Can you overcome lactose intolerance

She offers five steps for helping cure your dairy issues:. To figure out if dairy is the real issue, eliminate it entire for at least 21 days.

Be sure to check for the bold "Contains milk" under the allergy warning to weed out sneaky sources that you may not realize have dairy in them. After the elimination period, it's time for elimination provocation. If you experience any of these symptoms, move on to step 2. This step is as simple as it is hard: Remove dairy-even minute sources like icing on a granola bar-out of your diet for a minimum of six months in order to give your body plenty of time to "seal and heal" the intestinal lining.

During the elimination period, find healthy substitutes. Grunewald likes coconut, such as coconut milk, coconut oil instead of butter, and coconut yogurt, which are gentle on your sensitive system and offer healthy medium-chain fatty acids. If coconut isn't your thing, almond milk and goat milk are also good substitutes, but stay away from soy, as it can mess with your hormone balance.

To fix the "leaky gut," Grunewald recommends bone broth , probiotics, fish oil, apple cider vinegar, and fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha on a daily basis. While there isn't any strict amount of the foods to take daily, she says that the more you eat, the quicker your gut will mend, as these are all high in prebiotics or probiotics, as well as other compounds that encourage a healthy immune system and intestinal function. After six months, baby-step your way to eating dairy again.

Lactose-intolerant individuals have different compositions of gut bacteria than those who cannot tolerate it. Thus, if they were to consistently consume small amounts of lactose that triggers some digestive problems, they could slowly improve their tolerance to it after some time.

This process would affect and change the composition of bacteria in their gut to the point that it looks similar to that of individuals without lactose intolerance. Find out first if lactose is really the culprit behind your digestive problems.

Consult with a qualified nutritionist to find out if your body truly cannot tolerate lactose. Tests may have to be performed to get the proper diagnosis. Once the diagnosis comes out positive for lactose intolerance, we suggest that you avoid consuming dairy and all foods and drinks that contain lactose temporarily.

Do this consistently from three weeks to six months to give your intestinal wall lining enough time to heal. Just make sure that you have consulted your nutritionist or dietitian prior to taking dairy out of your diet. When grocery shopping, read the labels carefully and avoid products that contain milk. Also, check the allergy warning to see what kind of allergy-causing ingredients are used in it to completely remove any possible sources of lactose that you may otherwise miss.

Consume a cup of milk or two scoops of ice cream. When you eliminate dairy from your diet, you are at risk of developing a vitamin and nutrient deficiency, such as calcium and Vitamin D. We advise finding lactose-free substitutes that you can tolerate and creating an appropriate meal plan that could be based on a vegan or dairy-free diet. Working closely with a qualified dietitian will help ensure you are still meeting your daily nutrient requirements even without dairy. Also, consider non-dairy milk products that are derived from nuts or plants like coconut, almond, oat, hemp, cashews, macadamia, and rice.

For baking and cooking, you can use coconut oil as a substitute for butter. You can still satisfy your sweet tooth cravings with lactose-free ice cream and plain yoghurt topped with fruits that contain little or no lactose like bananas.

Health Home Conditions and Diseases. What is lactose intolerance? Lactose intolerance is not the same thing as having a food allergy to milk. What causes lactose intolerance? Here are some common causes of this condition: Lactose intolerance often runs in families hereditary. Symptoms may start during the teen or adult years. In some cases, the small intestine stops making lactase after an injury or after a disease or infection. Some babies born too early premature babies may not be able to make enough lactase.

This is often a short-term problem that goes away. In very rare cases, people are born with an inability to make any lactase at all. What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance? Symptoms may include: Belly abdominal cramps and pain Nausea Bloating Gas Diarrhea How severe your symptoms are will depend on how much lactose you have ingested and how much lactase your body makes.

How is lactose intolerance diagnosed? Some tests can help your doctor check for lactose intolerance. These may include: Lactose tolerance test. This test checks how your digestive system absorbs lactose. You will be asked not to eat or drink anything for about 8 hours before the test. This often means not eating after midnight. For the test, you will drink a liquid that contains lactose.

Some blood samples will be taken over a 2-hour period. These will check your blood sugar blood glucose level. Hydrogen breath test. You will drink a liquid containing a lot of lactose. Your breath will be checked several times. High levels of hydrogen in your breath may mean you are lactose intolerant. Stool acidity test.

This test is used for infants and young children. It checks how much acid is in the stool.