Lactose Intolerance

[Tangerine]

I wasn't sure where to ask this or its probably been discussed to death (sorry)

I was just now looking on google for symptoms of being Lactose Intolerant... when you become a vegan do you become Lactose Intolerant? And isn't this a good thing? (in a way)

I was struggling with giving up cheese for a long time - that was the only dairy that was hard for me to give up - but I finally did it a long time ago - but today I was having dinner with my mom and I had this salad with a little cheese and ranch dressing (parents are meat eaters) - this was the first dairy products I had eaten in a long time - and about 6-10 mins after I ate that I felt like puking, it was horrible --- and Im still feeling a little funky (several hours later)



sorry if I offended anyone, but I'm really curious.

[Tangerine]

Can anyone help me????

[Wildflower]

Sorry, I am not aware of people becoming lactose intollerant when not eating dairy, but I suppose it could happen.

I don't however, think that vomitting 10 minutes after eating sounds like lactose intollerance. People who are lactose intollerant generally get diarrhea/cramping awhile after eating, and some hard cheeses and most yogurts seem to be somewhat tollerated in small quanities. It is more a glass of milk, icecream, a lot of cheese, etc.

I am not lactose inotollerant myself, but have know lots of friends who were - in fact, most of the world is lactose intollerant, far more than aren't.

I have heard of people eating meat after having not eaten it for a long time and getting sick, allthough I am not sure why exactly. I was veggie on off for a few years, but now have not eaten meat in 15 years, so I can't really comment on it personally.

Sounds to me like feeling you are going to puke may be more psychological or just general stomach upset from eating something you hadn't in awhile rather than lactose intollerance, however I would be interested to know as well as I often wondered that when first considering going vegan.

[meggymaggoo]

I was lactose intolerant (not now obviously because I am vegan and therefore do not ever have dairy) your symptoms do not sound like lactose intolerance; they do, however, sound like psychosomatic response: guilt perhaps?

[meggymaggoo]

Just had another thought: maybe you always felt bad after dairy but never noticed until now?

Originally Posted by Tangerine

I was just now looking on google for symptoms of being Lactose Intolerant... when you become a vegan do you become Lactose Intolerant? And isn't this a good thing? (in a way)

Yes it is!!!
I think its hilarious that omni health "experts" will take a perfectly natural condition and call it a disease. All weaned animals OUGHT to be lactose intolerant, because they aren't supposed to spend their entire lives on mother's milk, much less stealing it from another species when mom dries up, unless of course they sadly die in infancy.
It isn't really lactose intolerance; its being weaned, the way we were supposed to have been weaned when we were little.

I hope you didn't get too sick Tangerine.

[Tangerine]

so it's from being weaned? and its most likely in my head, because I never want to eat that stuff again - of course it could have been a little food poisoning but anways...

thanks for the help guys

[meggymaggoo]

Are you feeling better now?

[meggymaggoo]

I meant - do you still feel unwell? (Emails and forum posts can so easily be misread, I wish there was a way of showing our intentions when we post).

I hope that you are feeling better ((((((((((((hugs))))))))))

[Tangerine]

Originally Posted by meggymaggoo

Just had another thought: maybe you always felt bad after dairy but never noticed until now?

always felt guilty , after I became a veggie because I was trying so hard to quit eating cheese,

whatever happened to me wasnt very pleasant... o well teaches me not to eat that stuff

[meggymaggoo]

I really do hope that you are much better now Tangerine.

It could have been so many things but Lactose Intolerance is (in my experience) not so instant. Maybe the dressing was off? You may have had mild food poisoning?

More hugs (((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))

[harpy]

I have read that if you stop eating dairy produce you may stop producing lactase, the enzyme that digests lactose, so yes, you may become lactose intolerant.

The symptoms are usually cramping, bloating, diarrhoea etc after eating dairy produce, so I don't know if that squares with what you had. I used to find the symptoms did come on quite fast after consuming dairy produce.

Of course, you can become lactose intolerant in other circs as well, including eating too much dairy produce, I believe.

As has been pointed out, you could regard it as more "normal" for an adult to be lactose intolerant than not. Hope you're feeling better, anyway.

[Stezzy]

You might've already had the dairy intolerance but as you were eating foods containing dairy on a consistant basis in the past, your reaction would've been masked because your body would have to try to adapt to it. Once you cut the dairy out of your diet for a long period and then reintroduced it, your body's reaction would be a lot stronger because that is the initial reaction to a food your body can't handle. I've been allergic to my mum's companion animals for many years but I didn't know this until I went to university and didn't go back home for several months. When I did I ended up severely ill with streaming eyes and nose because my body went crazy at being exposed to the allergens again.
That's why a lot of people have low level health problems for many years such as headaches, spots, indigestion but people start taking them for granted. More often than not it turns out that the body has had to adapt to a food it cannot tolerate.