What Is Lactose Intolerance?

Thesis: Humans are designed to drink human milk, not cow’s milk. Humans should really old drink milk during infancy and that’s because all of the hormones in cow’s milk can cause many health issues.

Lactose Intolerance Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest significant amounts of lactose, the predominant sugar of milk. This inability results from a shortage of the enzyme lactase, which is normally produced by the cells that line the small intestine. Lactase breaks down milk sugar into simpler forms that can then be absorbed into the bloodstream. When there is not enough lactase to digest the amount of lactose consumed, the results, although not usually dangerous, may be very distressing. While not all persons deficient in lactase have symptoms, those who do are considered to be lactose intolerant.

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

If someone is lactose intolerant, that means that they are lacking the enzyme lactase, so the lactose does not get broken down into galactose and glucose. If lactose goes undigested it creates many problems. It causes dehydrations because water and electrolytes get pulled into the intestines by the lactose, which acts like an osmotic agent. The result of the increased amount of lactose would be diarrhea, bloating, and gassiness. Although being lactose intolerant seems to be abnormal, it is actually natural. The production of the enzyme, lactase, is a mutation of the LTC gene, it allows us to produce lactase as adults. In all other mammals lactase is produced during infancy but not during adulthood.

According to “Got Lactose?”, cultural behavior affects evolution. In this excerpt, it is shown that cultures that included lactose in their diets, such as European and East African cultures, are lactase persistent in adulthood. Other cultures, such as Asian cultures, that did not include lactose in their diets, did not continue to be lactase persistent in adulthood. This is shown in the example of what happens during a famine. During famine, when milk was a majority source of food, those who could not process lactose died off, leaving those who can process lactose to survive. So now, those there today have the mutation that allows them to process lacto

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

Throughout our lives we have been told that milk is good for our body and helps to toughen our bones. Drinking milk started when people domesticated animals for food, which happened around 7500 years ago in the central Balkans and central Europe. By that time consuming milk was not as common as it is today. It was only farmers in some specific regions that were using cow’s milk. Milk’s market grew the mass production of meat in the 15th century. Afterwards in the 17th century, the idea of eating out and going to restaurants was born and fast food industries, started using animal’s meat for producing their meals. The rate of milk users grew with the rate of meat users and milk’s market got bigger and bigger every day. Mothers

The enzyme used in the four different experiments was lactase. Lactase is an enzyme found in the small intestine, liver, and kidneys of mammals. Lactase binds to lactose, reducing it to the simple sugars Glucose and Galactose, which can eventually be utilized as a source of energy in cells. Lactase is an important enzyme and the absence of lactase leads to lactose intolerance. According to the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia, lactose intolerance is very common in adults and is rarely dangerous. About 30 million American adults have some amount of lactose intolerance by age 20 (A.D.A.M. 2012). Some symptoms include abdominal bloating, cramps, diarrhea, gas, and nausea (A.D.A.M. 2012). These

“Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down lactose, the sugar in milk. It is produced by the cells lining of the small intestine. Most people are born producing it, but often make less of it as they age, which causes lactose intolerance the symptoms for this include nausea, bloating, and diarrhea to name a few. This enzyme is produced

The results obtained matched what was expected when the experiment was started. The procedure was successful in the fact that the components of the milk were separated and the qualitative tests went

Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down lactose. Lactose is the sugar found in milk. It is made up of two monosaccharides: glucose and galactose. Therefore it is a disaccharide that needs to break down in order to be digested. However some people are “Lactose Intolerant” or lack lactase in their bodies. This means that they cannot consume lactose-contained food or drinks or they need help digesting it. People who are lactose intolerant must be very selective to make sure that they do not eat food or drinks with lactose. There are pills though, which are purchased by lactose intolerant people. This pill helps the people break down the sugar lactose into its smaller components.

In mostly all non-human mammals, lactase production activity greatly reduces during or after the weaning period. In contrast, about a third of the human species maintains high lactase activity into adulthood. To clear this difference, various parameters have been examined for which contrasting observations have been reported in connection with the decline in lactase production. The samples of the variation of Lactase activity, lactase mRNA levels, and in vitro lactase biosynthesis were taken from a group of white adults, all born in or near Naples.Out of the total 44 individuals, 10 were lactase persistent and 34 were lactase Non-persistent. Biosynthesis of prolactase correlated well with lactase mRNA levels, indicating transcriptional control. Further examination proved a correlation between the lactase activity and mRNA ratio in both lactase persistent and hypolactasic subjects. Both transcriptional and post transcriptional factors

Lactose intolerance has its dominance in my family. My mother and both of my sisters have the same reactions to dairy that I do. I’ve been lactose intolerant since I’ve been a child; but when I was about 10 years old, I could suddenly eat dairy without any pain. About two years ago, the pain started to return with seemingly no reason. What I do not

Lactose intolerance occurs when the body has a hard time digesting dairy products. Lactose is a milk sugar and is broken down by enzymes in the intestinal track, allowing the enzymes to be used as an energy source. Lactase is an enzyme which breaks down lactose. Lactose intolerance occurs when the intestine does not contain lactase (Jackson). Low lactose activity in the small intestine, allows undigested lactose to pass into the colon, where the bacteria are able to convert the sugar into hydrogen gas and organic acids. This causes symptoms such as bloating and cramping (“Lactose Intolerance”). The two causes of lactose intolerance are primary lactase deficiency and secondary lactase deficiency. In primary lactase deficiency the level of lactase enzyme falls as a person gets older. This does not allow the person to tolerate the amount of lactose that they were used to. This affects around 70 percent of the population. Secondary lactase deficiency is a temporary condition in which the level of lactase drops due to a problem in a person’s digestive

Organisms across the planet utilize carbohydrates via digestion and absorption to obtain the energy they require (Open Learning Initiative, 2015, p.70). For example, when a human being drinks milk, an enzyme lactase breaks down the sugar lactose into smaller sugar molecules that the body then burns as energy (Multiple: Lactose Intolerance, 2009, p.643). However, particular individuals lack the ability to properly digest the sugar in milk and these individuals have what is known as lactose intolerance (Hilton, 2011, p.2518). For my discussion forum post, I will discuss in further detail the biology behind lactose intolerance, what causes it and how sufferers cope with their condition.