According to a review from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), children suffering from lactose intolerance are missing out on vital nutrients by avoiding dairy, and could be helped by probiotics and aged cheeses.
A specialist from The British Nutrition Foundation informed Nutraingredients.com that the views are just as significant in other countries, where the avoidance of dairy is "not advised without good reason".
The deficiency of lactase appears normally in about 75 per cent of adult citizens in all ethnic groups with the exception of those of northwest European origin for whom the occurrence is less than 20 per cent.
Even though statistics are not reliable, the majority of nonwhites steadily lose the ability to digest lactose between the ages of 10 to 20 years. It strikes 90 per cent of Orientals, 75 per cent of blacks and Indians, with a high occurrence among people from the Mediterranean region.
Partially digested dairy recommended
Due to the fact that milk can lead to some problems, the reviewers recommended various partially digested products, including yoghurts and cheeses containing live bacterial cultures, as well as pretreated milks.
Evidence that evasion of dairy products may result in insufficient calcium consumption and consequent suboptimal bone mineralization makes them significant alternatives to milk, informed the AAP Committee on Nutrition.
Intolerance of lactose manifests itself because of a relative or absolute absence of the enzyme lactase in the small intestine that prevents metabolism of lactose, the primary carbohydrate found exclusively in mammalian milk.
It is a clinical syndrome with symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, flatulence, and/or bloating after ingesting lactose-containing substances. The disease should not be confused with milk allergies, which is an immune response.
Due to the fact that the lactose is not absorbed in the gut, it can draw fluids into the intestine by osmosis, that produces softer stools (diarrhea), and the carbohydrate can be metabolized by particular intestinal bacteria producing carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen as waste products, thereby resulting in flatulence.
These painful symptoms lead many sufferers to keep away from dairy products, however this has a negative influence on the consumption of calcium and vitamin D in children and adolescents that has severe implications for bone health.
Including necessary nutrients
The latest analysis was published in the journal Pediatrics (Vol. 118, pp. 1279-1286). It states that the AAP supports the incorporation of dairy foods into the diet in order to ensure that they do not miss out on these significant nutrients.
The study has proven that yoghurts containing live cultures are very well tolerated by paients with lactose intolerance, due to the fact that the bacteria partly digest the lactose into glucose and galactose before the yoghurt is consumed.
It also appeared that aged cheeses get a boost from the AAP Committee on Nutrition, chaired by Frank Greer, based on the observation that aged cheeses, such as Cheddar and Swiss, have lower lactose contents than other cheeses.
According to the investigators, dairy products are still main sources of protein and other nutrients that are necessary for growth in children.
In line with other guidelines
Lisa Miles, a nutrition specialist from The British Nutrition Foundation informed Nutraingredients.com that the research was generally in line with the BNF’s guidance on lactose intolerance.
According to the estimates, in the United Kingdom only two per cent of the population suffer from lactose intolerance. Milk and dairy products constitute the significant sources of protein, calcium and riboflavin, and hence avoidance of dairy products is not recommended without any good reason.
Total evasion of dairy products is normally not necessary in lactose-intolerant children. Small amounts of milk spaced throughout the day, other dairy products (including yoghurt and cheese), and milk consumed with other foods are normally better tolerated, she explained.
