If you have lactose intolerance, meaning the body can not make enough lactase enzyme to break down glucose and galactose found in milk.
Premature birth, race, and aging can cause lactose intolerance. In addition, lactose intolerance can also arise in the future as a result of a particular disease, injury, or abdominal radiation.
To find out if you or your child is lactose intolerant or not, the following tips can be performed:
1. Food record books.
Keep a food diary to determine whether milk and other dairy products upset your stomach or not.
Stomach problems that consistently for 30 to two hours after eating foods containing milk or milk products is strong evidence to indicate that you may be intolerant to lactose.
By making food record books, you will find the cause of abdominal discomfort that you experience is derived from milk and other dairy products or for other food.
2. Reduce milk and other dairy products.
If the food records showed an increase in gas production in the stomach, bloating, or diarrhea after consuming milk production, then reduce the intake of milk and other dairy products.
After that, see if the symptoms improve or even disappear altogether when you reduce the consumption of milk and dairy products. If the answer is yes, then you probably have lactose intolerance.
3. Perform laboratory tests.
If you believe that you may have lactose intolerance, immediately visit the nearest doctor or health care for laboratory examination.
Laboratory results will provide a more definitive about the possibility of whether you have lactose intolerance or not, and if so how severe intolerance you are experiencing.
4. Do a hydrogen breath test (hydrogen breath test).
This test requires you to fast and restrict activity for eight hours beforehand.
People who experience lactose intolerance will produce more hydrogen when breathing.
This is because the lactose is not digested can be fermented in the colon, thus producing more hydrogen.
Additional breath samples will be recorded at intervals after you drink beverages high in lactose. The higher hydrogen content, the more likely you are lactose intolerant.
5. Make checks blood glucose.
Blood tests for lactose intolerance is done by taking a blood sample before high lactose and drinking fluids two hours afterward.
If the amount of glucose in the blood increases of less than 20 mg / dL or no increase at all, it's a sign that your body does not digest lactose.
Fasting and limit the activity is also required for eight hours before the examination.
6. Stool acidity test.
To examine the stool acidity is a good method of checking for a baby or small child.
This test is more secure when compared with two other tests that require children to consume high-lactose liquid.
Lactic acid is formed when lactose is not digested fermented in the colon, and this can be seen and determined through a stool sample tests or examinations.