Drink Milk & Purge: Nigerian Doctor talks about Lactose Intolerance.👇
In a series of tweets monitored by www.nimedhealth.com.ng, Nigerian medical doctor and health influencer, Dr Wale with twitter handle @olawalesmd, have explained the the reasons most adults develop diarrhoea and purge after drinking milk…. he called this medical condition lactose intolerance.
Dr Wale, went further to explain that there are many adult Nigerian that are lactose intolerant…
In his words:
There are some of us that don’t have the pleasure of being able to consume milk products like we wish because when we do, it is accompanied by diarrhea, abdominal pains and bloating.
Sorry my dear friend, you’re lactose intolerant. Let’s talk about lactose intolerance today.
Lactose intolerance is a common disorder and is due to the inability to digest lactose into its constituents, glucose and galactose, secondary to low levels of lactase enzyme in the digestive tract.
So when you consume milk, it contains lactose. This lactose must be broken down.
Lactose in it’s original form is a disaccharide, but for it to be absorbed by your small intestine, an enzyme called Lactase is required to break it down (hydrolysis) into a monosaccharide. In those with Lactose Intolerance, Lactase is absent. So Lactose remains a disaccharide.
The osmotic load or weight of this undigested lactose disaccharide causes secretion of lots of fluid and electrolytes into your digestive system, and that’s where wahala starts. This leads to enlargement (dilation) of the small intestine that induces quick movement of the undigested lactose into the large intestine. Now when this lactose gets to the large intestine, it becomes fermented by bactaeria and this yields short chain fatty acids and gas. The combined effects of increased water in the feces, movement of the poorly digested lactose, gas leads to the wide range of symptoms people with Lactose Intolerance begin to experience.
Is interesting to note too that according to International Statistics, about 70-75% of the Worlds Population is Lactose Intolerant to some degree.
Lactose intolerance may be right from birth (congenital lactose intolerance) or developed from childhood (Primary lactose intolerance), or can even occur due to an episode of an acute illness like Gastroenteritis (Secondary Lactose Intolerance).
So what do you do?
Well, for lactose intolerant folks, be careful of milk and diary products. You can also choose to consume plant based milk like Soya (they’re better tolerated). If you can find prehydrolyed milk, this works for you too.
Probiotics containing Lactobacillus helps too.
If you really want to consume milk products and you can’t help it, Lactase enzyme is available in drug preparation. When you meet a Doctor, you’d be given a prescription for this so you can be on the right dosage.
So are you Lactose Intolerant, share your experience. Cheers.
This article was sourced by www.nimedhealth.com.ng from Dr Olawale on Twitter.
