If you develop stomach cramps after eating Activia brand yogurt, stop eating it until you can be seen by a medical doctor. Activia is brand of yogurt that is marketed by Dannon. The brand promotes Activia's digestive health aspects and challenges consumers to try it for 14 days to improve overall digestion. If you notice that when you eat Activia you develop stomach cramps and other digestive complications, you may be lactose intolerant or have a milk intolerance or milk allergy. Talk with your doctor to receive a clinical diagnosis.
What Is Activia
Activia is yogurt like most other brands of yogurt on the market, but this particular brand focuses on digestive health through probiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria that live in the intestines, specifically the colon, and help promote overall health. Activia contains generally the same probiotics as other yogurts but highlights Bifidobacterium lactis, according to Activa.us.com. This helpful bacterium lives in the human colon and may help regulate normal bowel movements. Although this bacterium is found in other brands of yogurt, Dannon has used it as a marketing platform to promote the use of probiotics in general digestive health.
Lactose Consideration
Yogurt in general contains less lactose than other dairy products. The live and active cultures used to make yogurt convert the lactose into lactic acid, reducing the overall lactose content. This conversion to lactic acid is also responsible for the bitter taste common to most yogurts. Although Activia has less lactose than other dairy products, if you're severely intolerant, you may develop symptoms after consuming the yogurt. Lactose is the sugar in milk and if you cannot digest it, you will develop stomach pain, cramping, diarrhea, bloating, gas and nausea within 30 minutes of eating the yogurt, according to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.
Milk Intolerance
Milk intolerance is not the same as lactose intolerance or a milk allergy. Where the sugar in milk causes lactose intolerance, the proteins in dairy cause milk intolerance. If you're intolerant to milk, your digestive system cannot digest the proteins, whey and casein found in milk products. This leaves the proteins undigested, which can cause irritation to the lining of the intestines, ending in abdominal cramping, stomach pain, diarrhea and bloating.
Milk Allergy
If you're allergic to milk, you should not eat Activia yogurt. A milk allergy is caused by the proteins in milk. It is not triggered by a digestive complication, but rather an immune system reaction. If your immune system mistakes the proteins in the yogurt as dangerous, when they are in fact safe, you will develop allergy symptoms. Common symptoms include digestive complications, hives, rashes and asthma.
