Lactose-intolerance, milk protein concentrate and celiac disease

by Carol
(Ontario, Canada)

Every year for five years in the 80s, I had severe gastrointestinal infection of my stomach and bowels.

Since that time, I developed lactose-intolerance. Severe cramps, diarrhea, nausea, the whole nine yards.

Then in November/December of 2008, my bowel movements were suddenly unusually pale. I mentioned this to my doctor and she referred me to a general surgeon to determine why I was losing iron. I had both a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. My diagnosis? Acid reflux...at the time, gastritis and... celiac disease. So, I started eating gluten-free foods.

I've been eating probiotic yogurt, plain, no fat, for awhile and just this past week on two separate occasions, after eating more than the requiared 175 milligrams of this same yogurt, I experience stomach ache and two bouts of diarrhea. The second time around, less yogurt, the same stomach discomfort and no diarrhea.

Checked the ingredients on the yogurt container and noticed milk protein concentrate, so, I've pretty much put two and two together and believe I probably had a milk protein reaction, an allergy to.

On top of that, years ago, I was told by a nurse-practitioner to start a diet of low to no-fat dairy products.

Seems I have a hyper-sensitive stomach and attempting to see where gastroenteritis, lactose intolerance and a possible alllergy to milk proteins, fits into the scheme of things.

Comments for Lactose-intolerance, milk protein concentrate and celiac disease

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ENSURE is badly marketed, supposedly lactose intolerant friendly products
by: Lisa

I've been severe lactose intolerant most my life. In 2010 after a subtotal colectomy, I had after surg complications landing me in the hosp. for a fw months & was not allowed food off/on for almost all of that, dropping me from 120 to 98 lbs. I was kept alive on vitamin drips & blood transfusions as my colon resection kept kinking up & causing me life threatening blockages & NG tubes put in. When I was put bck on soft diet I was given Ensure drinks which stated, suitable for lactose intolerance, but I constantly had diarehha but then again everything did go straight through my gutt into my sigmoid to empty out, so I didn't really know until I was discharged home & had someone get me a bunch of those Ensures & as soon, I mean as soon as I'd drink 1 I'd run to the bathroom but soft food had stopped running through me like that so I finally figured out it's the Ensures, so I stopped them & the problem stopped. Everytime I'm in the hospital like now, i am brought Ensure to drink because I suffer from severe mal-nutrition, severe protein deficiency & although @ one time I got my weight back up to 120 yrs ago, I have been down to 98 again due to C-diff 9mo battle 2018-2019, Ulcer & hiatel hernia 2019-2020 & multiple other issues like colitis, h-pylori, gastritis, gastroenteritis & nausea way too often as well as now my gutt has seemed to slow to a crawl since after C-diff & I frequently get serious impactions leaving me too sick to eat. I know these ppl mean well but you would think that Drs.& hospitals would know that lactose intolerant ppl can't have whey concentrate nor milk protein concentrate. I'm mostly irritated that Ensure can't do any better than this for lactose intolerant ppl as well as ppl W/milk allergies. Plant protein Ensure ppl, plant protein so it can be distributed to ppl in the hospital & ppl @home that are too sick to get a blender out & mix powderto make plant based protein shakes. Ensure can do better than this.
Milk is milk
by: Roscoe

Thanks your experience has helped me alot. Im lactose intolerant.
Lactose vs Milk
by: Anonymous

Isn’t this issue about an incorrect conflation of "dairy-free" and "lactose-free?" Dairy-free would mean ‘not containing any milk products,’ while lactose-free means free from lactose, the sugar that exists naturally in milk (which can be removed through fermentation/aging or the introduction of a proportional amount of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose).

If you have a milk allergy, avoiding milk entirely will be necessary, because it is the result of an immune response to milk.

Lactose intolerance is just an inability in the body to produce sufficient lactose to break down lactose in dairy, so it would only be necessary to avoid dairy products containing more lactose than your body can break down (this would leave products like butter and aged cheeses, or milk with lactase added, on the table).

Products marked as lactose free frequently contain milk (and lactose free milk that has lactose enzyme added can be purchased in supermarkets).

Correct me if I’m misunderstanding this particular scenario, however! As a lactose intolerant but not dairy allergic person, I frequently encounter people’s confusion about this distinction.
misleading labels re lactose intolerance
by: Sue Eckroth

I've learned through diligence and reading the very fine print on the ingredients lists to check out anything even hinting at milk, no matter how vague.

I like to use liquid meal replacement occasionally so I found "Boost" which lists "Milk Protein concentrate." However, it also states that it is lactose free as well as gluten free. Luckily, I let my fingers take me online to define milk protein concentrate and...you guessed it....it comes from skim milk processed to lower or eliminate lactose. Bottom line: it's as my doctor told me years ago, "milk is milk."

My attacks have become so severe that we thought I should have been hospitalized the last time. I had eaten an apple fritter that previously settled well, purchased at the same store's bakery at different times. We were out of town and had to stay out of town until the next day because I was so ill.

I would like to make you aware that the products coming out now that are purposely labeled "lactose free" aren't. Yoplait is marketing a lovely lactose-free yogurt that isn't. I had one spoonful before double-checking the label and the bowel symptoms came back for over a day although not as severe as if I had eaten the whole container. Be sure it says "dairy free" AND READ THE LABEL FOR ANY REFERENCE TO MILK.

I hope someone is helped by my experiences.

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