Digestion Experiments: Part 1, Lactose Intolerance

I have some new enzyme pills to play with, alpha-galactosidase(for the bloaty green veggies) and lactase(for milk), since I apparently do not possess enough of either to eat what I want without bloating and intestinal discomfort.

An hour ago I swallowed a 2250 unit dose of lactase followed by 1 cup of milk. In a couple of hours I will know if that was enough lactase, or if I should have taken more.

I probably should have done this years ago.

*Update: <2.5 hours later> There are some rumblings going on, nothing too severe, but they are noticeable. I’m probably a little bloated too, but also, nothing too uncomfortable. Yet.

**Update: <24 hours later> I was less gassy and bloated than usual. Some literature suggests that pills are less effective for liquid food than with solid foods and that the gastric acid may render the enzyme useless. It has also been suggested that lactase drops would be better suited to treating milk, but you have to pre-treat the milk, OR give a large bolus of lactase to the milk before you drink it. I haven’t finished reading all the information yet, and I still have more experimenting to do on myself before I come to any conclusions. I might try chewing the tablet or crushing it and adding it to the milk and compare those two treatments.