3 Ways to Spot Signs of Lactose Intolerance

1. Track Your Discomfort

Signs of lactose intolerance include stomach cramps, gas, bloating and abdominal pain. If you notice that these symptoms are worse after eating something rich in dairy content, it may be a sign of lactose intolerance. One way to distinguish lactose intolerance from other types of indigestion is to keep a journal tracking your discomfort. When you feel pain in your stomach, make a note of the time and what your last meal was.

Don't forget to count lattes from the coffee shop and donuts from the break room, since these snacks are often overlooked, yet both can be heavily laden with dairy products. Take special note if your pain is more persistent after you've ingested yogurt, milk, cheese, half-and-half cream, or desserts made with dairy.

2. Eliminate Dairy

If you experience bloating, cramps, gas or nausea and you think it may be linked to lactose intolerance, one of the easiest actions you can take is to eliminate dairy from your diet for two days and see if the symptoms persist. If dairy is the only thing you cut out of your normal diet and the symptoms vanish, then there is a good chance that your body doesn't produce enough lactase to digest the amount the lactose you eat.

Be forewarned that cutting out dairy doesn't just mean cutting out milk and cheese. Read the ingredients on any salad dressings, breakfast cereals, sweets, coffee creamers and other prepared foods . Some medications are even coated in a lactose glaze. Eliminating dairy means assessing everything you put in your mouth that isn't homemade.

3. Test Yourself With 2 Glasses of Milk

Drink two glasses of milk on an empty stomach and see how you feel one hour later. Since humans aren't really wired to drink milk past the age of five, we begin to lose our ability to manufacture lactase. It is estimated that up to 70 percent of the world's adults are lactose intolerant to some degree. However, lactose intolerance doesn't cause discomfort in most people in milk servings of six ounces or less. Therefore, if you want to determine whether you are lactose intolerant, drinking two glasses of milk should introduce enough lactose into the system to cause you some discomfort.