor have you?
What is lactose and why are some people intolerant?
Lactose is a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. In the body, lactose is broken down into simple sugars by an enzyme called lactase. People are lactose intolerant when their bodies dont make enough lactase. Without lactase, the lactose cant be properly digested and causes gastrointestinal distress. Some people are more intolerant than othersit all depends on how much lactase your body is able to make.
Does this mean lactose intolerants can never have cheese?
Were happy to report there are some cheeses that lactose intolerant individuals can still enjoy without gastrointestinal consequence.
While fresher cheeses have a high percentage of lactose, aged cheeses have much of their lactose transformed into less harmful lactic acid. Lactose is also separated and drained off with the whey during the aging process, which brings the lactose percentage down with it.
What cheeses can lactose intolerant folks eat?
Heres Our Advice For Safe Cheese Eating
While its true that some cheeses are lower in lactose, its important to keep serving sizes in mind. Even a low lactose cheese may screw with your stomach if you eat a ton of it. And the truth is that even among folks with diagnosed lactose intolerance, sensitivity to lactose can vary greatly, Dr. Agarwal explains. Something that barely affects one person could leave another curled up in the fetal position with stomach cramps, which is why Sasson cautions against throwing back a bunch of cheese without giving it a try first. No matter what cheese youre eating , she recommends tasting a small amount first, then giving yourself time to see how your body reacts.
In general, its also best to eat cheese as part of a larger meal whenever you can, because eating it with other foods can make it easier to digest, Sasson says.
And unfortunately, Dr. Agarwal says there isnt always an easy way to know for sure how much lactose is in a product, unless its explicitly marked low-lactose or something similar. So if youre really not sure how much lactose you should eat, check in with your doctor first.
If you cant tolerate even a small amount of Parmesan, your problem with dairy might be something elselike a milk allergy. Sasson says that while lactose intolerance isnt life threatening, a severe allergy definitely can be, so if youre not sure what you have or just how sensitive you are, talk with your doctor before experimenting with any cheeses.
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Which Is Easier To Digest Cottage Cheese Or Yogurt
When compared to conventional cottage cheese, yogurt has one distinct advantage: it contains living cultures. According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, while both yogurt and cottage cheese include lactose, the living cultures in yogurt convert lactose to lactic acid in the stomach, making the dairy sugar simpler to digest. Cottage cheese, on the other hand, has no live cultures.
Is There Any Cheese That Contains Little Or No Histamine
If you have histamine intolerance and enjoy cheese, youre not without options. Cream cheese and cottage cheese contain little or no histamine and can be part of your diet. Gorgonzola and mozzarella are also low in histamine. These are your best choices if you dont want to give up cheese.
Cottage cheese is one of the best options, since its low in histamine, but high in protein and calcium. A one-cup serving of small curd cottage cheese contains 25 grams of protein and 18% of the days recommended intake of calcium.
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Is Cottage Cheese Good For Gut
Why it is beneficial to you: Cottage cheese is a terrific choice for those who enjoy cheese since it is good for your tummy. Cottage cheese, like other fermented foods, typically contains probiotics , and it is high in calcium, which is vital for maintaining healthy bones. Cottage cheese is a good source of calcium.
The 9 Cheeses Lowest In Lactose
If you consider yourself in a serious relationship with dairy, youre definitely not alone. And if you find your love affair with cheese, in particular, is unrequited, youre also in good company. It turns out about 65% of the worlds population is lactose intolerant, meaning milk-based treats like yogurt, ice cream, and yes, cheese, can produce an array of undesirable digestive symptoms. Luckily for some, cheeses lower in lactose may be the key to happy, pain-free snacking.
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Does Cottage Cheese Have A Lot Of Lactose
4.2/5cottage cheeselactosecheesecheeses
Keeping this in consideration, is cottage cheese high in lactose?
Cheeses that tend to be higher in lactose include cheese spreads, soft cheeses like Brie or Camembert, cottage cheese and mozzarella. What’s more, even some higher-lactose cheeses may not cause symptoms in small portions, as they tend to still contain less than 12 grams of lactose.
Subsequently, question is, is there a lot of lactose in cream cheese? Milk ProductsFoods that are high in lactose are milk, cheese, yogurt and sour cream. Cheese that has 1 gram of lactose per serving is considered to be low in lactose. Those cheeses include cheddar, Parmesan or Swiss, cream, cottage and ricotta.
Thereof, which cheese has the least lactose?
Here are the nine most popular cheeses with the lowest lactose ranges:
- Camembert.
- Cheddar 0-2.1% lactose range.
- Provolone. 0-2.1% lactose range.
- Swiss. 0-3.4% lactose range.
What foods are highest in lactose?
Some examples of high–lactose foods include ice cream, soft-serve frozen yogurt, ricotta cheese, protein powders, energy bars, puddings/custards and dulce de leche. Lactose intolerance can range from mild to severe.
Some Dairy Protein Powders
Choosing a protein powder can be tricky for those who are lactose intolerant.
This is because protein powders are usually made from the proteins in milk whey, which is the lactose-containing, liquid part of milk.
However, the amount found in whey protein powders can vary, depending on how the whey is processed.
There are three main types of whey protein powder:
- Whey concentrate: Contains around 7980% protein and a small amount of lactose .
- Whey isolate: Contains around 90% protein and less lactose than whey protein concentrate .
- Whey hydrolysate: Contains a similar amount of lactose as whey concentrate, but some of the proteins in this powder have already been partially digested .
The best choice for lactose-sensitive individuals is probably whey isolate, which contains the lowest levels.
Nevertheless, the lactose content can vary considerably between brands, and most people have to experiment to see which protein powder brand works best for them.
Summary:
Diary protein powders have been processed to remove a lot of their lactose. However, whey protein concentrate contains more of it than whey isolates, which may be a better choice for sensitive individuals.
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