At Trader Joe’s last night, I bought a bottle of 100 Lactase & Renin “Milk Digestant” supplements for around five bucks. Now, at my local grocery store, a box of 30 or so “Lactaid” supplements costs 8 or 9 dollars.
Are the TJ supplements the same thing as the Lactaid pills? If so, why the dramatic difference in the costs? If I take the TJ supplements just before I eat ice cream, will they be as effective as the Lactaid pills? I need to know these things before I take the risk- lactose intolerance hurts, bad!
Did the TJ pills list an active ingredient? The active ingredient in Lactaid is just enzyme lactasa AFAIK, so if the other pills have that too, they should be just as effective.
Like with a lot of other items, with lactaid you’re essentially paying extra for the brand name. Don’t see a lot of point to that. Of course, if you find that the cheaper pills don’t work as well for you personally it might be reasonable to switch back… but I don’t think that’s a good reason not to try them.
Do compare to see if they have different amounts of enzyme lactase in them to work out a comparable dose… milk supplement pills vary fairly widely in dosage. I remember finding one store brand that was really cheap… and for some reason, had GIGANTIC pills (nearly half an inch in diameter,) without much active ingredient in them, which were just a pain to swallow. I never bought that store brand again.
The TJ pills list 30 mg of Lactase, at 100 FFF U/mg. I’ll have to check the Lactaid box when I go grocery shopping this afternoon.
I may, however have just answered my own question. You see, while at TJs last night, I also bought a frozen tiramisu… quite delicious and highly recommended. I ate a piece just after taking one of the supplements. Just now I had what I like to refer to as a “lactose moment”. I shook a tiny fist at Trader Joe’s from my bathroom.
Thanks for your reply, more research is needed on my part!
Even if they have the same active ingredient in the same amount, I’m afraid only trial and error will see if they work for you. There may be a different (cheaper) binding agent used in the cheaper pills, which may or may not break down an release the lactase as easily.
Chances are very good, though, that they’ll work fine.
There are two grade of lactase that are measured in mg. One is a pharmaceutical grade and the other isn’t. Converting mg to FCC units of lactase (the standard measure) is therefore tricky. When something is measured in FFF units you’re lost. I don’t know what FFF units are in relation to lactase and Googling doesn’t help any.
Check out this lactase pills page. It doesn’t list house brands but it’s usually easy to figure out what the original is. I wouldn’t use anything not comparable to one of the brands listed, and I’m never without a supply of lactase.
None of the brands there list lactase plus rennin. IIRC, it’s because the author thinks that digestive enzymes are basically worthless, but not harmful, so it’s up to you if you want to use them.
Don’t be too surprised that you’ve found a product for considerably less @ TJ’s. I was in there yesterday buying food and wondered several times how Safeway can stay in business by charging more than twice for items @ TJ’s.
Butter was $2, at Safeway if you get it on sale, it’s like $3. Shame on SW.