If you're lactose-intolerant but enjoy dairy foods, it can be challenging to find milk-based products that you can eat without digestive discomfort. Fortunately, some options are open to you, including lactose-free yogurt. Produced with or without lactose-free milk, yogurt contains little to no lactose, and offers you the opportunity to enjoy the many nutritional benefits of this healthy food.
Lactose
Lactose is a sugar that occurs naturally in milk and many other dairy products. Commonly called milk sugar, lactose isn't particularly sweet. While many individuals digest lactose without difficulty, those with lactose intolerance can't digest the sugar in dairy products. Instead, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry," it passes undigested into the lower gastrointestinal tract. There, native bacteria process the lactose, producing copious quantities of gas that lead to the discomfort, bloating and cramping characteristic of lactose intolerance.
Yogurt
While any dairy -- particularly low-fat dairy -- is a healthy component of the diet, yogurt is especially so. This is because it's a rich source of protein and calcium, as well as a source of beneficial probiotic bacteria including Lactobacillus acidophilus. These bacteria take up residence in the lower gut and help prevent infection by pathogenic bacteria, in addition to helping to maintain normal gut function.
Yogurt for Lactose-Intolerant Individuals
If you're only mildly lactose-intolerant, you can likely eat yogurt even if it's not made with lactose-free milk. This is because yogurt is naturally nearly lactose-free. The bacteria in yogurt -- including Lactobacillus acidophilus -- feed on lactose, digesting it and breaking it into its component compounds. This produces lactic acid, which reacts with the protein in yogurt to give it a characteristic creamy texture. The lactic acid also gives yogurt its sour flavor. Dr. Lauralee Sherwood, in her book "Human Physiology," notes that even if you're lactose-intolerant, you can still absorb the constituents of lactose once it's "pre-digested" by bacteria.
Lactose-Free Yogurt
For very sensitive individuals, regular yogurt -- though it's nearly lactose-free -- may still contain enough lactose to cause symptoms. For such individuals, there are yogurts made with lactose-free milk. Manufacturers produce lactose-free milk by processing the milk with a digestive enzyme called lactase -- the same enzyme, incidentally, that you lack if you're lactose-intolerant. This process results in a completely lactose-free milk, and therefore a lactose-free yogurt. Such products are labeled as lactose-free in the grocery store, and you can consume them without any concern of a lactose reaction.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- "Human Physiology"; Lauralee Sherwood, Ph.D.; 2004
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