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Lactose intolerance is more common than people realize.
In this day and age, about 65 percent of humans have some form of lactose intolerance.
But what is lactose intolerance exactly?
It is sort of what it sounds like. Lactose intolerance is an inability to digest lactose, which is a sugar that you find in dairy products. When you’re a baby, your body produces lactase, which breaks down lactose, since you’re mostly just consuming milk.
After infancy, it’s normal for your body to produce less lactase. But some people produce less than others, so those people can’t even eat a bowl of yogurt without suffering bloating, gas, and diarrhea.
But lactose intolerance is so variable that there’s no way to say for sure how much lactose is too much for any given person. Extreme lactose intolerance could mean that just a couple of bites of cheese could make you feel symptoms.
But for most people, 12 grams of lactose is a good guideline for whether or not it’s intolerance.
For those of you who can’t picture that in your head, that’s about a cup of milk or a scoop of ice cream.
If you eat this much lactose and then start to feel gross within half an hour, then sorry, you’re probably at least a bit lactose intolerant.
If you can eat a slice of pizza and feel unbothered, it’s probably because the other food you’re eating with the lactose is doing a bit of absorption for you.
If you think you’re lactose intolerant, no worries. Lactaid can be taken any time you want to indulge in some dairy.
