<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Dear Listmates

Many thanks for all your helpful replies.  Here are the extracts. This is very educational and helpful to me.  Some of the replies are fairly lengthy but as they are very informative I thought they would be of interest:

(PS: As I have had so many responses, and I want to pass on all the information I have received to you I have decided to break down my summary into several parts, so please look forward to Part 2!).  Sorry, but it is very time consuming and I don't want to miss out on passing on any of the valuable information I have received to others)... - Carole 
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"lactose is the sugar in milk and casein is the milk protein."
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"Lactose is milk sugar , a disacharide which is broken down to glucose and
> galactose.  Casein and whey are milk  proteins; like the nursery rhyme
> "little miss muffet ...eating her curds and whey."  Casein is the "harder"
> part of the protein and whey is the softer , easier to digest portion of the
> protein.  Infant formulas are made from  cow's milk but  the proportions of
> casein and whey are modified to be more whey than casein.
>   This is more info than you asked for but sometimes things are easier to
> grasp with examples."
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........lactose is a sugar, casein is
> > > a protein.  Lactose acts as direct irritant causing
> > > gas cramps and diarrhea probably by irritating the
> > > large intestine  It is broken down into glucose (which
> > > is not an irritant) by the enzyme lactase.  Lactase
> > > disappears from the body as we get older.  As a result
> > > most older people can't tolerate cow's milk.  Some
> > > Black children can't tolerate cow's milk beyond the
> > > age of 8.  Cow's milk causes diarrhea.  Lactose forms
> > > the basis of a cathartic which is available over the
> > > counter in the US.  Lactase (the enzyme which breaks
> > > lactose into easily digestible glucose) is produced in
> > > the intestine by a germ (acidophyllous) which is also
> > > available over the counter but not very effective, in
> > > my opinion.
> > >
> > > Casein is a protein.  Proteins are large complex
> > > molecules made of building blocks called peptides
> > > which themselves are built of smaller blocks called
> > > amino acids. Digestion in the small intestine breaks
> > > proteins down into amino acids which are small and are
> > > absorbed thru the wall of the intestine into the blood
> > > stream where they nourish us.
> > >
> > > In celiac disease, several things go wrong.  First,
> > > the
> > > peptide gliadin (present in wheat, rye, oats and
> > > barley)  poisons the digestive surfaces of the small
> > > intestine (villi) in some people.  The villi inflame,
> > > cease functioning, and atrophy (shrink).  This is the
> > > painful stage of CD.  Gas, cramps, diarrhea,
> > > malabsorption, weight loss.  Fortunately if gliadin is
> > > removed from the diet completely, the villi grow back
> > > in a week or so. But even a few molecules of gliadin
> > > are enough to inflame the villi once they have been
> > > sensitized. Once sensitized, tiny amounts of gliadin
> > > poison the whole small intestinal lining, just as tiny
> > > amounts of pollen set off a massive reaction in the
> > > nose and lungs of some people.
> > >
> > > The second source of problems from gliadin and casein
> > > occurs in some people who have had celiac disease,
> > > recover from it by careful dieting but are left with a
> > > damaged intestinal wall which incompletely digests
> > > protein into peptides but not into amino acids.
> > > Normally these large, incompletely digested peptides
> > > are passed out in the stool, but in the celiac damaged
> > > gut, they "leak" thru the intestinal wall ("leaky
> > > gut") and into the blood stream where they are
> > > recognized as alien and attacked by the immune system
> > > and destroyed.  Depending on where (in which organ)
> > > the battle takes place and which peptides are
> > > absorbed, various diseases, called autoimmune
> > > diseases, can occur.
> > >
> > > The third and much more sneaky result of leaky gut
> > > fascinates me. Both milk proteins (but not milk sugar)
> > > and wheat proteins break down into peptides which
> > > "leak" into the blood stream but are not recognized as
> > > alien by the immune system.  They are distributed
> > > throughout the body in just a few minutes.  Strangely,
> > > these proteins are very similar to opium.  They are
> > > called opioid peptides and they cause a sense of
> > > lassitude and withdrawal and sleep which some people
> > > enjoy, but which others detest.  These narcotic
> > > peptides can be recognized by their almost instant (20
> > > minute onset) after eating casein or gliadin."
> > >(That last bit amazes me as it happens to me! - Carole)
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" Lactose is milk sugar.  It is broken down to glucose and galactose by
> lactase, and enzyme.  Casein is a protein. ....
 I had already figured out that what I thought was lactose
> intolerance wasn't, but was to the protein in milk.  The big tip off was
> that no matter how much lactase I took, I still got the same reaction. 
> Also, the closer I got to pure protein (less fat) the worse my reactions
> were.  I had testing with Dr. Fine and had the test for milk as well as
> gluten, yeast, etc.  He found antibodies to three different milk
> proteins."
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End of Part 1 
(Part 2 of Part 1 contd on next e-mail as I wasn't allowed to send the original as it was too long. - Sorry! - Carole)

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