Title: Can You Become Lactose Intolerant Later in Life? | Everyday Health
Headings: Can You Become Lactose Intolerant Later in Life?
Can You Become Lactose Intolerant Later in Life?
Digestive Problems Similar to Lactose Intolerance
How to Determine if You're Lactose Intolerant
How to Manage Different Degrees of Lactose Intolerance
Editorial Sources and Fact-Checking
NEWSLETTERS
Sign up for our Digestive Health Newsletter!
Enter your email

Content: Can You Become Lactose Intolerant Later in Life? | Everyday Health
Lactose Intolerance
Can You Become Lactose Intolerant Later in Life? If you’re having trouble digesting dairy lately, it might be time to try a lactose-free diet. By Beth W. Orenstein Medically Reviewed by Lynn Grieger, RDN, CDCES
Last Updated: October 30, 2017
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Copy Link
Medically Reviewed
Some people who are lactose intolerant can have small amounts of dairy, while others must avoid it entirely. Thinkstock
You might love milk, but as you age, sometimes milk stops loving you back. If you feel bloated and gassy or have cramps and nausea within a few hours of drinking milk or eating milk products, it could be lactose intolerance, says Ashkan Farhadi, MD, director of the Digestive Disease Center at MemorialCare Medical Group in Costa Mesa, California, and a gastroenterologist at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. Except for very rare instances, every newborn has the ability to make lactase, an enzyme that helps the small intestine digest lactose, the sugar found in milk, says Richard Grand, MD, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a gastroenterologist at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts. But as you get older, your lactase levels can start to decline, which means there’s nothing stopping the lactose you consume from going to your colon undigested, where bacteria break the sugars down and create excess gas and fluid in the process. It’s common to develop a lactase deficiency in adulthood.