If you have digestive difficulties when you eat cheese or other dairy products, you may be lactose intolerant. Many adults, especially older ones, have difficulty digesting lactose, which is the sugar in milk and dairy. Thankfully, if you're a fan of cheese and dairy products, you can continue to enjoy your favorite foods with a few modifications, even if you're lactose intolerant.
The Reason for Lactose Intolerance
If you're lactose intolerant, it's because you don't produce sufficient quantities of the enzyme lactase, which your intestine uses to digest milk sugar, or lactose. When you consume dairy, the lactose passes undigested into your lower gastrointestinal tract, explain Drs. Reginald Garrett and Charles Grisham in their book "Biochemistry." Bacteria in your gut then break the lactose down, producing byproducts including large quantities of gas. This causes bloating and cramping.
Cheese-Specific Difficulty
The symptoms of lactose intolerance can be quite similar to the symptoms of milk allergy, which can make it difficult to determine which of the two you have. If you react to cheese but not to milk, it's not likely that you have lactose intolerance -- you more likely have an allergy to casein, one of the proteins in milk. Milk contains large quantities of lactose -- more than cheese, in fact -- meaning that if you're truly lactose intolerant, you shouldn't react to cheese without reacting to milk as well.
Cheese Considerations
Provided that you know you're lactose intolerant -- you've had it confirmed by a doctor, or you know from experience that you can use lactase supplements like Lactaid to avoid symptoms -- you may be able to eat some cheeses. This is because bacteria that convert milk into cheese break down some of the lactose in milk, essentially pre-digesting it, explain Drs. Mary Campbell and Shawn Farrell in their book "Biochemistry." The most sensitive individuals won't be able to eat any conventional cheese, however.
Alternatives
For cheese- and dairy-lovers who are lactose intolerant, there are some solutions and alternatives. In addition to lactase supplements, there are dairy products and cheeses made from lactose-free milk. To make milk lactose-free, manufacturers mix the milk with lactase, notes OrganicMeadow.com, a producer of lactose-free milk. This "pre-digests" the lactose. It makes the milk a bit sweeter than usual, but it's possible to use lactose-free milk to make other dairy products, and you can also use it in baking. Alternately, you can use a non-dairy "milk" like soy or almond milk.
References
- "Biochemistry"; Reginald Garrett, Ph.D. and Charles Grisham, Ph.D.; 2007
- "Biochemistry"; Mary Campbell, Ph.D. and Shawn Farrell, Ph.D.; 2005
- OrganicMeadow.com: Lactose-Free Milk
