if i'm lactose intolerant and i eat dairy do i absorb the calories?

just curious because i've always wondered about this.

Your body can break down everything else, so probably you do absorb the calories even though you get terrible, kill me now diarrhea. 

I'm am curious why you would eat dairy, though.  It hurts so much unless you take the right enzymes.  Even then it can still be uncomfortable.  edit: extremely uncomfortable and sometimes the enzymes don't work

If your lactose allergic and not intolerant I believe the bacteria in your intestines can be built up to break down the lactose. The mechanism involves lactase, I think, which your body can use to absorb lactose. So you will absorb some calories, I'm just not sure as to what percentage. I think the same bacteria is present in those who are lactose intolerant, which is a much more rare condition, but the symptoms are so severe it's not really worth building them up.

If you're lactose-intolerant you don't have the enzymes your body needs to break down the sugar (lactose) in the milk... so the bacteria in your insides have a field day doing it for you. I'd think that you wouldn't absorb ALL the calories from the dairy, but you still get a fair portion of them. It's not like a weight-loss technique :P (can't say I'd want to use it that way even if it was! I prefer NOT spending my entire evening in the bathroom...)

Original Post by kajikit:

If you're lactose-intolerant you don't have the enzymes your body needs to break down the sugar (lactose) in the milk... so the bacteria in your insides have a field day doing it for you. I'd think that you wouldn't absorb ALL the calories from the dairy, but you still get a fair portion of them. It's not like a weight-loss technique :P (can't say I'd want to use it that way even if it was! I prefer NOT spending my entire evening in the bathroom...)

I guess you could say it is a weight loss technique if you consider the amount of weight "lost" out of both ends!!!! hahaha  oh, TMI 

No, but seriously...it's bad.  Don't try this at home.

lol i dont have it bad i think i'm only halfway intolerant.  plus dairy is just so good!  i could never give up cheese!

Oh, I enjoy cheese so much too, but I do not eat it as much as I want.  There are some good ones, though.  They are really fermented, so the lactose is broken down more.   I try to stay on a budget, but splurge on Whole Foods for their real cheeses once in a while.  Watch out, most conventional dairy products are not fermented.  They just add cream, starch and some bacteria, so they have a lot of lactose.  :(

Some of the zero fat or light sour creams are good, because they are mostly starch and sugar and very little dairy and they seem to work well with enzyme supplements.  I also found a good zero fat yogurt last week that was good and easy on the system. 

older, harder cheese shouldn't give you trouble, like Bettypage says.  I don't have any trouble from any cheese (I think). 

Yoghurt has lactase in it, which breaks down the lactose.  Kefir is just like yoghurt.  I don't like non-dairy products because they have oils in them and basically have the same effect as fresh dairy. 

What does Kefir taste like?  I saw it in the store last week but don't want to waste my $ if it is going to suck LOL

I get plain lowfat kefir, it's like plain liquid yoghurt.  I generally mix frozen fruit and blend it, often adding vanilla syrup.  Frozen bananas and vanilla with tastes just like a shake.  Blackberries are really good too. 

It's also good with just the vanilla syrup. 

I've never tried flavored kind. 

just discovered im lactose. the is hitting me so hard. i am so sad. i can't even have chocolate. CHOCOLATE ... sigh lol

on a side note... i revolted yesterday and ate like milk based poducts for most of the day to figure this out once and for all and i definetly did not retain any calories. i dont get the toilette problem, but i was bloated out to here (displays yard stick) and i have massive headaches.  was not worth it.  just wanted to see is it was all in my head or not.  but low and behold, i lost a lot for one night and i was fatiged most of the day yesterday.