Personal Essay: Lactose Intolerant

Persons who suffer from lactase deficiency and do not avoid lactose may suffer from weight loss and malnutrition. The severity of symptoms varies depending on the amount of lactose each individual can tolerate. Some of the symptoms may be similar to those of milk allergy but milk allergies can cause the body to react quicker, more often within a few minutes. Common symptoms include nausea, cramps, bloating, gas, and diarrhoea, which begin about 30 minutes to 2 hours after eating or drinking foods containing lactose.

Secondary to the discussion post assignment for this week, I learned about lactose intolerance. When an individual drinks milk, an enzyme lactase, breaks down the lactose in the milk into two monosaccharides glucose and galactose which the individual then uses as energy for the body (Open Learning Initiative, 2015, pg.93). However, numerous individuals lack the necessary lactase needed to properly break down the lactose in their small intestine, resulting in bacteria in the colon breaking

Celiac disease seems to be on an up rise today. You now walk into grocery stores and restaurants and see gluten-free food everywhere. Thankfully, for the celiac disease community, life has become a little easier with these accommodations. When most people hear celiac disease many just think gluten-free diets, but they do not realize that celiac disease can affect all parts of the body and mind, or that the disease has a higher prevalence in women. It is a new lifestyle that many have to take on. In the next few pages, I will discuss the affects that this disease has on the body systems, the lifestyle changes many make when diagnosed with celiac disease, and the importance of educating those who are dealing with the disease on a day to day basis. I also will discuss information from two articles which focus in on the direct affects that the disease takes on women living with it, and the lifestyle changes that are necessary to manage the symptoms.

Lactose intolerance is fairly common. It seems to affect guys and girls equally. Some ethnic groups are more likely to be affected than others because their diets traditionally include fewer dairy products: Almost all Asians and Native Americans are lactose intolerant, and up to 80% of African Americans and Hispanic Americans also have symptoms of lactose intolerance. Their ancestors did not eat dairy foods, so their bodies were not prepared to digest dairy, and they passed these genes on from generation to

At her advanced age, Florence’s doctor decided to inject plastic into the bones to provide stable strength and to ensure that future breaks would not occur. Weeks later, she had a scope done, checking the small intestine for damage to the mucosa and microvilli. The ending result was a diagnosis of celiac and a decision that she must be put on a gluten-free diet for the rest of her natural life (Florence). With celiac disease, many negative outcomes are possible and many more are probable. Further research into celiac disease substantiates the belief that further research, public awareness, and knowledge are imperative in discovering how to deal with the disease and how to spread awareness of this very serious problem.

The opposition for consuming dairy products lies on the notion that the enzyme that is able to digest the lactose sugar, lactase, “grinds to a halt sometime soon after weaning.” This can be believed to be a biological reasoning why we should not consume dairy products after weaning. However, Zuk mentions that there are some humans who are able to break down lactose well after weaning. She also describes that the gene for lactase persistence is a dominant trait. Thus, like we learned in class an organism only needs one copy of the dominant gene for the lactase persistence to occur.

My mom always encouraged me to drink milk three times a day whether I wanted to or not. I began to argue with my mom whenever she told me to drink milk because it did not leave a pleasant taste in my mouth. As an eight year old, I did not understand the dangers of jumping off stairs and often injured my bones in the process. I was told that drinking milk would help me grow taller and develop strong bones, but I still felt pain even with the consistent calcium intake and was still the shortest out of all my peers. Even the slightest pressure applied to my bones, such as jumping, would injure my ankles. This frustration was unbearable for an impatient child like I was, so I decided to add drinking milk to a daily task of mine, regardless of what aftertaste it left in my mouth. I grew up in a household that constantly motivated me; I was often stressed whenever things did not work out the way I wanted it

S lactose intolerance, mouth ulcers, and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). Damage to your small intestine may cause you to experience abdominal pain and diarrhea after eating lactose-containing dairy products, even though they don't contain gluten ("Celiac Disease," n.d.). Mouth ulcers become apparent as a late sign and symptom of celiac disease. Celiac disease has symptoms similar to other digestive disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcers, Crohn's disease, parasite infections and anemia ("Celiac Disease,"

The Radio Lab program "Gut Feelings" showed the correlation between our gut bacteria and our feelings. In response to this answered question, another question is raised about the opposing effects of sucrose on our gut health and how this effects emotional stability. The studies examined involved experiments with rats and mice that were fed high sugar diets compared to control groups. These studies also included the aspect of stress with the high sugar diet.

Celiac is an autoimmune disease; meaning the immune system is attacking and destroying ones on health cells within the body mistakenly when eating gluten also known as a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. When consuming these types of food hard to absorb for people with this type of disorder. Once gluten is digests by an individual for the first time this can cause a reaction in a person immune system with these disease because the antibodies from gluten are invading by damaging the villi which are finger- shaped tissue lined in your small intestine in your digestive tract. The villi are what helps take in all the nutrients from the food we eat to allow our body to stay healthy and fight off diseases. Damage caused to the intestines makes it hard to absorb nutrients our body requires such as; calcium, iron, fat and folate. Improper absorption of these nutrients can lead to other medical problems. This condition is a chronic autoimmune disease; which means it is not something you can get rid of overtime, but proper diagnosis and treatment can help.

Many misconceptions surround the recent “gluten-free” lifestyle fad sweeping over American Society today. There is little established research quantifying participation in a gluten-free lifestyle. This study will survey random pool of participants using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk software (n=1,600). A random pool of Regis University undergraduates will be administered a hard copy of the same survey (n=100). The consolidation of these findings will not only elucidate the amount of people identify themselves as gluten-free, but the reasons for their diet modifications. This carefully engineered questionnaire will also investigate the average Americans knowledge of gluten and nutrition ...The results of the survey indicate that blank percent of American’s follow a gluten-free diet. The most significant aim of the study is to generate

It's been a little over two-hundred years since Samoans started to reproduce the genetic mutation. In the late 1700s European sailors “discovered” the Island of Samoa, this leading to them reproducing with my ancestors, giving them the mutated gene to be lactose tolerant. Although being lactose tolerant is among the people of Samoa (Pacific Islanders), most of the people (today) are still lactose intolerant. Having difficulty digesting dairy products, due to a good amount of the Pacific Island population being lactose intolerance, they still use the ancient ways to make food, using coconut milk. Making it difficult for them to undergo the genetic mutation, but maybe over time (just like the Europeans) the Pacific Islanders, Samoans will be able to be lactose

(biological underpinning- how lactose tolerance works and weaning process) (continue with how some individuals mutated, how it arises, high selective

I didn't realize it was the Fresca hurting my stomach at first, but my husband convinced me to stop drinking stuff with artificial sweeteners for a while and the pain went away within about a week. When I started up again, the pain came back. I started to read up on the negative effects of artificial sweetener, and I knew I had to quit that too.

Gluten-free diets are a growing trend in the U.S., arguably a response to the growing number of cases of celiac disease, which currently affects less than 1 percent of Americans. Arsenic is a naturally occurring metalloid found in nature, and it is common for trace amounts to be present in the food and water. It has been proven to be a carcinogenic to humans based on evidence from human studies demonstrating that acute exposure has the potential to cause cancer of the lung, bladder, and skin, as well as cardiovascular disease. Source https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/arsenic.html One of the leading culprits that has been found to contain varying levels of inorganic arsenic is rice, which is the primary source of dietary arsenic