If you're Lactose Intolerant and eat dairy...What happens?
17:49 Share

Hey, smarty pants, guess where I am? Did you say a restaurant?

Great guess. I'm at a local diner with my friend, Gia. Hey, smarty pants. How's it going? We just ordered a ton of our favorite lunch foods. Cheeseburgers with cheese fries, mac and cheese, and two large vanilla milkshakes. Am I forgetting something? I feel like I forgot something. Nachos. Ah, yes, of course. Nachos. With extra queso. Of course. Extra queso.

Extra queso, which in case you don't know is melted cheese sauce with chili peppers. Yum! Double yum! Oh look, here it comes. Whoa! Ah, that was so good. I'm stuffed. I can't eat another bite. Me neither. Well, maybe one more. Okay, now I'm done.

Well, except for dessert. Ooh, I know. Let's get cheesecake. Great idea. Waiter! Um, what was that? Oh boy, I don't feel so good. Gia, are you okay? Ugh, my stomach really hurts. I feel bloated and a little... Sorry, trusty narrator. I don't know what's going on. Lately, I've been getting a tummy ache whenever I eat lots of dairy. Hmm.

Sounds like you might be lactose intolerant. Lactose intolerant? What's that? Smarty pants, do you know what lactose intolerance is? It sounds like a big word or two big words, but lactose intolerance simply refers to your body's inability to break down lactose, a type of natural sugar found in dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt. Or cheeseburgers? Cheeseburgers?

cheese fries, mac and cheese, milkshakes, queso, and... Okay, who's ready for our famous cheesecake? I'm ready for the bathroom. BRB.

Poor kid. But the good news is we can help Gia learn more about lactose intolerance and answer all her lactose intolerance questions. Like, what happens in your body when you're lactose intolerant? Are there alternatives to dairy products for people with lactose intolerance? And is there any way for a lactose intolerant person to still enjoy favorite foods like pizza, cheeseburgers, and queso without feeling sick? Okay, I'm back. No, I'm not.

It's time for another whiff of science on Who Smarted? Who Smarted? Who's smart? Is it you? Is it me? Is it science? Or history? Listen up, everyone. Smarting. Lots of fun on Who Smarted?

Do you want to spend another summer stuck at home? Hey, Jim. How's your back? Uh, you know. I hear ya. Leave the small talk behind because Disney and Pixar invite you on an out-of-this-world adventure. Engaging hyperspeed. This is autumn! On June 20th. Welcome to the community. Prepare to be conquered! But I just got here! Follow me. What is this place? These are the lava tunnels. I am not moving! Disney and Pixar's Elio in theaters June 20th. Tickets available now. Rated PG. Parental guidance suggested.

I'm feeling a little better now. But that was kind of crazy. My stomach hurt and I had to go to the bathroom just from eating a little dairy?

Okay, a lot of dairy. But wait, does this mean I won't be able to eat cheeseburgers and mac and cheese and nachos with queso ever again? Oh no! Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. Before you freak out, let's first explain what's happening inside you or anyone who is lactose intolerant. Fine, I can always freak out later.

You see, normally when you eat or drink foods that contain lactose, things like milk, cheese, or yogurt, your small intestine produces an enzyme called lactase that helps break down the lactose molecules and allows you to properly digest dairy.

When you're lactose intolerant, your body doesn't produce enough of the lactase enzyme to break down the lactose. When this happens, the undigested lactose interacts with the normal gut bacteria that live inside your large intestine, which causes bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Ugh.

Don't remind me. The good news is the symptoms are only temporary. And the bad news is I can't have milkshakes and queso. I love queso, but I don't understand. I used to be able to eat cheese and drink milk all the time. In fact, I used to have milk in both regular and chocolate form almost every night as a kid with no problem. What gives? Ah, good point.

Smarty Pants, do you drink milk? I know I did when I was a young, thirsty narrator. Well, as it turns out, almost all babies are born with the lactase enzyme in order to effectively digest their mother's milk. So, it makes sense why you had the ability to drink milk as a kid.

