LACTOSE INTOLERANCE AND MILK ALLERGY

Frequently the diagnosis of ‘lactose intolerance’ is not complete or could be totally incorrect. There are two reactions attributable to, mostly bovine, milk – milk allergy and lactose intolerance – and often, there is confusion between the two.

MILK ALLERGY

This refers specifically to a reaction against one or more of the proteins from either the casein (curd portion) or whey group. The human body mounts a variety of defense mechanisms against what it regards as harmful or foreign proteins. Reactions where the immune system is involved are known as CMPA (Cow’s Milk Protein Allergy). Reactions where the immune system is not involved are known as CMP (Cow’s Milk Protein Intolerance).

The Casein group proteins are heat stable and cannot be broken down by for instance boiling the milk. People allergic to these Casein proteins, will thus not be able to use any cow’s milk – even if boiled. Whey protein can usually be broken down by heat, however the majority of the reactions involve both casein and whey proteins. While milk allergy can occur at any age, the group most commonly affected by milk allergy are young children.

Symptoms:

• Reactions vary from immediate to a delay of even days with the most common similar to other food allergy symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, hives, eczema.
• Other symptoms that may indicate a Milk allergy are: Chronic runny nose, coughing, ear infections, excessive colic, nasal stuffiness, rash, hives, eczema and asthma.

LACTOSE INTOLERANCE

What is it? It is a disease that afflicts mainly those older than 5 years and is more prevalent in black individuals than white. Sufferers have little of or lack the enzyme called lactase which breaks down the lactose in the milk.

The symptoms are similar to that of milk allergies – a reason why there is often confusion in diagnosis.

WHY THEN IS GOAT’S CHEESE HEALTHIER THAN ITS BOVINE COUNTERPART?

It does contain slightly less lactose, the fat globules are smaller and thus easier to digest – in fact the molecular structure generally is much smaller – aiding digestibility

The protein structure is different again resulting in a product that is more digestible.

Readers are invited to peruse the Articles listed elsewhere on this site.