Lactose, a simple sugar, should be easy to digest and use in our body for energy, but some children may be unable to utilize this sugar; that is, they are lactose intolerant. Even more adults are sensitive to milk sugar; this is a separate (and major) issue from milk allergy. Nearly half of the world population is lactose intolerant, which may cause bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea after milk is consumed. Luckily, though, most children can handle at least mother’s milk and do all right on milk products, at least in their early years.

When other milks, such as cow’s or goat’s milk, are substituted for mother’s milk in infancy, milk allergy is very common. These milks are richer in proteins and have new protein molecules for the baby’s system to handle. Lactalbumin and milk casein are two of the proteins to which people, especially children, may react. Milk is the most common food allergen. Milk allergies may manifest as skin rashes, eczema, chronic otitis media (fluid and/or infections in the ears), hyperactivity, and other problems. Taking a child off milk products for a three- to four-week trial period and seeing how he or she does and then retesting with a meal of milk products is probably the best way to evaluate whether milk is a problem. If there are mild allergies, it is still possible to bring milk products back into the diet later after eliminating them for a month or two, which reduces the allergic capacity, possibly to a degree that they can be tolerated in moderation. Then a rotating diet where they are consumed only every four Day s will often be better tolerated. Sometimes substituting goat’s milk or, even better, soy milk or nut milks, will make a difference. (See more about this in the Allergy program in Part Four.)