Milk intolerance can occur at any age: symptoms

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With age the human intestine can stop digesting milk and milk-based products normally.

With age, a deficiency of lactase, an enzyme needed to break down the milk sugar known as lactose, can occur in the small intestine. Thus, milk intolerance is actually lactose intolerance.

It can occur in a person of any age, NHS (National Health Service of Great Britain) experts said. Most people first notice the signs of milk intolerance between the ages of 20 and 40.

According to doctors, with lactose intolerance, within a few hours after consuming milk or dairy products, unfavorable signs of impaired digestion appear. Their severity and speed of appearance depends on the amount of lactose consumed, and even on the degree of sensitivity of the body to it. Some people may react painfully to a few drops of milk added to tea or coffee.

Symptoms of milk intolerance. When the intestine does not have a sufficient supply of the enzyme lactase, it cannot properly break down milk sugar, and it remains in the digestive system, where it is fermented by bacteria. This leads to the production of gas, which causes the characteristic symptoms of milk intolerance – stomach rumbling, bloating and flatulence after drinking it.

Other symptoms include the following discomforts:

• Diarrhea.
• Spasms and abdominal pain.
• Feel sick.

Experts note that in some cases milk intolerance develops as a symptom of a disease due to which the intestine stops absorbing milk sugar. In particular, it can be gastroenteritis, celiac disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis.