Monday, March 1, 2010

Lactose Intolerance

 

In 1988 I read Maneka Gandhi ‘the animal rights activist’ state in a interview that genetically ‘Indians’ did not possess the enzyme to break down Milk. I was 13 then and found the idea crazy.

Being a TamBram (Tamil Brahmin) raised in Maharashtra, My daily consumption of Milk was upto half a gallon in one form of the other.  As a matter of fact, Milk is one of the essentials of a daily diet of an average Indian.

For the past couple of years or So I was troubled with an upset stomach and extra flatulence 24 x 7. Of all the discoveries the Doctor made, No medicine was able to control or cure this.

Finally I had given up assuming it to be a Psychosomatic disorder. But mother of all surprises a controlled and careful diet over the past month has revealed the ailment to be Lactose Intolerance.

Oh Geez, Come On !!! How can that happen ? Freaking Unbelievable it is, but its true.

I have switched over to Creamer Free BLACK Coffee at work and Lactaid Milk at home.

What goes around comes around. My Theory is that somehow everything a human body consumes has either a positive or a negative impact. Over the years, staying away from Home Food and consuming a lot of tasty food at different places has had an eventual but unavoidable impact. It has collapsed the Lactose breaking enzymes, ringing in ‘Maneka Gandhi’s’ statement ‘Many Do not possess the enzyme to break down Milk’ or rather to put it mildly ‘Over some time, the Enzyme Breaks down unable to break Lactose’. Sigh !!!

2 comments:

Sampath said...

I learnt the same in a hard way. After countless number of doctor visits, Barium swallow tests (by getting myself fixed to a rotating frame) and spending tons of money in copays.
During one of the visits, a new doctor assistant from Thailand heard my story and suggested me to experiment with food starting with milk, In a week everything felt so better and I am happily addicted to soy milk since then.

KeepingItSimple said...

Sampath, Thanks for Sharing that Info. Does SoyMilk Substitute for regular Milk safely without any Lactose Issue ?