Milk Allergy or Lactose Intolerant

A dairy allergy is an immune response resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. Because such a response can show up in any part of the body, it can cause various problems such an anemia and fatigue.

Milk allergy is often confused with being lactose intolerant but the two conditions are very much different:

Dairy allergies can trigger various milk allergy symptoms such as:

Ear infections in children, sinusitis, acid reflux, IBS, arthritis, ADD, acne, anxiety, poor immune function even lactose intolerance and the list goes on.

Causes of Milk Allergies:

Milk allergies are genetic in nature, the immune system does not recognize it as a friendly substance, therefore in some cases will try to fight off this unknown intruder.

Recognizing that you may actually have a milk allergy can be very difficult because you may eat something only two or three times a week and still have a major reaction to it. Keeping track of our daily eating habits can be a very tedious task; therefore, something that may cause a reaction can easily slip through. It is also very difficult to determine by eating habits because allergy symptoms may show up two or three hours later, even days may pass by once food is fully absorbed into your system.

The only surefire way to determine if you have food allergies is to have your blood tested for antibodies to dairy.

Lactose Intolerance is an enzyme deficiency that can be triggered by having milk allergies.

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance:

People that are lactose intolerant often experience upset stomachs, bloating, gas and loose bowel movements. Symptoms are usually relieved by taking a lactaid or other digestive product from over you local drug store counter. However, in many cases the symptom of being lactose intolerant is in fact a symptom of having a dairy allergy. It is actually the dairy allergy that has damaged the digestive tract to the point of causing an enzyme deficiency that in turn has cause you to become lactose intolerant.

Do not assume you are only lactose tolerant or that it will just go away especially if lactaids and other digestive medications are not relieving your symptoms. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms associated with having a milk allergy, get tested by your local health professional to make that determination.