Coeliac related lactose intolerance - an interesting discovery

[Whydothis]

I have suffered with lactose since I have been coeliac. (I buy Lactofree milk and can eat only hard cheese and live yoghurt) Knowing that this is very often temporary, after a year I started buying one pint of ordinary milk about every 6 weeks to check progress. I have now got so that this causes me a little wind, but not the diarrhoea that it used to give me.

A fortnight ago, I took my mother out for a drive, and discovered a farm selling raw milk (unpasteurised and not treated in any way). This was exciting, as in my youth I worked with dairy cows, and I have always enjoyed raw milk, and it is almost impossible to get hold of where I live. I went mad, and bought 2 litres. I expected to make myself ill, but hey, I would enjoy it, it wouldn't do me any real harm, and I live alone so no-one else would have to put up with the effects! I guzzled the 2 litres over a couple of days - much more milk than I ever normally consume - and I had NO SYMPTOMS! Yesterday was one of my "try an ordinary pint" days, and it again gave me some wind.

I googled raw milk and lactose intolerance, and found both evidence that raw milk is better for lactose intolerance because it contains the lactobacillus that makes live yogurt ok, but also other experts saying this is just a myth. Well I don't ever fall for unsubstantiated claims, but I found this for myself experimentally, without even thinking it might be different, and I will go back for more when I can (not regularly, as it is a 90 miles round trip!)

Has anyone else any experience of raw milk and lactose intolerance?

[Hidden]

Hello Whydothis interestingly lactate the enzyme that breaks down gluten is made at the tips of our villi so any villi damage and we can suffer with lactose intolerance which's often temporary.

Hard mature cheddar cheeses are very low in lactose, goats milk contains lactose but their molecules are the same size as human milk so much easier to absorb.

I used to buy goats milk from the supermarket and how have local milk delivered in bottles where you get cream on the top which doesn't happen with milk in cartons and I have no issues with it.

My milkman thinks they put additives in milk in cartons that they don't in bottles.

[Whydothis in reply to Hidden]

Hi Jerry - yes, I understand that it is the damage to my villi that has caused the problem, and yes - it will be temporary, as I can see it getting slowly better. Hard cheese and live yogurt are lower in lactose because they have been fermented by bacteria, especially lactobacillus which produced lactase.

I too buy milk in bottles from the milkman, and their organic milk is not homogenised, so it has the natural cream on top. I have not recovered enough yet to drink it without symptoms though - I am sure this will come. I hate having to buy the lacto-free, because it is more manufactured and more heat treated for longer life, so much less natural.

My question is whether anyone else has found that raw, unpasteurised milk is more digestible, as I seem to have found by chance that it seems to suit me.

[Hidden]

This is a really interesting question to throw out to this forum.

I grew up on a farm drinking raw milk - never had any issues. Became lactose intolerant in my early 20's - had moved to pasturised milk. There may be something in this, and have read this theory from time to time. Processing our foods just does it no favours, despite providing a 'safer' longer-lasting end product (raw milk can transfer some animal related illness/diseases through non-testing and non-pasturisation, including TB and doesn't have shelf life of pasturised).

I've also read that the majority of people become lactose intolerant to some extent in their 20's as our bodies no longer need to produce sufficient milk digesting enzymes in our adult life as milk is something for babies/young children in the normal way of food consumption. I think there is a need to feel we are somehow outside the norm because we can't tolerate milk, but there are more people in the world who have evolved without dairy in their diet than with it, e.g. China, South East Asia, etc.

There's also debate over how much calcium benefit milk actually provides to adults also.

[Whydothis in reply to Hidden]

Interesting that your intolerance started when you began to have pasteurised milk - of course there is no way of finding out whether this was a natural progression for you, or whether the different milk was a factor. I am aware that many people do become lactose intolerant in adulthood - but I wan't one of them - I could enjoy milk until I suddenly developed my coeliac symptoms in my 60s.

Yes - pasteurisation was a good and necessary thing when it started, to prevent TB and then brucellosis , but assuming that a reputable farm selling raw milk will have the cows and the milk regularly tested, I am confident to buy it now and again .

Re your point about the calcium, I believe that pasteurisation, and even more UHT, make a difference to our uptake of calcium and vitamins from milk. I can't remember where I read it, but I was convinced at the time!

[BabsyWabsy in reply to Whydothis]

I read some research years ago which suggested that homogenisation of milk caused the fat globules in milk to become so small, they could pass through the gut wall and cause health problems. We are lucky to have a local dairy with a high welfare herd. The milk we get is pasteurised and in glass bottles, but tastes totally different to supermarket milk. If raw milk was an option locally, that would be my preference too.

[Whydothis in reply to BabsyWabsy]

That's another interesting point - I do wish "they" wouldn't muck about with good natural food.