What is lactose intolerance?

Lactose is a carbohydrate, the sugar found in milk. About 50 grams can be found in every liter of cow's milk, and up to 70 grams in human milk.
Lactose is a disaccharide, this means that it is made up of two sugars: glucose and galactose.
To harness the energy of lactose, the small intestine secretes an enzyme that is responsible for dividing lactose into its two component sugars. This enzyme is called lactase.
The vast majority of newborns secrete lactase, in order to take advantage of the energy in milk, but with development the secretion of lactase decreases. If it stops being secreted completely, the lactose cannot be divided, reaching the colon, where it ferments, releases hydrogen, carbon dioxide and lactic acid, irritating the intestine; the consequent chemical changes cause the intestine to absorb water and cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps and flatulence.
Lactose intolerance occurs mainly among blacks and natives of the Latin American region and is very rare among the European and Middle Eastern population. Anthropologists consider that this difference is due to the action of adaptation mechanisms, since for millennia the Asian-European population consumes milk and derivatives as adults, and therefore secreting lactase, while the population of African and American origin only consume it in the first years of childhood, and therefore when they grow up, due to disuse, the secretion ceases lactase.

Diarrhea, flatulence and abdominal cramps. To remedy this biochemical anomaly that affects some sectors of the world population, producers add the permeate (serum) an enzyme, α-lactase that hydrolyzes the disaccharide into its two monosaccharides and is thus tolerated by groups allergic to it. lactose.