In recent years, milk has been the subject of incessant controversy. Faced with lactose allergies or intolerances, few people distinguish between the drink and its derivatives, yogurts and cheeses. A brief overview to better understand what dairy products are, their advantages and disadvantages.
We are witnessing a reduction in milk consumption which is partly explained by the very real troubles suffered by some people and which could be linked to the consumption of lactose, but we are also witnessing a demonization of dairy productssometimes for prevention, sometimes for ethical reasons related to rearing conditions often disastrous.
Lactose intolerance, reduce all dairy products?
This global trend associating convictions and lactose intolerance real or supposed unfortunately tends to confuse several things by inviting reduce all dairy products.
First clarification: Lactose intolerance does not mean allergy. In the first case, the effects are certainly uncomfortable, sometimes painful, but safe. In case of allergy (to milk proteins), the symptoms can be serious in extreme cases (angioedema or anaphylactic shock).
Second precision: only the milkthem fresh cheeses and other dairy products of this type (cottage cheese, cottage cheese…) contain lactose.
Ripened cheeses, such as Camembert where the county, do not contain, as well as butter. Finally, if it is found in yoghurts, this lactose is made digestible by the presence of lactic ferments.
the lactose is a carbohydrate (or sugar) specific, present in the milk of all mammals. It must, in order to be assimilated by the organism, be degraded by a enzymethe lactasewhich separates it into smaller molecules.
However, after the age of about 3 years, lactase activity can decrease by 75 to 90% depending on the individual. Some children lack this enzyme and therefore cannot not digest milk.
But it can also happen in adults over time, this enzyme tending to vanish with age. As a result, these famous lactose intolerances are no longer sufficiently degraded in the intestine.
The lactose that reaches the colon goes ferment under the effect of the bacterial flora, with a very important production of gas. This causes bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, even a disturbance of transit.
While some people have been able to adapt to maintain sufficient lactase production, approximately 40% of the population are indisposed 30 minutes to 2 hours after drinking milk, on the digestive level but also in many other ways: rhinitis, sinusitis, eczema, migraines, concentration disorders, joint pain, frequent urination.
Scientifically, the link between these disorders and lactose is not proven, but the frequency of such testimonials should oblige us to check whether the modification of the intestinal flora induced by this malabsorption would not be responsible for such symptoms.
The concern today is that the demonization of milk leads some people to eliminate all dairy. Milk is not essential for adults, but cheeses or yogurts are important for calcium intake, but also because they are a good source of probiotics.
However, I invite you to beware of what I call dairy specialtiesi.e. creams and other milk-based desserts, which do not contain lactic ferments.
The contribution in calcium is widely covered by the dairy products other than milk (except fermented milk, which I classify as superfoods). If you digest the latter badly, one yogurt a day and an small portion of cheese enough to cover your calcium and probiotic needs.
Soy milk, an alternative?
Highly consumed by vegetarians and the vegansthe soy and its derivatives are also very popular with those who want to limit animal proteins for health reasons and/or ethical issues.
With the latest meat-related food scandals, everything suggests that this success will continue. Excellent source of vegetable protein which can, to a certain extent, replace animal proteins, soy offers many advantages… but also disadvantages, linked in particular to its phyto-oestrogen content, which can cause undesirable hormonal variations.
However, it should consume a lot to be affected by these disorders or to have a particular pathology. This still needs to be monitored.
As for the other vegetable drinks, they are juices and not milk. They are actually misnamed “vegetable milks”. They do not have the same contributions and often become marketing products that require calcium or magnesium additions to claim nutritional benefits.
Certainly the production of milk is to be questioned nowadays, if you live in the countryside and you know how the local breeder feeds his animals, then if you do not presentlactose intolerancedo not deprive yourself of this food!
