A reader sent this email yesterday:
Hi Pirikara! 
I was just reading your blog and I was very happy to find an objective review on your experience with Lactagen. I have been contemplating buying that product for a while, and I was so glad to find an objective review.
Now that it's almost a year later, I'm curious how you are doing? Are you still struggling with the intolerance, or are you largely "cured" at this point?
Thanks again for your helpful blog! I am an LA local and depend on sites like yours for "pre-screening" of my eating choices.
Now that it's almost a year later, I'm curious how you are doing? Are you still struggling with the intolerance, or are you largely "cured" at this point?
Thanks again for your helpful blog! I am an LA local and depend on sites like yours for "pre-screening" of my eating choices.
Mr. Lactose Intolerant
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Hi Mr. Lactose Intolerant,
Funny you should write to me about Lactagen. Yes, a year has passed and sadly, I'm noticing slight but increasing signs of lactose intolerance, but it's still not as bad as before. I still drink milk every day (albeit, only the good stuff like Brouguire and Trader Joe's) and plan to continue doing so because basically I'm no longer afraid of dairy.
That said, I don't think of Lactagen as a bogus product. It did as much as it could do in trying to reintroduce lactobacillus into my system, and anyone who's done their research would know that a single dose of antibiotics could kill the bacteria as quickly as it was introduced. (I had to take antibiotics a few weeks later. Oh the heartbreak!)
I do believe, though, that there are cheaper alternatives. Lactagen is basically lactobacillus powder in bulk. It's nice because they give you a daily chart of how much to take, but it is certainly not scarce commodity. Trader Joe's sells it for far cheaper, in pill form. I also noticed Whole Foods promoting lactose intolerance products recently.
Good luck and may the force be with you~!
Piri
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So my question now is, has anyone found other ways of curing/easing lactose intolerance? I'm curious, so let me know!
7 comments:
Mikey -
There IS an easier way.
As a long time dairy lover, lactose loser, I simply supplement with lactose pills, anytime I'm about to eat dairy. Lactaid is the most well known brand, but they are PRICEY. You can do much better ordering from Puritans Pride when they have good sales or, head to your local GNC and get 240 tables for $8.00. Trader Joe's used to have great lactose pills, but I haven't seen them in a while, they may have stopped carrying them.
Anyway, read the directions on the bottle for dosage (milk takes way more pills than yogurt, for instance) and then play away.
I like cottage cheese, pizza and ice cream too much to just say no. And if a natural supplement (I'm just adding enzymes to my system when I need them) can let me eat what I like, why not?
Good luck!
Costco also sells generic lactaid pills for HCEAP. i can't remember the exact cent per pill tho. It's something like a nickle per pop?
Thanks for the awesome blog about the dreaded lactose intolerance. I was l.i. for years before I realized what the hell was going on. Now I just steer clear. It's honestly the easiest. I do take the lactaid if need be (like when you're at a restaurant and they lie to you by saying "there's no dairy in there") but although the lactaid does well for my instant burping and indigestion, it doesn't do that great for the other end of the digestive tract. It is really sad though as cheese is my all time favorite!! BUT, just the thought of how crappy I will feel after I eat it makes me not want it.
Thanks again for the blog!
-mean cheese
My husband was li for years. I found lactagen on line but it sooooo expensive. Then someone put it on sale. We had to pay $100 for it but it was well worth it. He did the whole thing for the35 days. Now several years later he eats anything he wants and has no problems. There was also a money back guarantee on it so we wouldn't have lost if had not worked.
Try it!! You'll like it!!! It worked for him
Carolyn Meadows, Macon, GA
That is awesome that it works! I suffered for many years myself and Costco's Kirkland brand lactaid was my close companion, popping it before every cheesy meal. I started using homeopathy to help with other issues I was having and one day ate dairy without the lactaid and found my severe intolerance (I wasn't a lucky one that could eat yogurt) was gone! My story is here http://www.succussions.com/2011/06/lactose-intolerance-cure/
Maybe this can help you folks out. I might even try raw milk and dairy if you live in a state with those options. The following is an excerpt from this link.
http://immortalhair.forumandco.com/t5656-contagious-health-article-by-art-ayers-phd-gut-flora-immunity-dirt
"Food intolerance can result from “good” family hygiene, limited diets and exposure to antibiotics. A common intolerance results from the absence of bacteria that produce an enzyme to digest dairy lactose, i.e. lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance can be readily cured by eating a dairy product, such as yogurt, that contains both lactose and live bacteria (probiotics) that can digest the lactose. Simply eating moderate amounts of live yogurt daily for a couple of weeks resupplies the gut flora with bacteria that can digest lactose, and the intolerance is gone."
I seem to have accidentally cured myself, though only time will tell. I had antibiotics, and on the tail of them took several fairly large doses of Lactose Defense, a probiotic capsule (that doesn't cost $150 or require you to forgo milk).
Then I forgot about it. And I'm almost 39 weeks pregnant, and thought I'd see if having lactose would cause the same type of cramps in my intestines that castor oil does, and if those would trigger uterine contractions. On the one hand... an ice cream induction is not in the works. Why? Because I had ZERO symptoms. Three days running I've had large amounts of dairy... peppermint ice cream, chocolate milk.... and ZERO symptoms. Without taking any pills. I'm wondering if flushing out the established flora with antibiotics (I had bronchitis or pneumonia, we're not sure) may have made it easier for the probiotics to establish themselves as the dominant gut flora. Regardless, I'll take it... even if it does mean I might have to resort to castor oil in a week or so.
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