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I have a question that perhaps a medical professional in the group can
assist me with.  For those with problems consuming dairy after going gluten
free, I often recommend avoiding it totally for at least several months to
see if their continued problems resolve themselves.

On occasion, I have had people tell me they are unwilling to give up dairy
because they couldn't possibly be intolerant to dairy, as they have been
tested by an allergist for casein intolerance and their test results come
back as negative for lactose/casein intolerance.

I know in my personal case that I as well have consistently tested negative
for dairy/casein intolerance, yet I continue to be intolerant of dairy
products in the form of considerable flatulence and diarrhea.  I have read
that lactase, the enzyme which assists in dairy digestion, is manufactured
within the villi of the small intestine.  When the villi are damaged, it
stands to reason that one is either not able to manufacture lactase, or not
in enough quantity or quality to be able to handle lactose consumed.  OTC
"Lactaid" does not work for me.  My GI doc tells me my villi are healed
(confirmed by repeat upper endoscopy), yet the fact still remains I can't
handle dairy in any form except rare consumption of very small amounts of
pure butter like ghee, or even more rare occasions of small amounts of ice
cream.  Does the fact that butter and ice cream have very little dairy left
after processing and is ultimately pure fat?  Dairy consumption remains a
problem for me even after 7 years of being strictly gluten free.

Can anyone shed a little more technical light on this issue or lead me to a
website that better explains this issue?  Thanks so much your help in
advance, Dorina [log in to unmask]

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