What will happen to someone who is lactose intolerant and drinks milk?

Am I lactose intolerant?

• Growing up, I could drink milk, and eat any dairy product (cheese, pizza, yogurt, ice cream, you name it) without any negative effects on my body. Recently, about two years ago, I would get stomach aches whenever I ate too much cheese pizza or drank too much milk. This only happened recently, and I wasn't born with it. However, this almost always occurs only if I have too much of a dairy product. If I eat a small portion, nothing will happen. But if I eat even just the normal serving of something, I will almost always have to go #2 afterward (the runny kind). For instance, if I eat half a slice of pizza, nothing will happen; but if I eat 2 or more slices, I will immediately have to go to the bathroom. Same thing with milk: I can drink an 8 oz. serving of milk just fine (regular kind, not Lactaid), but if I drink even a bowl of cereal, I will have to go. The effects seem to be the most detrimental when I drink coffee. I drink coffee almost everyday, and once I drink a cup of coffee I will immediately have a stomachache. Because of this, I have even seriously thought about switching to tea. I was wondering if this counts as lactose intolerance. I can still handle dairy products but only in small amounts. By the way, both my mom and dad have lactose intolerance (my dad drinks Lactaid, my mom can't eat any cheese or pizza) so I wouldn't be surprised if I actually do.

• Answer:

  The coffee to tea switch will definitely help. I recommend it. You may email me with any questions on that. I made the switch many years ago and now import tons of tea to the US for our wellness center and tea shop. But what I really want to address is the lactose thing for you. I want you to know that even if you only experience the symptoms with larger doses, you are still most likely doing damage. I would recommend staying away from dairy for a while and then, after a some healing has taken place and your body has had a chance to clean out, try some raw dairy if it available to you. Most Americans are consuming pasteurized dairy and in the process of pasteurization, all the beneficial enzymes in the milk (including the ones that you need to break down the wonderful proteins in it) are killed off. I proffer that most people who are lactose intolerant will do well when switched to raw dairy. I'll post two links below. Worth checking them out. One site provides testing for gluten, dairy, soy, egg, yeast intolerance and the other is a clearinghouse of information on fresh dairy products. Incredible stuff. I have seen firsthand (over and over again) what happens when people make the switch to no dairy or raw dairy. May the best of health be yours!!