Is it a milk allergy, lactose intolerance, or something else?
It sounds like an intolerance to me. My children were lactose intolerant for the first few years of their lives and have slowly become more able to tolerate some dairy foods. Like you, they have experienced a greater degree of intolerance with certain foods, ice cream and cream for one and cheese for the other. The foods you don't react to may be contributing to a greater degree of reaction with pure milk solids as an intolerance is about levels of substance. People can also develop intolerances at different times of life and for different periods of time. You are right about an allergy - any incidence of the protein would cause a reaction. Trust your instincts and avoid the foods you react to.
Lactose intolerance..?
The answers are unbelievable. Lactose is the sugar in milk, and milk products. There is much more lactose in a cup of milk than in 2 cups of ice cream, and cheese has even less. The cause of lactose intolerance is a shortage of the enzyme lactase. This enzyme is produced in our bodies (normally) and in proper proportions is neutralizes the lactose. The lactaid tablet is an enzyme replacement therapy. Lactose intolerance is progressive. Every time you consume lactose you run you system lower on lactase. Eventually your system can't produce it at all. It does not get better, or go away in seven years. It should not have any effect on your breath. If you are brushing, flossing, have no cavities and see a dentist twice a year then you can eliminate the breath problem. If you have sweet, fruity breath you may also have a problem with other sugars you consume as well as lactose. See a dentist and a doctor. My son went from mildly lactose intolerant to violently so in a week. My dance teacher was going to get his colon checked for cancer because when he had coffee he bled - but not if he had tea.(he only put milk in coffee). My son has always had Rice Dream, rather than cow milk. My son also can't have meds with him in school. But with a doctors note he can keep some at the nurses office and get it when he need to.
Do i have lactose intolerance, or something else?
It's a common pattern among those I know with any kind of food allergy or intolerance, yeah. The best way I can think of to describe it might be if you thought of an allergen like light. You turn off the light (take away the allergen), then at first, everything is dark. Your body is happy. And then the body adjusts and you can see all those faint lights that you couldn't detect before (the allergens that you still have in your diet). So you get rid of those, and feel better again (it's dark again.). And there still might be some even fainter lights you can see that you have to get rid of, too. I would get tested for a dairy allergy, honestly, because it's possible that you DO have an allergy, and you'll want to know so you can determine if you need an epi-pen. Dairy is one of the allergies that CAN give a huge, BAD reaction, so it's good to explore. That said...you may not be allowed to join, depending on which branch,and whether you have an allergy or an intolerance. I know you may be concerned with an impending episode; trust me, the military will be concerned, too. Many food allergies are an automatic medical DQ for the military. They do not make specialty allergen-free MRE's or food; so you have to be able to eat what everyone else eats. There is still some choice, obviously, but not enough to make it safe for someone with allergies. And you need to think of your fellow military members, too. You need to be able to be healthy in such a way that you won't become incapacitated and a liability to your group in the middle of a military operation during normal operating conditions. Food allergies may kind of make that impossible, you know? I know that celiac disease or a wheat allergy will get one a medical discharge from the military. When you have all the information, you can ask a recruiter. I know of some men in the military with mild lactose intolerance who said they mentioned it, but didn't make a big deal out of it, and they were fine. However, these men didn't have to check the foods for dairy. They just stayed away from obvious dairy and were okay. If you have to avoid every tiny bit of dairy, it could be something more.
Am i lactose intolerant or is it something else?
Ice cream and yogurt doesn't usually bother me but if I drink milk alone or types of cheese and other dairy products I feel nauseous and get headaches....sometimes diarrhea. I noticed that it also depends on other intake of food too, like im ok to drink a little milk if i have it with a sandwhich or cookies, but if i drink it alone it REALLY bothers me. And it's worse if I drink, then I can't have any dairy at all, even certain drinks that are made with milk, no way that makes me instantly sick. So is this a little lactose intolerant or maybe something else? It doesn't bother too much ive learned to deal with it, but I'm just kind of wondering of what people opinions would be.
For those of you who have lactose intolerance...?
Have you ever read up on lactose intolerance? If it's a milk gravy, it's going to give you problems. Some cheeses are going to give you more problems than others because of the aging process and the culturing. There are some people who claim that even if you're lact. intol. that you should be able to eat cheddar cheese because it's been aged so long. I disagree. They also say that I shouldn't be able to have butter, but have no problem with it. Think about it: mozzarella is very soft and creamy. It's still very close to milk compared to cheddar. However, I can usually have a small piece of pizza and be ok as long as I eat something else with it. It also depends on how big the serving is compared to what else you're eating. Example, I can just eat a slice of cheese and it might give me a slight discomfort (again, depending on the type of cheese). I can have a small piece on a sandwich and have no problems. Make sense? If you're not sure, get yourself some digestive aides and try if out. My family gets pizza at least once a week and those things are the only way I survive it. haha
Is There a Cure For Lactose Intolerance??
No cure, but there is treatment you can buy at the store. Try some lactose free milk, first and see how that sets with you. You can also buy enzyme pills that replaces the natural enzyme we all need to process cow milk. You know, only baby cows should drink cow milk....no humans. There are so many hormones in it that we should be drinking it at all. It is like a cow drinking human milk--it just wasn't meant to be.
Why do I have lactose intolerance in the USA but not in India?
I am in the same puzzled state as you are in. It took me a few months after coming to the US to realize that the root cause to my bowel discomfort is milk. I never suspected it because, I had been consuming milk all my life everyday back in India without any problems. Being a fan of milk, I could not digest the fact that I could not digest milk. I have tried about 4 brands of milk and the best I found so far is Simple Truth Organic milk. It causes discomfort less frequently than others.Like others have mentioned here, one cause might be the differences in cattle feed and cattle lifestyle. But I just found a rather interesting and satisfying article (only enter if you are 18+. There are nude cows on the page :p) on differences between milk in different geographic regions. These differences are owed to the presence of A1/A2 proteins in milk. Most of the dairy farm cows in US produce milk that predominantly contains the A1 protein while Indian/French/African cows produce milk that is rich in A2 protein. According to the article, there are multiple researches that relate A1 protein to some illnesses. While the support and opinions on these researches are mixed, I think this A1/A2 protein difference might be a cause for the newly found intolerance. Only way for us to know is to search for brands that sell A2 milk in the US and try one.
Can someone who has lactose intolerance eat Greek yogurt?
As others have answered, most decent yogurt has a greatly reduced amount of lactose. Unless your lactose intolerance is severe, yogurt of any kind probably won't bother you. Kefir too, most any kind of fermented milk, because lactose is what the bacteria eat.On the other hand, a fair number people who think they have lactose intolerance actually have an allergy to something in the milk. They can have similar symptoms: nausea, stomach pain, etc. Only a test can say for sure, but lactose intolerance usually involves lots of gas and bloating, allergies less so. And allergies often come with a rash, which could be anywhere on the body. You could also feel tight of breath, but that is less common.