You are lactose intolerant. You love dairy products such as ice cream, cheese, sour cream, and more. Unfortunately, dairy products do not love you. Soon after eating that cheesy lasagna or big bowl of ice cream, you begin to experience cramping, gas, bloating, and diarrhea. These are signs and symptoms that your body can not digest milk sugar, or lactose. This is called lactose intolerance.

For your body to digest lactose, it needs an enzyme called lactase. Babies are born with large amounts of lactase, but as you grow older, the body often produces less of the lactase. Adults who produce less of the enzyme are lactase deficient, and then can not digest any foods containing lactose.

The body's tolerance to lactose varies in everyone. Most people can handle up to a half cup of milk without any problems. Where the symptoms occur is when they consume several dairy problems at one time, or they eat a large portion of food containing the lactose. Other people are severely intolerant, and can not consume any dairy products at all without experiencing symptoms.

To reduce the symptoms of lactose intolerance, avoid or eat smaller portions of these foods that contain high quantities of lactose.

*Cottage cheese
*Half-and-half
*Cheese spreads
*Dairy-based dip for chips
*Dip for chips
*Evaporated milk
*Ice cream
*Sour cream
*Ricotta cheese
*White sauces
*Sweetened condensed milk
*Milk

You do not have to avoid yogurt because the active bacteria in it digests most of the lactose in the product. Just be sure it is yogurt with active yeast cultures.

There are many good products sold in tablet or liquid form that contain the enzyme lactase , and these can often prevent or relieve the lactose intolerant symptoms. Also, various brands of milk sold in grocery stores contain lactase.