How To Determine if You're Lactose Intolerant?

If you're lactose intolerant, something as simple as drinking a glass of milk can cause a host of unpleasant symptoms, including abdominal cramps, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, and nausea.

If you are lactose intolerant, your small intestine doesn't produce enough lactase, an enzyme your body needs to digest the lactose found in milk and dairy products. And an inability to digest lactose can cause your body to react in some pretty unpleasant, and embarrassing, ways. If your stomach has ever started rumbling while you were in the middle of an important meeting, you know what I mean.

Many people are lactose intolerant and don't even know it. They know they're having painful stomach cramps, but don't connect the cramps to the ice cream or frozen yogurt they ate for dessert. So, they keep eating those treats, and keep suffering those painful symptoms.

If you suspect you are lactose intolerant, here are some ways to find out.

Make a List.

Every time you find yourself experiencing one of the common symptoms of lactose intolerance, sit down and make a list. Write down everything you ate a few hours beforehand.

After a week or two, compare the lists. If you find that you've usually eaten some dairy product before experiencing stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea, flatulence, or nausea, you might be lactose intolerant.

Be Observant.

Whenever you consume a dairy product, pay attention to how your body reacts. Do you feel nauseas? Does your stomach start to rumble and gurgle? If so, that might be a sign you're lactose intolerant.

Give Dairy a Pass.

If you think you might be lactose intolerant but aren't sure, try this test.

For one week, eliminate milk and other dairy products from your diet. If your symptoms don't change, that means something else is causing them. But if the symptoms decrease, or even stop altogether, it could be because you're lactose intolerant.

Now, after one week, start reintroducing dairy products to your diet. If the symptoms come back, that's a pretty good sign dairy products are the cause of your problems.

Are You Allergic to Milk?

Many people who think they are lactose intolerant actually have milk allergy. And, while lactose intolerance isn't a serious condition, milk allergy can be as life-threatening as bee stings are to those allergic to bee venom.

A doctor can tell whether you have milk allergy, or are actually lactose intolerant.

So, are you lactose intolerant? If so, you now know what's been causing the unpleasant symptoms that have been plaguing you, and can begin taking steps to alleviate, or even eliminate, those symptoms.