But as you get older, your lactase production naturally decreases because your diet has become much more diverse and doesn't rely on just milk. Ah, so you're saying as you get older and drink less milk, your body doesn't feel the need to produce the enzymes needed to break it down. Exactly. In a way, your body is trying to be helpful and not make unnecessary work for itself.

But, unfortunately, it can have negative side effects when you do indulge in your daily dairy. This sounds like a pretty common problem. Are there lots of people with lactose intolerance? What do you think, smarty pants? Is it common or uncommon? If you said extremely common, you're right. Over two-thirds, or two out of every three people in the world, are lactose intolerant.

True or false? Only humans can be lactose intolerant. The answer is false. Animals like cats and dogs can be lactose intolerant. Cows too. Whoa. Is being lactose intolerant a relatively new thing? I'm guessing it is. What do you think, smarty pants?

Well, you might be surprised to learn that early humans were all completely lactose intolerant. Me shouldn't drink milk. Yep. It was only a few thousand years ago when a mutation in the human genome allowed humans to carry their lactase enzymes into adulthood. No way. In other words, humans evolved to be able to drink milk as adults? Correctamundo.

Around 10,000 years ago, early farmers started drinking dairy milk well before their bodies were able to process the lactose. As you can imagine, this led to a lot of farmers with tummy aches. Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Fortunately, over the course of thousands of years, farmers' bodies began to develop a way to keep their lactase enzymes into adulthood. This allowed them to drink milk without any unpleasant side effects. With a here and a there, here a there a, everywhere a. This was especially helpful during times of famine, when other sources of food were hard to come by. Just imagine, if you couldn't drink milk from your cows, you'd go hungry.

The milk gene was selectively passed down through generations of early farmers. And today, lactose tolerance is extremely common in places like Northern Europe, where more than 90% of people can drink milk as adults with no problem. But wait!

I thought you said most of the world today is lactose intolerant. It is. While lactose tolerance might be common in certain parts of the world, it's much less common in other parts, like in Africa, Asia, and South America. I see. But why? The truth is, we're not entirely sure.

One of the leading theories says that adults from Europe have a higher percentage of lactose tolerance because their ancestors lived in places with milder climates, where dairy cows could be raised more safely and effectively.

As opposed to adults whose ancestors lived in very hot or very cold climates where dairy farming was more difficult and milk was more scarce. Makes sense. But let's talk about me now. Now that I'm lactose intolerant, does this mean I have to cut out dairy forever? Good question. The answer is right after this quick break.

Hey parents, Trusty here with something really smart for your smarty pants. I've got nieces, nephews, and close family friends, some homeschooled, some traditional school, and lately there's one tool they all seem to be using, iXL.

One of my nephews was really struggling with reading comprehension. His parents tried IXL, and within a couple of weeks, he was not only keeping up, he was excited to read. Then my niece, who's super into math, started exploring topics way beyond her grade level. That's the beauty of IXL. It's flexible. Kids can move at their own pace in any subject across any grade.

A friend's daughter loves the instant feedback and little rewards. It's fun, not stressful. And the parents, they love how easy it is to find the exact topic they're covering that week.

iXcel is organized, saves them time, and actually helps the kids feel more confident. If you're homeschooling or just want to supplement what your child is learning in traditional school, iXcel is a game changer. Get 20% off at iXcel.com slash smarted with the code smarted. That's iXcel.com slash smarted, code smarted.

Learning that's flexible, fun, and perfect for your smarty pants. That's IXL. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. So I'll be honest, I put off building our new website for way too long. I think part of me was waiting for the perfect moment or thought I needed to hire someone or take a design course or something. Total nonsense, because then I tried Squarespace. And yeah, I was hooked in an hour.

Squarespace is this all-in-one platform that makes it ridiculously easy to bring an idea to life online, whether you're starting a business, launching a project, or just want to finally claim your little corner of the internet. I used it to build a clean professional site in a weekend. No coding, no overwhelm, just drag, drop, done.

