Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Ask a Nutrition, our weekly mini episode of Dishing Up Nutrition.

I'm Brittany Vincent, a registered and licensed dietitian here at Nutrition and Weight Malness.

And today we are tackling the question, can you reverse lactose intolerance?

You can probably relate to this, many of you.

Maybe you feel bloated after ice cream, gassy after drinking milk.

And maybe you used to not have these symptoms and

wondered why your body suddenly changed. Well, this episode is for you. So we are going to cover

what lactose intolerance actually is why it happens, whether it can improve and what you can

realistically do about it. So first, let's start with the basics.

What is lactose intolerance and how do you develop it? Lactose is a natural sugar found in milk and dairy

products. And to digest it, we require and our body produces an enzyme called lactase, which breaks down

that lactose into simpler sugars that your body can actually absorb. Lactose intolerance

happens when your body doesn't produce enough of that lactase enzyme. When that lactose isn't fully digested, it travels to your

colon where bacteria will ferment it, and that's what causes those common symptoms of gas and

bloating. So then the question is, how do you develop lactose intolerance? Well, there are a few main reasons.

So genetics is really the most common. Many people are naturally programmed to produce less lactase

after childhood. And worldwide, lactose intolerance is really actually the norm, not the exception,

with about 65 to 70% of the

world's population having some degree of lactose intolerance. So that's most of the population. So you

are not alone if you're relating to this. And that means that there's nothing wrong with you if you don't tolerate dairy foods well.

You know, there are other situational factors that can be a cause conditions like celiac disease,

Crohn's or gut infections that can damage the lining of the small intestine where lactase is produced, then just general aging.

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