If someone is lactose intolerant and usually gets an upset stomach after eating dairy, but they don’t take anything to treat or prevent this, are they at any risk for any more serious health problems, either short-term or long-term?
My doctor tells me no. Although my lactose intolerance is fairly mild.
Well, lactose acts like a laxative for me. If nothing else it just means I don’t get all the nutrition out of my food.
I take lactaid to help alleviate lactose intolerance. It’s cheap at costco and works fairly well.
I’ve tried alot of generics as well. They work pretty decently as well. I mainly stick with lactaid brand lactose intolerance pills because they come individually wrapped and are therefore portable.
Almost every grocery store has store-brand “lactaid” pills that are individually wrapped, and much cheaper.
Having almost constant diarrhea has to have the potential of causing problems- dehydration, hemorrhoids, sore bum? I’m severely lactose intolerant, and as much as I like my dairy, sometimes it’s reeeeallly just not worth it. And beware, it does tend to get worse as you get older. A few years ago, I could drink a small glass of milk, or have a small piece of cheesecake. Now I can’t even get away with a pat of butter in my mashed potatoes. 
Butter has almost no lactose. I don’t think you’re reacting to lactose in the butter, but some other component of dairy products.
Maybe a casein allergy?
Seconded. There’s no direct damage of any kind from merely eating dairy if you are LI. It’s the secondary effects of solids-laden water scraping the soft tissue at the anus that can cause lots of problems. Some of the hemorrhoid creams will take care of occasional mild spotting, but if you start bleeding regularly then you should see a doctor.
You do not ever want to have a hemorrhoidectomy. Ever.
I have heard this from a few others, as well. Do you guys have meetings or what?
I’ve done the math. Per pill it’s usually cheaper to buy lactaid brand lactaid @ costco then to buy store branded lactaid.
I love costco. I honestly make back my membership fees on lactaid alone.
Mashed potatoes typically contain milk, condensed milk, or cream.
Not when I make them.
Could be that trublmakr makes his or her own as well. I assume that anyone who is LI would do so.
Ah, yes I do make my mashed potatoes with a little milk. Just wouldn’t be the same without it. That must be what I’m not getting away with anymore. :smack:
To say what I can’t say in GQ: :smack:
Try saving a little of the cooking water from your potatoes, and using that instead of the milk, along with a pat of butter in the potatoes, as well as on them. It’s not quite the same, but it’s better than no mashed potatoes!
“Almost no lactose” doesn’t work for some of us. I have pushed my lactose intolerance way beyond where I should have. Chronic inflammation and the resulting chronic diarrhea are beyond inconvenient and unpleasant. In themselves, they are health risks. For some of us, especially as we age, abstaining from all dairy products is the only way to be sure not to set off a reaction. Even the whey in butter is enough to trigger my lactose intolerance. Hidden lactose in bread, cakes, and all sorts of casseroles, soups, even salad dressings is also enough.
In addition to WhyNot’s recommendation: Roasted garlic with a splash of chicken stock (or veggie; I probably wouldn’t use beef stock, thought) and butter might also make a nice batch of flavorful smashed taters too.
You should check for a whey protein allergy. You can have this in addition to lactose intolerance. Also irritable bowel syndrome can be triggered by dairy and its symptoms can be interchangeable with LI. It is almost always the case that a second cause is involved rather than microscopic amounts of lactose triggering major symptoms. Diarrhea can have hundreds of causes and can be very hard to pin down, but it’s worth doing.
Many dairys now market lactose free milk. My understanding is that they add lactase to the milk at the dairy to convert the lactose to glucose. That’s what I use to make mashed potatoes, etc. It’s more expensive than regular milk, but less expensive than the lactase pills I’d have to take.
Why? I’ve had a couple done. The prep is similar to that of a colonoscopy and the procedure itself is a snap.
I’m sure there’s a spectrum of seriousness for all operations. Apparently you were at one end of the spectrum and I was at the other. It was not a snap, but a full-fledged hospital procedure. Afterward I told to go home and eat a regular diet. A regular diet means regular bowel movements. Over a large interior wound that was recently stitched. Ever stress the incision after a major operation? You know how they always ask for pain from 1 to 10? If the worst torture or terminal cancer is a 10 that was a 9. The hemorrhaging after I popped a stitch in the process was lots of fun as well.
Yuck, indeed. But you asked.