I used their Blueprint AI tool to start, and it generated a smart, customized layout just from a few questions about what we do. So if you've been waiting to launch your site, this is your sign. Head to squarespace.com slash smarted for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use code SMARTED to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Now back to Who Smarted. So you just found out you're lactose intolerant.

Does that mean you have to give up all of your favorite dairy foods? Like queso? No! Well, the answer is not exactly. Really? Please trust the narrator. Tell me there's hope. Smarty Pants, do you have a favorite type of cheese? Did you say cheddar or parmesan or perhaps gouda? That's a gouda choice, especially if you're lactose intolerant.

You see, a glass of milk contains on average about 13 grams of lactose.

But softer cheeses like ricotta, mozzarella, and cream cheese only contain up to 6 grams of lactose, while hard cheeses like gouda and cheddar only contain as little as a quarter of a gram of lactose. Ah, so the harder the cheese, the easier it is to digest for lactose intolerant people? Correctamundo, again. And soft cheeses are less good than hard cheeses, but better than regular milk? Uh-huh.

But wait, isn't cheese made from milk? It is. However, most hard cheeses are relatively safe for lactose intolerant people because most of the lactose is removed in the cheesemaking process.

When making cheese, milk is separated into whey and curds. Lactose is mostly found in whey, which is removed in the fermenting or aging process. And then the cheese is made from curd. Lactose levels are also affected by time. The longer a cheese is aged or fermented, the less lactose it will have.

Harder cheeses age for longer periods of time than softer cheeses, which is why they're safer to eat for lactose intolerant people. Okay, I feel a little better knowing I can still enjoy some cheeses without my stomach going crazy, but I'm definitely going to miss having ice cream. Aha!

But what if I told you there was a way you could still enjoy your favorite dairy foods without any side effects? I would say, whoa. Well, hold on to your lactose because you can still enjoy all your favorite ice creams, milkshakes, and queso without any symptoms. How, you ask? The answer is a lactase enzyme pill. Did you say a pill? That's right.

Lactase enzyme pills like lactaid have been around for over 40 years. These pills contain the necessary lactase enzyme that lactose intolerant people need to be able to digest dairy. When you take one right before eating dairy, the lactase enzymes go to work breaking down the lactose molecules, saving you from... That's amazing! But what if I don't have a magical lactaid pill handy? Smarty pants, what do you think?

Have you ever heard of dairy-free milk? Perhaps you've seen it in your local grocery store. Here, which of the following milks do you think are a lactose-free alternative to dairy milk? A. Soy milk. B. Almond milk. C. Oat milk. Or D. Coconut milk. Did you say all of them? That's right! All four are great lactose-free alternatives to dairy milk. Hold on. How can almonds have milk? They're almonds.

It's true. Almonds aren't milked like a cow or a goat. Instead, almond milk is made by blending almonds with water and then straining the mixture to remove the solids. Other dairy-free milks like soy milk and oat milk go through a similar process. And the best part, they can all be made into...

Ice cream! Wow! This has been the worst and best day ever. Let's get some dairy-free ice cream for dessert. Sure. On second thought, I think I might be lactose intolerant too. Be right back. A super shout out to Leela in Durham, North Carolina. A little birdie told me you love who's smarter the best and that you're curious how people invented words and learn to speak. Such a great question. Hope this episode helped answer some of that.

This episode of Lactose Intolerance was written by Brad Dairy-Free DiPrima and voiced by Gia NoDairyDavis, Adam LactaidDavis, Max CheeselessKamasky, and Jerry Kolber.

Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hold the Butter Han. Who Smarted? is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios. Our associate producer is Max Milkless Kamaski. The theme song is by Brian Soy Milk Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex Davis. Who Smarted? was created and produced by Adam Tex Davis and Jerry Colbert. This has been an Atomic Entertainment production. Who Smarted?