Know Your Biochemistry

From time to time you might have taken milk or any product processed from milk and later got stomach discomforts. If you have, you may be lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerance is a condition that causes some people to develop digestive problems after taking milk or other dairy products.   Milk is largely made up of the carbohydrate lactose. Lactose is a disaccharide because it is made up of 2 different sugars namely glucose and galactose. The body cannot absorb lactose for it has no mechanism in place to facilitate this. Therefore, when milk is ingested, the lactose in milk has to be digested (broken down) into these 2 sugars which can be readily absorbed into the body. The digestion of lactose is undertaken by an enzyme called lactase that is produced in the small intestines. The production levels of enzyme lactase have been known to diminish with age. For this reason, intolerance to lactose has been known to become prevalent with increasing age. It is still not clear as to wh...