YOU Docs: How to stay healthy without health foods Oct 14, 2008
What to have instead: If you're lactose-intolerant, try a brand that adds lactase - the enzyme your body needs to digest milk sugars - or take lactase tablets before you drink. If you just don't do milk, then aim for 1,500 mg of calcium per day from other sources (also be sure to get 400 mg of magnesium and 1,000 IU of vitamin D; 1,200 if you're over age 60). (Athens Banner-Herald)
New rules offer security to food allergy sufferers Oct 3, 2008
In lactose intolerance, for example, the body does not have enough of the enzyme lactase, making it difficult to digest the milk sugar lactose. Bloating, cramping, diarrhea and gas can result. (Globe and Mail)
African Americans at Risk for Low Calcium Intake - New Survey Finds Those Experiencing Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance May be Sidelining Dairy in Their Diets Mar 28, 2008
"I found that I couldn't even enjoy my favorite dishes anymore. Discovering LACTAID(R) Milk and LACTAID(R) Fast Act Dietary Supplements helped me bring my award winning macaroni and cheese and all of my favorite dishes back to my table to enjoy with my friends and family." People who are lactose intolerant -- a condition where the body is deficient in the lactase enzyme which breaks down lactose, the milk sugar in dairy foods and beverages -- often avoid dairy products altogether. This omission... (PR Newswire)
Human evolution speeding up, researchers say Dec 11, 2007
Yet in Sweden and Denmark, the gene that makes the milk-digesting enzyme lactase remains active, so almost everyone can drink fresh milk, explaining why dairy farming is more common in Europe than in the Mediterranean and Africa, Harpending says. The researchers studied 3. (Boston Globe)
Are Humans Evolving Faster? Dec 11, 2007
Yet in Sweden and Denmark, the gene that makes the milk-digesting enzyme lactase remains active, so "almost everyone can drink fresh milk," explaining why dairying is more common in Europe than in the Mediterranean and Africa, Harpending says. He now is studying if the mutation that allowed lactose tolerance spurred some of history's great population expansions, including when speakers of Indo-European languages settled all the way from northwest India and central Asia through Persia and across... (Science Daily)
Acidophilus Benefits Nov 28, 2007
In addition to this protective role, bacteria help in production of niacin, folic acid and B vitamins, and enzymes, such as the lactase needed to digest lactose in milk and dairy products. Acidophilus also assists in the production of niacin, folic acid and B vitamins during the digestive process. (Suite101.com)
Food Intolerance Nov 24, 2007
Lactose, the main sugar in diary products, is broken down in the small intestine by the enzyme lactase. Many older children and adults lack adequate lactase, resulting in incomplete digestion of ingested milk sugar. (Suite101.com)
Curing the colic myth Nov 15, 2007
Carroll County Times: Westminster, Maryland. WEATHER SPONSORED BY. (Carroll County Times)
Autism Symptoms and Treatments Sep 20, 2007
Lactase does help with lactose intolerance, but not with other proteins and elements that can be problematic in childhood autism. Schroffo Cook stresses the complete elimination of gluten, dairy, and food additives from the diets of kids with autism. (Suite101.com)
Perceived Milk Intolerance May Weaken Girls' Bones Sep 11, 2007
They also tested them for lactose maldigestion, which occurs when activity of the lactose-digesting enzyme lactase is reduced, and can be identified with a breath test. People with the condition can usually drink or eat a single serving of dairy, for example 8 ounces of milk, without having intolerance symptoms, but may have indigestion if they consume larger amounts. (MEDLINEplus)
If you feed your dog people food, read labels Sep 6, 2007
But ASPCA vets says that pets do not possess "significant amounts" of lactase, which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose in milk. Therefore milk -- and I presume they're talking about cow's milk -- and other milk-based products "can cause diarrhea or other digestive upset," especially in young puppies, says the ASPCA.. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Is Soy Milk Good for You? Aug 29, 2007
The enzyme needed to break down lactose in the body is called lactase ... Worldwide, most adults are lactase deficient and therefore lactose intolerant. (Suite101.com)
China drinks its milk Aug 8, 2007
The majority of Chinese adults suffer a deficiency of lactase, the enzyme needed to break down the lactose in milk and the common trigger for lactose intolerance ... "The majority of Chinese adults suffer a deficiency of lactase." Deficiency ... In most other animals, lactase stops being produced in childhood. (BBC News -- UK)
Humans have spread globally, and evolved locally Jun 27, 2007
Lactase, the enzyme that digests the principal sugar of milk, is usually switched off after weaning. But because of the great nutritional benefit for cattle herders of being able to digest lactose in adulthood, a genetic change that keeps the lactase gene switched on spread through the population ... Last year, Sarah Tishkoff of the University of Maryland and colleagues tested 43 ethnic groups in East Africa and found three separate mutations, all different from the European one, that keep the... (International Herald Tribune -- Health)
Gastrointestinal Problems in ASD May 21, 2007
55% of these children also had lactase deficiencies (which breaks down lactose in milk) and deficiencies of the enzyme sucrase (the enzyme for digestion of table sugar). These disorders, especially reflux esophagitis and disaccharide malabsorption may contribute to the behavioral problems of non-verbal autistic children. (Suite101.com)
Kefir: A Food for Longevity Mar 23, 2007
It's easily tolerated by lactose intolerant individuals, because the plethora of good bacteria and yeast helps to form lactase, which in its very nature consumes and eliminates lactose. Also the curd size of kefir is smaller, allowing for easier digestion. (Suite101.com)
Not Milk? Neolithic Europeans Couldn't Stomach the Stuff Feb 28, 2007
In what they claim is the first direct evidence of the evolution of lactase-persistence (the ability to digest milk and other dairy foods), German and British researchers came up empty in their search for the gene variant that allows over 90 percent of northern Europeans to gulp down and properly digest milk ... Lactase persistence (also called lactose tolerance), the continued production of the enzyme lactase that breaks down the sugar lactose in milk, correlates heavily with populations... (Scientific American)
Why neolithic man would have had no use for a pinta Feb 27, 2007
In order to digest milk, adult humans need to have a gene which produces an enzyme called lactase to break down lactose, one of the main sugars it contains ... Working with scientists from Mainz University in Germany, the UCL team looked for the gene that produces the lactase enzyme in Neolithic skeletons dating between 5480BC and 5000BC. ... The lactase gene was absent from the DNA extracted from these skeletons, suggesting that these early Europeans would not be tolerant to milk. (BBC News -- Science)
