Lactose-free diet: what it is and what to eat

The lactose-free diet is the type of diet necessary for all those people who have a particular sensitivity to lactose. lactose is a particular type of sugar contained in dairy products and their derivatives, composed of glucose and galactose.

But why can't many people consume lactose? And what symptoms does this intolerance cause?

Lactose intolerance around the world

According to the AILI (Italian Lacto-Intolerant Association), almost half of the Italian population is affected by lactose intolerance. The geographical distribution and physical characteristics of the various peoples would have an influence on this particular condition.

In Europe, latitude has an impact, with a very high percentage of individuals affected in the Mediterranean areas, which is decreasing in the Central European area to become truly residual in the North of the continent.

22% of the American population is lacto-intolerant, while China has a very high percentage of children affected by poor digestion of lactose.

Diet for lactose intolerants: different degrees of tolerance

There are two degrees of severity of this intolerance, which can be genetic, i.e. structural due to a lack of lactase in the body, or secondary, because it is induced by particular states of the organism or by other pathologies.

In both cases, you need to pay close attention to your diet and understand if there is a minimum dose that the body can manage without presenting typical negative symptoms.

What are the symptoms? Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and sometimes headaches, in general anything that can be related to poor digestion and ingestion of an unhealthy substance. They should not be underestimated because in the long run they could lead tomalnutrition, dehydration, exhaustion and lack of essential micronutrients.

Thelactose-free diet involves initially removing all foods containing this substance from the daily diet, and then gradually reintroducing them to understand if and to what extent it is possible ingest.

In case of genetic intolerance, the lactose-free diet is a diet for life, a bit like the gluten-free diet for i celiacs - although with a slightly lower "severity" rate of possible symptoms.

On the contrary, if it is a temporary intolerance induced by intestinal diseases or other pathologies, lactose can be gradually reintroduced into the diet, always under medical advice.

What is lactase?

lactase is an enzyme, that is, one of those active particles of human digestion that serve to break down compounds into simpler elements. This enzyme, in this case, belongs to the class of hydrolases: in practice, by mixing lactose and water, it is capable of breaking it down to obtain simple sugars, namely galactose and glucose.

Intolerant people have a deficiency of this enzyme, therefore the mechanism that breaks down sugars "jams", causing various really annoying disorders at the gastro-intestinal level.

Many of us have an intolerant friend who, before enjoying a good margherita pizza, takes a lactase capsule!

Lactose-free foods: what to consume and what to avoid

But what are the foods allowed and those to avoid in a lactose-free diet?

First of all, we must make a distinction between lactose-free foods because they are naturally free of this substance and lactose-free foods.

A clarification must be made about the latter: they are not, in fact, totally free of lactose, but contain a very minimal percentage which should not trigger negative symptoms.

Obviously milk, dairy products and dairy products in general should be avoided: butter, fresh cheeses, chocolate, creams, but also milk bread, ice cream and many industrial foods. It is important to read the labels carefully: often milk and derivatives are also contained in unsuspected products, such as emulsifiers and to give creaminess.

On the other hand, very mature cheeses should not be demonised, such as Grana which, thanks to its long maturation, does not contain lactose: on the contrary, it should be consumed because it is an excellent source of minerals, such as calcium. Even yogurt, thanks to the fermentation process, is often well tolerated, even in the non-lactosed version.

Here, vegetable drinks based on soy, rice, oats, almonds and all the foods derived from them, vegetable cream, puddings, creams and much more can come to the rescue.

All other foods should be consumed without problems, from cereals to vegetables, from fruit to legumes up to the proteins of meat, fish and eggs, as they are naturally lactose-free.