Even if you have never had digestive issues before, you may recently noticed that your stomach just can’t tolerate certain foods. You may find that strange and be wondering what is actually going on. It seems that that ice cream you love so much just doesn’t “agree” with you any more, or the milk you drink daily has an unpleasant effect. Maybe you are running for the bathroom a few minutes to a couple of hours after a meal and having explosive bouts of diarrhea.
Have you noticed strange noises coming from your stomach area? Gurgling, bubbly sounds that you never heard before? Even worse than that is the cramping and gas that you are now having. You weren’t like this a few years, or even a few months ago, so what is different now? Well, as you get older your body becomes less able to tolerate certain foods, especially dairy products. Your small intestine may not be producing the proper amounts of an enzyme called lactase, and this is why you are having these often embarrassing symptoms. It happens.
Once you have been properly diagnosed as being lactose intolerant there are certain things you can do to decrease these symptoms, or even stop them all together. What’s first? Your diet, of course since what you are eating is at the root of all your problems. Specifically, the sugar in the milk and dairy products you consume. Your small intestines just can’t handle it as well as they used to, so lactose intolerance manifests itself in nasty, uncomfortable and often awkward symptoms. Once you eliminate the particular foods causing this problem, you are basically home free! Yes, it may take a while to re-train your way of eating, but think of the relief you will have. Now, especially, there are many dairy products on the market that are lactose-free, so you will still be able to enjoy that glass of ice cold milk at mealtime.
