Can't stomach milk? Try yogurt, tofu, green veggies

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-14 08:44

China is not traditionally a nation of milk-drinkers-and with good reason. Around 90 percent of the Chinese adult population is thought to be lactose intolerant (ru tang mei que fa), which means they have low levels of the enzyme that normally digests lactose, the sugar found in milk and milk products.

In fact, worldwide, a huge percentage of people of Asian and African origin struggle with milk digestion and it is more common to be lactose intolerant, than not.

Fortunately, lactose intolerance is not an allergy and the immune system is not involved, meaning those affected can cope with varying small amounts - a drop of milk in tea is usually fine but a milkshake spells trouble.

Symptoms of lactose intolerance occur because undigested lactose passes through to your colon where bacteria feast on it resulting in the unsociable symptoms of gas, bloating, cramps and frequent trips to the toilet with diarrhea.

Typically, infants are able to digest milk which is, of course, their main source of nutrition. Those with genetically inherited adult lactose intolerance then gradually lose their milk digesting-capacity from around age 8 onwards.

People of European descent have a much greater ability to digest milk, likely an evolutionary response to the heavy dairy industry in these parts. However, around 20 percent of the adult European population may also be lactose intolerant and awareness of this has only recently been raised.

Problems can also occur for foraging foreigners in China struck down with gastroenteritis as the lactose-digesting enzymes in your small intestine can die temporarily. This should only last for a few weeks, but during this time milk is off the menu.

China has recently experienced huge growth in the dairy industry and milk, yoghurt and even cheese are now familiar on the shop shelf. So are all "dairy" products off-limits to the lactose intolerant? Certainly not.

Lactose tends to remain in the watery part of milk when curds (solids) and whey (liquids) are separated, which means that the higher the fat content, and more solid the dairy, the lower the lactose content. Butter and cream have very low levels of lactose, and providing you use these sparingly (your heart will thank you too) this shouldn't present a problem.

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