Lactose intolerance and foods to be excluded (or not) – Corriere.it

We are posting a preview of an article in the new Corriere Salute. You can read the full text of the free edition on newsstands Thursday 11 February or in a PDF on the digital edition of Corriere della Sera.

Many people think that they are lactose intolerantIt is often based on false beliefs that lead to useless milk and dairy products being eliminated from the diet with the risk of exposing itself to nutritional deficiencies.

Which consists?
Lactose intolerance is a syndrome that occurs after eating foods that contain lactose (the sugar found in milk and its derivatives in particular) – explains Professor Silvio Danes, Head of the Center for Chronic Inflammatory Bowel Diseases at the Humanitas Clinical Institute of Milan. At the basis of this intolerance is always a deficiency of lactase, which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose into its components, allowing it to be absorbed.

What are the causes that can arise from?
Lactase deficiency can be primary, secondary, and congenital in rare cases. Primary deficiency in Italy affects nearly half of the population with a peak of 70 percent in some southern regions. Intestinal lactase levels reach their maximum at birth, but they gradually and gradually decline and a person, who has already started from childhood, can show intolerance, even If most individuals were intolerant of small amounts of lactose. It is just a matter of understanding how much is allowed. Transient secondary lactase deficiency. It usually arises following, for example, gastrointestinal infections or due to the presence of chronic inflammatory bowel disease that causes lactose malabsorption. There is also a rare congenital form of lactase deficiency, characterized by severe manifestations from the first ingestion of milk by the newborn, which lasts throughout life.

How does he express himself?
For those who suffer from lactose intolerance, consumption of milk and dairy products that contain this sugar causes more or less severe gastrointestinal disorders. Undigested lactose accumulates in the intestine where it draws in water and is fermented by the microorganism of the intestinal bacterial flora, causing various discomfort such as flatulence, bloating, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

You can continue reading the article in Corriere Salute on newsstands for free on Thursday February 11th or in PDF in the digital version of Corriere della Sera.