10 Signs of Lactose Intolerance
Lactose is a type of sugar found in dairy products. It consists of galactose and glucose. For most of us, lactose is easily digested along with the rest of our food, but not everybody is so fortunate.
Many people have an intolerance to this sugar, which can lead to some quite uncomfortable symptoms. Therefore, people with lactose intolerance need to stay away from those dairy products that they cannot digest.
The severity of the symptoms often varies from person to person, along with the types of dairy products that can affect them. Here are some of the symptoms that people with lactose intolerance are likely to encounter.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #1: Nausea and Vomiting
Nobody enjoys the feeling of nausea, but most times you experience it, it’s to your benefit. Nausea creates an urge to expel unwanted substances from the body’s digestive tract, thus getting rid of toxins, pathogens, or anything else that should not be there.
People with lactose intolerance may find that undigested food can rest in their stomach without getting broken down and moved along to the intestines. If it stays there for too long, the body will find a way to eject it. Vomiting does not always occur, but nausea is a fairly common symptom.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #2: Grumbling Sounds
When your stomach is full, it releases juices containing various enzymes to break down the available food. This will sometimes produce grumbling sounds which are caused by gases that are moving through the contents of the stomach.
In the case of lactose intolerance, your stomach may be producing more gases than normal. These excess gases can cause grumbling that’s so loud it can be heard by people around you. It is not uncommon to hear your stomach grumbling when hungry, but that happens more often in people who are intolerant to lactose.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #3: Flatulence
Flatulence is something young children consider hilarious. However, it can be embarrassing for adults, and can lead to some very awkward social situations. It is caused by an excess buildup of gas in the stomach, with some people encountering it more than others.
When you have lactose intolerance, the food that passes from the stomach to the small intestine interacts with the bacteria that live there, causing the production of gas. Not only can flatulence lead to people releasing gas more often, but the gas released can also smell particularly bad.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #4: Bloating
It is not uncommon to feel bloated after eating. Sometimes, we simply eat too much, leaving us with stuffed up stomachs. Gases produced in the stomach can also add to the problem, and so can carbonated beverages.
People with lactose intolerance will often find that they experience bloating, particularly after eating certain foods. As the gases build up in the stomach, the pressure on the abdomen increases leading to a feeling of discomfort. The bloating should pass in time, and there are remedies available that can help relieve the discomfort.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #5: Unusual Stools
Inspecting our stools is not something we normally do, but it can be useful. Our stools can tell us a great deal about our overall health, even by simply looking at them. If your stools are more liquid than usual, it could be down to an intolerance to lactose.
Runny stools are a typical symptom of lactose intolerance, although it’s often misdiagnosed as infection-induced diarrhea. The patient wouldn’t experience runny stools until the day after they have consumed lactose. The stools are also likely to be acidic, which would require a sample to be tested for diagnosis.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #6: Abdominal Pains
It is not uncommon for people to experience pain in the belly area caused by eating the wrong type of food. If you have lactose intolerance, you would need to be mindful of what you eat.
Ingesting lactose can cause some people to experience terrible abdominal pain. It can start shortly after eating and can be quite intense, although it should gradually fade. Keeping a diary of what you eat can help you identify the foods that cause you discomfort.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #7: Weight Loss
Being able to break food down is important because this process allows us to use the nutrients our body needs. If we are unable to break food down, we can’t get those important nutrients. Ultimately, this can lead to problems such as malnutrition which can cause unwanted weight loss.
Lactose intolerance can also cause diarrhea, which contributes to the weight loss issue. To complicate matters further, it can sometimes take years to make a correct diagnosis, which hinders proper treatment. Sudden weight loss is dangerous so you should speak with a doctor if you notice it happens to you.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #8: Fatigue
Getting tired is just a part of life. We will often get tired as the day draws to a close but getting enough sleep overnight will usually leave us feeling refreshed. People with certain conditions, however, can find that they feel tired no matter how much sleep they get.
When you experience digestion problems, you also feel a lack of energy because you can’t absorb the nutrients from the food you eat. This can, in turn, cause you to feel tired a lot of the time. Your energy levels are also drained because you feel discomfort for long periods of time.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #9: Painful Bowel Movements
Going to the toilet should be a fairly straightforward and easy experience. The food waste will usually pass through with relative ease, although sometimes that depends on what we eat. For people that are lactose intolerant, however, going to the toilet can be a very unpleasant experience.
In cases of lactose intolerance, passing stools can become more frequent, causing the anal canal to become sore, and the whole process, painful. Lactose intolerance will generally not cause blood in stools. Bloody stools could be more related to Crohn’s disease, a bacterial infection, among others. You should arrange to speak with a doctor to help you with these symptoms.
Lactose Intolerance Sign #10: No Symptoms When Avoiding Dairy
Sometimes, it is not the presence of something that highlights a problem, but its absence. Lactose is found in dairy products so if you have intolerance to this compound, avoiding dairy should make your symptoms go away.
Unfortunately, avoiding lactose is not always easy, because dairy products are used in so many of the foods we eat. Some people also have different tolerance levels, and you will need to find out what you can eat, and what you cannot. Creating a food diary of what you have eaten and when will help let you know what your limitations are.
