DANGERS OF FOOD PROCESSING – THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE US FAT (Documentary)
Some People Cannot Digest Milk Sugar
Lactose, or milk sugar, is the principal carbohydrate found in dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. People with a deficiency of the brush border enzyme lactase cannot properly digest lactose.
Lactose maldigestion is a natural part of the aging process. In fact, as soon as a child stops nursing, his body makes less lactase. Some lucky individuals of specific ethnic origins, such as those from northern Europe, central Africa, and the Middle East, aren’t as prone to developing lactose maldigestion. They appear to have a genetic predisposition to maintaining higher levels of lactase throughout their adult life.
Though the term lactose maldigestion may sound serious, it doesn’t mean that dairy foods have to be eliminated from the diet. In fact, the latest consensus is that people with lactose maldigestion can enjoy a serving of milk, yogurt, or cheese, especially with a meal or snack, without any problems or unpleasant side effects. This is good news, as dairy products are an important source of calcium in the diet.
However, in some individuals the amount of lactase in the digestive tract decreases so much that they start to experience distressing symptoms. The undigested lactose draws water into the digestive tract, causing diarrhea. To make matters worse, once the lactose reaches the colon, the bacteria that normally live in the colon ferment this sugar and produce various gases. For some lactose-sensitive individuals, bloating, flatulence (gassiness), and cramps can sometimes be an unpleasant reminder that they ate lactose-containing foods. When these symptoms occur within two hours after eating or drinking foods that contain lactose, these people may be lactose intolerant.
You should never self-diagnose lactose intolerance, or any other medical condition. This could not only cause you to inflict unnecessary dietary restrictions, it could delay you from receiving an accurate diagnosis of a potentially more serious medical condition. There are many documented cases of individuals who thought that they were lactose intolerant but discovered they weren’t once the proper testing was done.
It is best to leave medical diagnosis to your physician. People with lactose intolerance have varying thresholds for tolerating lactose-containing foods and beverages. These thresholds can be raised depending upon how much of a lactose-containing food one eats at a time. Consuming smaller amounts of dairy foods throughout the day can be better tolerated than having a large amount at one time. Eating these foods with a meal or snack, rather than by themselves, can also influence how much can be tolerated. 8 Including dairy foods regularly in your diet may also improve your tolerance.
The continuous exposure to undigested lactose promotes an acidic environment created by the fermenting of lactose by the bacteria in the colon, which inhibits further fermentation. Also, the constant presence of lactose in the colon perpetuates an increase in the growth of nongaseous bacteria and subsequent displacement of the gas-producing bacteria.
People tend to respond differently to various dairy foods. Whole milk tends to be better tolerated than skim milk. Cheeses (especially hard, aged cheeses, such as Swiss and cheddar) typically have less lactose than milk, and so are better tolerated. Yogurts that contain active cultures are better tolerated than skim or low-fat milk. For those who want to enjoy dairy foods without worrying about developing the unpleasant side effects, lactose-reduced dairy products such as milk, cottage cheese, ice cream, and other items are available in many supermarkets. Lactase pills are available that can be consumed with meals containing lactose. See the Table Tips for some more ideas on how to develop a tolerance for lactose.
The Take-Home Message
The digestion of carbohydrates begins in your mouth and continues in your stomach and small intestine. Enzymes help break down the carbohydrates into disaccharides and then monosaccharide’s so that they can be absorbed. All the monosaccharide’s are converted to glucose in your liver to be used as energy by your cells or stored as glycogen or fat. Fiber travels to your colon and then most of it is eliminated from your body. Lactose mal digestion is the inability to properly absorb the milk sugar lactose due to a decrease in the amount of lactase in your digestive tract.
Tolerating Lactose
Gradually add some dairy or lactose containing foods to your diet.
Eat smaller amounts of lactose-containing foods throughout the day rather than eating a large amount at one time.
Enjoy your dairy foods with a meal or snack.
Try reduced-lactose milk and dairy products such as cottage cheese.
Lactase pills can help with a lactose-laden meal or snack.
Terms:
Lactose mal digestion – The inability to digest lactose in foods due to low levels of the enzyme lactase.
Lactose intolerant – When mal digestion of lactose results in symptoms such as nausea, cramps, bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea.
How Does Your Body Use Carbohydrates?
Your body uses carbohydrates-specifically glucose-for energy, and there are chemical messengers called hormones that regulate the amount of glucose in your blood.
Hormones are like traffic cops, directing specific actions in your body. Let’s take a closer look at how this works.
Insulin Regulates Glucose in Your Blood
After you eat a carbohydrate-heavy meal, your blood is flooded with glucose. To lower your blood glucose level, your pancreas releases the hormone insulin into the blood. Insulin helps direct the uptake of glucose by cells and also determines whether it will be used immediately as energy or stored for later use. When your cells need fuel, insulin stimulates the conversion of glucose to energy. If the amount of glucose in your blood exceeds your body’s immediate energy needs, insulin directs it to be stored.
As mentioned, the surplus of glucose is stored in long, branched chains called glycogen. (Recall that plants store glucose as starch. Animals and humans store glucose as glycogen.). This process of generating glycogen for later use is called glycogenesis (glyco = sugar/sweet, genesis = origin). Glycogenesis occurs only in your liver and muscle cells. Whereas plants have an unlimited capacity to store glucose as starch, you can’t squirrel away unlimited extra energy in the form of glycogen.
However, your body can store energy in another form: fat! Insulin can direct the conversion of the excess glucose to fat. In fact, most of the energy stored in your body is in the form of fat. Very little of it is in the form of glycogen.
Generating Energy from Glucose
When your body needs to break down glucose for energy, it begins a three-step process in your cells.
1. First, glucose is broken down to two sets of a three-carbon compound, which generates the first release of energy.
2. Then the three-carbon compounds are further broken down for another release of energy.
3. Lastly, the most abundant amount of energy is released from these remnants of glucose.
Terms:
Hormones Protein– or lipid-based chemical substances that act as “messengers” in the body to initiate or direct actions or processes. Insulin, glucagon, and estrogen are examples of hormones.
Glycogenesis – The process of converting excess glucose into glycogen in your liver and muscle. insulin The hormone, produced in and released from the pancreas, that directs the glucose from the blood into cells.
Hormones Help Maintain Healthy Blood Glucose Levels in Your Body
(1) When your blood glucose levels are too high, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin into your blood to direct glucose. Excess glucose will be stored in your muscles and liver as glycogen and in your fat cells as fat.
(2) When your blood glucose levels drop too low, the pancreas releases the hormone glucagon, which directs the release of glucose from stored glycogen and the creation of glucose from gluconeogenesis in your liver.
