Strange question about lactose intolerance

(Ali) #1

So, I can’t seem to find any information about this online but I’m wondering if you’re lactose intolerant and you consume dairy products, would you absorb the calories and carbs still even though the food basically went right through you and didn’t digest correctly? How does that work? I am lactose intolerant but I can’t stand to stay away from some things anyway so I guiltily still eat some things. And it may not be “keto friendly” a lot of the time but at least for the time being, I’ve found that eating around 50 carbs - sometimes more - a day works best for me. I will go back down in the future but at this rate I’m still losing weight fairly quickly since taking out bread and pasta. I’m still eating other things but I’m scared that losing a pound a day will cause my skin to be too saggy. And yes I was losing a pound a day. Now it’s a pound or two a week since I upped it and I’m in mild ketosis or no ketosis at all.

But main question is, when I eat (for example) cheesecake and I get an upset stomach after and don’t digest properly, am I actually getting anything from it? Because I’m still rapidly losing weight. Thanks.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

You may be absorbing the fat and the protein, even if not the lactose and galactose.

(KCKO, KCFO) #3

You are not allowing your body to heal and assist you in your efforts. Why continue to eat something that makes you feel ill??? Sorry I just don’t get it.

I eat this way because I like the foods, I gave up my gluten addiction and now enjoy my foods so much more, because they no longer make me ill. If you are sensitive or allergic to dairy, find an alternative, like nut milks and cheeses.

Try to concentrate on what you do get to eat and enjoy and kick the stuff that makes you ill to the curb. Good luck sorting yourself out.

(Ali) #4

I understand the logic. What I’m wondering is if I’m technically gaining those carbs because I think it doesn’t kick me out of ketosis when it usually should. That’s the “science” I’d like to know. Not advice on what I should eat. Thanks :slight_smile:

(mole person) #5

You’ll still absorb the sugar.

(Bruce) #6

Go and buy some lactase enzyme tablets which you can take as you start to consume the dairy and you will be able to eat with no gut issues! This does not repopulate your gut permanently and personally I double the dose to be certain but it works a treat!
Lactase is the enzyme you are missing which would allow you to digest the lactose dairy sugar.

(Bunny) #7

Try Goat Cheese/Milk!

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #8

Many times I’ve mentioned a food intolerance I have. Sorry for being so boring lol.

I’ve tried cutting several veg … at one stage convinced by FODMAPS, without much luck I’m almost carnivore.
But I’ve never cut out cream and high lactose cheese! … Could I be lactose intolerant?

(KM) #9

Lactose is more or less inversely proportional with the fat content in a dairy product. So a range from skim milk (a lot) to ghee (basically none.). Cheeses are in the middle. I suppose if you want to test your lactose tolerance you’d start with 0% fat milk and see what happens. (Unless you already know you’re LI in which case start with eliminating all dairy and then work down from butter.)

I know the ability to digest it is a genetic mutation (much more common in people of northern European ancestry) but I don’t think it’s an all or nothing situation.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #10

Interesting. Thanks for that. I do cook with ghee, you think that’s OK? … if I eliminate the others I should have my answer, right?

(KM) #11

Ghee basically has no lactose in it at all, it’s pure fat. Yes, if you cut the others out and your issues go away, I assume you have your answer! But if you really don’t know whether you have lactose intolerance or not, it might be a lot faster to just down a glass of skim milk or even whole milk. Not as pleasant if it turns out you can’t digest it, but faster. If you already know you have some issues with milk, I’d say cut out all dairy entirely and see if you feel better. What do you have to lose? Other than a lot of lovely cheese?

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #12

I’ve been blaming vegetables, but my issue could be elsewhere!
That’s OK, as always n=1 … we experiment on ourselves. A sometimes painful method but it works.

(KM) #13

I’ll be interested to see what you discover. And, full disclosure, once in a while I wonder if it would be better for my health generally to eliminate cow dairy, but I’d call myself a lactose super-digester … you’ll pry my aged french roquefort from my cold dead hands. Or, who knows, possibly from my saturatedfatcloggedarteries. You do your part for the database, I’ll do mine! :rofl:

#14

There are factors that are at play here. It’s very difficult to determine what is going on with regard to absorption. I thought I was a super responder at 2-3 lbs per week, and yet you were losing 1 lb per day. That is a significant amount of weight loss. I think you may be right in that it may cause your skin to sag in the short term. After I plateaued, I increased my carbs to 50+ grams per day and I started to lose weight again.
Have you ever read information on recolonizing your gut biome so that you can consume dairy products?

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #16

My experiment starts today… close to carnivore and no dairy except hard cheese and ghee.

(KM) #17

why keep the hard cheese? Doesn’t that just present a confounding variable? :nerd_face:

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #18

Hard cheese very low in Lactose, no? … but I can easily miss it out.
How long do I let this experiment run?

(KM) #19

I’m just thinking that if your symptoms don’t abate, then you still don’t know if it’s the hard cheese. You can basically approach it from either end - do an elimination diet, maybe just literally beef water and salt for 30 days. At that point you probably know for certain if it’s something in your diet causing the issue, or something else. Then you reintroduce to see what food it was. Or you can just knock out one thing at a time til you hit on the one(s) that are at issue, but it seems to me it might take a lot longer to pinpoint it unless you get lucky and yes, it’s the cream.

(Peter - Don't Fear the Fat ) #20

Not even bacon :disappointed_relieved: …I can do that. Hoping to get a result quick. Like everyone after a quick fix lol

(KM) #21

:cry: You can of course try an elimination diet without eliminating the bacon! The only point really is that the fewer variables you work with, the easier it is to interpret your results. I think Dr. Ken Berry’s version is “beef, bacon, butter and eggs”.