Healthy living
dairy products but do not replace them with the right foods, specifically those containing sufficient levels of calcium and vitamin D.
If those nutrients are lacking, more severe medical conditions can result. A diet lacking in calcium, for example, can lead to osteoporosis, where bones become brittle and more likely to break. Vitamin D deficiency can also lead to skeletal problems and it has been associated with rickets, in which bone tissues do not mineralise properly, the result being soft bones and deformities.
Plant-based milk alternatives, such as oat, cashew and coconut, are common in supermarkets.
The disorder has, in fact, become relatively common, affecting millions of people just in North America and Europe, even though they are among the regions with the lowest incidence. According to the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), somewhere in the region of 50 million adults in the US are currently lactose intolerant (LI). On the plus side, it is not a life-threatening condition. In fact, it is generally harmless, though it can cause extreme discomfort in some instances. The AGA lists common physical symptoms – bloating, cramps, gas, diarrhoea and an upset stomach – which often present 30 minutes to two hours after eating or drinking foods that have lactose, usually milk products, though their severity varies between individuals. In some ways, treating the condition is simple, but there is still a concerted effort to provide more efficacious treatments – and more alternative foods – that can greatly reduce the suffering of those in need.
“According to the American Gastroenterological Association, somewhere in the region of 50 million adults in the US are currently intolerant to lactose.”
A medical path to relief The most obvious approach to treating lactose intolerance is to avoid foods containing lactose. That sounds simple, but there are caveats. Making drastic changes to diet is not an easy thing for some people, and there are risks involved. Avoiding dairy products is not as straightforward as it sounds, despite many more alternatives hitting the supermarket shelves in recent years. There is also the possibility that lactose intolerant consumers could end up lacking some vital nutrients if they eliminate
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Another potential treatment option is to eat a normal diet but also introduce lactase in supplement form. Products such as Lactaid, for example, can be taken to provide enough lactase to meet the amount of lactose in a meal or drink. Dosage must be measured proportionally, so it is important to have an accurate idea of how much lactose is being consumed. Whichever option is chosen, one fact remains – treatment is always just to alleviate or prevent symptoms as there is no cure.
Despite that fact, there is a distinct desire among the lactose-intolerant community to have more effective treatments made available. Ritter Pharmaceuticals, which develops innovative therapeutic products that modulate the gut microbiome to treat gastrointestinal diseases, is one company engaged in the pursuit of such a treatment, and its review of recent market research surveying patients and physicians saw both groups express an unmet need.
Particularly among moderate-severe LI patients, there is a feeling that current treatment options do not sufficiently address symptoms, require high compliance, and for some are undesirable to follow. The company also noted in its analysis of comprehensive market studies that while most patients report making attempts to reduce or avoid dairy products as their first move to prevent symptoms, it was often found to be challenging and undesirable.
In fact, its analysis of 2019 data showed that 92% of LI sufferers would like to eat some dairy and 66% of LI sufferers find it difficult to avoid dairy. Ritter was, at the time, involved in a Liberatus phase-||| trial of high-concentration galacto- oligosaccharide RP-G28 for lactose intolerance. That trial failed to demonstrate statistical significance in its results, showing little or no little difference compared with the placebo. Since then, however, trials have shown improved results. In April 2020, Wiliam Chey and William Sandborn, who sit on the board of Ritter, were part of a research team that reported trial results showing that RP-G28 for 30 days significantly reduced symptoms and altered the fecal microbiome in patients with LI.
Ingredients Insight /
www.ingredients-insight.com
Triple_D Studio/
Shutterstock.com
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