I am not challenging the fact that reducing the sugar in the diet helped
relieve the symptoms, but the conclusion that the sugar is producing the
lactose in breastmilk is a big stretch. Something else was going on, but it
is NOT lactose intolerance. Not all sugars are the same. Lactose is made
from galactose and glucose. Fruit juices contain primarily fructose. Cane,
beets and corn are primarily fructose and glucose. And then there are the
complex carbs in things like wheat and rice that are made with chains and
chains of glucose. My biochemistry may be a bit rusty, but it is my
understanding that as even simple sugars get broken down to bits and for the
most part get metabolized like starches, etc. It probably wouldn't matter
what you had eaten, as your body would rebuild the lactose itself.

There are several things that can mimic the lactose intolerance symptoms.
It's just that the mechanism of lactose intolerance is better understood.
One person I know has the exact same reaction with scrambled eggs (with no
milk or anything else added) as he does with lactose, but NO problem with
hard boiled eggs. Another person has the same reaction with onions (except
onion powder). One friend says that he likes apple juice, but apple juice
doesn't like him :-)

We often like to put a label on a condition because we think it will explain
things better and provide better treatment. I read the Heath E-Learning
article's recommendations to reduce sugars, but I think the recommendations
were based on confounding symptoms and factors. The authors labeled the
symptoms Lactose overload, but it could have been something else, and I
think the authors failed to realize that (or to make that point clear).

So then, the evidence surrounding lactose isn't the fundamental evidence
that should be challenged. It is not an either/or situation. What we need to
do is look at what we know and build upon it, not come up with the wrong
conclusions about those studies according to our experiences.

(For the record, my mother was advised to stop breastfeeding me because they
thought I had lactose intolerance. Soy formula constipated me and by three
months of age, the only thing that seemed to work (because she no longer had
breastmilk to give) was straight cow's milk. There was no such thing as
lactose-free cow's milk back then.)

Renata Mangrum, MPH, RD, CLT.
http://nurturingnotes.blogspot.com
http://infantfeedinghistory.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/renatamangrum


On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 8:03 AM, Susan Burger <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Dear all:
>
> I was surprised to find a fundamental well-researched fact challenged on
> Lactnet.  Lactose
> content does NOT change with diet.  It is the same regardless of the sugar
> in your diet. You
> cannot reduce lactose by reducing the sugar in your diet.  It may, however,
> have some
> health benefits.
>
> Best, Susan BUrger, MHS, PhD, IBCLC
>
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