Milk
Allergies and Dairy Allergies: Dealing with Lactose Intolerance
in a Milk-Saturated World
It’s one
of the cruelest ironies in food consumption today. Milk allergies
and dairy allergies are probably the most common food allergies
in the world, yet everywhere you look, delicious products are full
of milk and dairy ingredients. Avoiding a milk allergy and dairy
allergy is not as simple as shunning ice cream and cheese. A person
can feel the effects of milk allergies and dairy allergies after
eating butter, pastries, chocolate, pudding, salad dressing, scrambled
eggs, and mashed potatoes. It simply seems unfair.
To compound the
problem, milk and dairy products may make you feel more congested
if you have a cold, respiratory infection, or seasonal
allergy. While milk and dairy products do not make your body
to produce more mucus, these foods do cause mucus to be thicker
and more irritating to your throat. This is why many people with
respiratory congestion avoid milk and dairy products.
Milk allergies
and dairy allergies in themselves, however, are another story. These
allergies are caused by two different reactions: a milk allergy
or lactose intolerance. Technically speaking, a milk allergy is
a reaction of the immune system to milk proteins. Symptoms of milk
allergy are more common in childhood and include vomiting, diarrhea,
hives, runny nose, and ear infections.
On the other hand,
lactose intolerance is a completely different ailment. Lactose intolerance
is caused by the inability to break down lactose, the sugar in milk.
What causes this failure? To digest lactose, the body needs a digestive
enzyme called lactase. Many people do not produce enough of the
lactase enzyme to digest milk and dairy products. A person with
lactose intolerance experiences symptoms like stomach pain, bloating,
vomiting, and diarrhea.
People with milk
allergies and dairy allergies are usually interested in alternatives
to cow’s milk products and other ways to achieve natural
allergy relief. Supermarkets and health food stores are overflowing
with products for milk allergies and dairy allergies, for example,
soy milk, rice milk, oat milk, and coconut milk. For those concerned
about their calcium intake, it’s advised that they find alternative
calcium sources like salmon, kidney beans, sunflower seeds, green
leafy vegetables, almonds, spinach, and broccoli.
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