ADULTS OF DIFFERING ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS TO LACTOSE-FREE.pdfVIP

NUTRITION RESEARCH, Vol. 1, pp. 227-233, 1981 0271-5317/81/030227-07502.00/0 Printed in the USA. Copyright (c) 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd. All r ights reserved. COMPARATIVE TOLERANCE OF ADULTS OF DIFFERING ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS TO LACTOSE-FREE AND LACTOSE-CONTAINING DAIRY DRINK Marianne Unger and Nevin S. Scrimshaw Department of Nutr i t ion and Food Science, Massachusetts Ins t i tu te of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 ABSTRACT Milk intolerance secondary to lactose malabsorption was investigated in 99 healthy adults (18 to 46 years old) of d i f fe r ing ethnic backgrounds. A breath hydrogen test (BHT) fol lowing a 250 ml. oral dose of a 10% lactose solut ion ident i f ied 24 subjects as lactose malabsorbers. A lac- tose-free (LF) chocolate-flavored dairy drink and one containing 4.5% lactose (LC) were formulated to simulate low-fat chocolate milk. These were consumed in 240 ml. and 480 ml. volumes under double-blind condi- tions to determine milk intolerance. Only three of the lactose malab- sorbers appeared in to lerant to both 240 ml. and 480 ml. of the LC dairy drink. No s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ign i f icant differences were found in the symptom prevalence reported by lactose malabsorbers (LM) and lactose absorbers (LA) a f ter 240 ml. of LC and LF dairy drink. The difference in symptoms between the LM and LA was s ign i f i cant (p.002) a f ter 480 ml. of LC dairy drink and af ter the BHT (p .002). The lactose- in- water administered for the BHT produced more symptoms in LM than did the equivalent amount of lactose in the dairy drink (p ~.04). Symptoms reported by LA to the LC dairy drink indicated that gastrointest inal d istress occurring af ter consumption of a lactose-containing dairy drink was not necessarily due to lactose malabsorption. Milk intolerance Lactase deficiency Lactose malabsorption INTRODUCTION In 1972 the Protein Advisory Group (PAG) of the United Nations System c la r i f i ed the termin