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Lactose intolerance is a common digestive problem that affects around 65% of adults worldwide. It’s when your body can’t digest the lactose found in milk and other dairy products – usually because you don’t have enough of the enzyme called lactase to break it down. Common symptoms include nausea, bloating, gassiness and cramping, among others. If you think you might be lactose intolerant, try taking the lactose intolerance quiz to find out.
Try the lactose intolerance quiz and answer the following questions
This lactose intolerance test is like a questionnaire. Answer these following questions to help you find out if you are lactose intolerant or not.
Question 1:How long have you been dealing with lactose intolerance?
If you’ve been dealing with lactose intolerance for a long time, you’re likely to already know it – but if you’ve only been dealing with it recently, this could be a sign that something else may be wrong.
If you’ve been dealing with lactose intolerance for a while, it could be because you’re older and your body isn’t making as much lactase as it used to. If you’ve only been dealing with it recently, it could be something else is going on, like an infection, or you could be allergic to something in the dairy you’re consuming.
Question 2: Do you experience bloating, gassiness and cramping after eating dairy?
If you experience bloating, gassiness, and cramping after eating dairy, this is a pretty clear sign that you’re lactose intolerant. If you don’t experience these symptoms after eating dairy products, you might just be sensitive to them, or allergic to them, which are different things. If you think you’re lactose intolerant, try eating a bit of dairy and see if you get any symptoms.
Question 3: How much time does it take for your symptoms to appear after consuming lactose?
If you’re lactose intolerant, you’ll usually start to feel symptoms like cramping, gassiness, and bloating after about 30 minutes of consuming lactose.
If you experience severe symptoms that last longer than a few hours, you may have an infection. If you’re lactose intolerant, you should see your doctor if the symptoms last for more than 24 hours, or are severe and come with a fever.
Question 4: Have you been tested for lactose intolerance?
If you’ve been tested for lactose intolerance and your doctor says you’re lactose intolerant, you should try cutting out dairy from your diet and see how you feel.
If you’ve only been tested for an intolerance, you should try an elimination diet to see what’s triggering your symptoms to make sure it’s the lactose. If you’ve been tested for a true intolerance, you’ll have a high level of lactose in your blood after consuming dairy, which is what the test looks for. If you’ve only been tested for sensitivity, there won’t be much lactose in your blood after eating dairy.
Question 5: Does cutting out lactose from your diet help reduce your symptoms?
If you’ve been diagnosed with lactose intolerance and you try cutting out lactose from your diet, you should notice an improvement in your symptoms. If you don’t notice a difference after cutting out lactose, you may just be sensitive to it, or allergic to it, which are different things. If you’ve been diagnosed with lactose intolerance and you try cutting out lactose from your diet, and you notice that your symptoms don’t go away, you may want to be tested again to make sure the results were accurate.
Question 6: Do you also experience diarrhea after eating food with lactose?
If you experience diarrhea after eating food with lactose, you may have lactose intolerance, or you may have an infection. If you have lactose intolerance, you won’t have a high level of lactose in your blood after consuming dairy. If you have an infection, you should visit your doctor to get diagnosed and treated.
Can you develop lactose intolerance?
If you’ve been dealing with lactose intolerance for a long time, you’ve likely developed it. If you’ve only been dealing with it for a short amount of time, you may have an infection, or you may be allergic to something in the dairy you’re consuming. If you’ve been dealing with lactose intolerance for a long time, you should cut out lactose from your diet to see if it helps reduce your symptoms.
Lactose intolerance VS milk allergy
There are some similarities between lactose intolerance and a milk allergy, but there are also some key differences. Lactose intolerance is a digestive disorder, while a milk allergy is an immune response.
If you have a milk allergy, you’ll usually experience digestive symptoms, like cramping, gassiness, and bloating, which you won’t do with lactose intolerance. If you have a milk allergy, you’ll also usually have a severe reaction, like hives, wheezing, or anaphylaxis, which you also won’t with lactose intolerance.
There are also some tests you can do to determine whether you have a milk allergy or lactose intolerance. If you have a milk allergy, you’ll have an allergic reaction when you consume milk, but if you have lactose intolerance, you won’t react. If you have a milk allergy test, you’ll have a false positive if you have lactose intolerance.