Its National Food Allergy Awareness week everybody and this week we thought we would drop a little knowledge about one of the most prevalent food allergies: lactose intolerance! Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, which is a type of sugar found in milk and other dairy products. Symptoms can go from mild to extreme, with abdominal cramping, nausea, diarrhea, and even weight loss and slow growth.
Amazingly enough, over 30 million people in the US are plagued by lactose intolerance, or to put it in different terms, about 1 in 10 people! While people across many different ethnic backgrounds suffer from this allergy, Asian American, African American, and Native American populations have the highest prevalence. If you haven’t noticed symptoms of lactose intolerance, chances are you are in the clear. (Most people develop the allergy early on in life.) In general those individuals with the allergy can avoid food items with high levels of lactose (generally dairy products) but lactose is also found in many common medications! Most of us go about our lives, free to eat whatever we please, but be aware there are millions out there that do not share that same freedom!
For more information on allergies check out
www.foodsafety.org
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