Simple Nutrition Insights
Welcome to Simple Nutrition Insights, your practical guide to understanding nutrition in less than 30 minutes. Join us as we break down the science of healthy eating into digestible insights and actionable tips. Whether you're a busy parent or just short on time, our goal is to provide you with straightforward advice to enhance your well-being. Tune in for expert interviews, evidence-based advice, and quick, easy-to-implement strategies for nourishing your body and living your best life.
Simple Nutrition Insights
Discover Dairy-Free Nutrition with Lauren O'Connor
This episode shares valuable strategies for navigating lactose intolerance while maintaining enjoyment in meals. Lauren O'Connor, a registered dietitian, discusses practical solutions, including delicious dairy alternatives and tips for improving gut health without eliminating entire food groups.
• Exploring the journey of becoming a dietitian
• Discussing the impact of lactose intolerance on daily life
• Highlighting the tolerance levels for lactose consumption
• Sharing insights on plant-based dairy alternatives
• Emphasizing the importance of nutrient fortification in swaps
• Encouraging an inclusive approach to food choices
• Offering actionable tips for improving gut health
• Providing resources for further exploration and support
Here is Lauren's Website
Thank you for listening. Please subscribe to this podcast and share with a friend. If you would like to know more about my services, please message at fueledbyleo@gmail.com
My YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0SqBP44jMNYSzlcJjOKJdg
Hey, hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of the Simple Nutrition Insights Podcast. I am your host, leonila Campos, registered Dietitian, and today we have an exciting guest joining us, lauren O'Connor, who is a private practice dietitian, a five-time cookbook author and a freelance writer with a passion for gut health, fitness and culinary nutrition. She's also a yoga teacher and an active member of her community, sharing her expertise through her website NutriSavvyHealthcom and contributing to numerous health and wellness publications. February's National Lactose Intolerance Month serves as the perfect time to embrace smarter, tastier choices, so we are thrilled to have Lauren here to share her expertise. Lauren, welcome. So much to the show.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Leo. It's a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, amazing. So, lauren, your background is so inspiring. Can you tell us a little bit more about your journey and what led you to become a dietitian?
Speaker 2:Well, let's see, I had been in my undergrad, I was exploring myself, trying to figure out what to do, searching, and just couldn't really find anything that I liked to do, but ended up in a dead-end job production art. That wasn't really going anywhere. But what I realized was, throughout the five years that I had been working since I had graduated, I just got more and more into nutrition. How can I make myself healthier, how can I be the best or as fit as I can be? And so exploring various types of diets, some of which were a little more extreme than others, and I realized I think this is just a time for me to pursue something that has become more than just a hobby. You know, I am actually going to retreats, I am signing up for, you know, courses and might as well get it professional, credentialed, go into something that has such interest. But that's not the end of the story.
Speaker 2:I ended up becoming a registered dietitian. I worked for a year in clinical, got pregnant, had two young girls. Me and my husband were thrilled to have twins, and so at that time I started focusing on family nutrition, doing a little blogging here, doing recipe development for certain companies, you know, creating menu planning because I was really a busy stay-at-home mom. That evolved into my private practice in 2012, focusing on family nutrition, but it wasn't until a health scare of my own in 2017 that I changed my focus to gut health and GERD.
Speaker 1:Sometimes life takes us into different paths and we end up in a path that we didn't think about, right.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:For the benefit, hopefully, yeah. So you have so many hats right? You're a dietitian, an author, a writer, a yoga teacher. How do you balance all those things?
Speaker 2:It's a balance. I don't know that I balance them all super well, but I do. I do have structure to my days. You know I teach yoga three times a week. The writing assignments they come, I accept them. I fit them into the schedule as they fit because, as you know, with writing there's deadlines. You might have three days or a week to do something, so if I need to write at night, I'll write at night. So that's what I love. The writing is so very flexible. My yoga schedule is set.
Speaker 2:And seeing clients you know I see clients as I schedule them, so it's my own business. I get to decide how many and who I'm going to see, and so I know, like you, like a dietitian, you're very busy. You do a podcast. You see your clients, you know. So it's all just about seizing opportunity, moving through with what you normally do, which has become a part of your lifestyle, your business and your lifestyle, and, you know, managing. My kids are now 16. They're in high school. They're pretty independent now, so things are a little different than they were when they were very young.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah, it's a different kind of way to organize things, right.
Speaker 2:And like you said, you're able to schedule things based on your availability, so that's awesome, exactly, and that's what I love about having my own business I do not have to adhere to somebody else's schedule. I have deadlines, I have projects, you know, and things you have to manage, but I, you know, it is nice to be able to work from home, do more or less telehealth, you know, do my writing, teach my yoga at the studio so it's super fun writing.
Speaker 1:Teach my yoga at the studio, so it's super fun, Awesome. So in the intro right I mentioned that you have written five cookbooks. What sparked your love for culinary nutrition?
Speaker 2:Just always enjoyed cooking. I didn't get an opportunity to cook much as a child. My mom was more or less a TV dinner mom. She didn't cook. But when I graduated college, a friend of mine and myself decided we are going to learn how to cook and we're going to go to farmer's market every weekend. We're going to get a different cookbook and a recipe, whether it's a Martha Stewart or whoever and we're going to do like all these meals, we're going to do a dinner, we're going to have the entree, the salad, we're going to create a dessert. We would stay up for hours preparing, following these things and using this fresh food and probably working far too hard than we needed to, but I think it was something that gave me a good skill set. I learned a lot on the way a lot of trial and error, a lot of following recipes and then, just you know, when blogging came up, I mean that opportunity to create new recipes, often to keep your blog up, right. So I think that's part of it too.
Speaker 2:The culture. A lot of people were blogging recipes and it just certainly fits within the scope of when you are seeing patients or trying to educate people on how to eat healthier. It's one thing to say, oh, you should include this many vegetables and this many fruits. It's another thing to say here's how you can create a well-rounded dish and how you can get enough fruit or vegetables throughout your day. Here's some great snack options. Here's a great dinner. So I think people find that a little more engaging than just giving them a list of here's what you should eat and how much you should eat. It's just, it's part of, I think, human, our culture, a love of food, a desire to eat together, a desire to eat things that are good for it. Well, hopefully, eat things that are good for you, that are going to taste good.
Speaker 1:Right, and I think you know just your background right, growing up maybe not knowing how to cook but still having that desire to. You know I want to learn how to cook and I want to develop these skills that I can use for the rest of my life and I think that is awesome. And I'm sure you know, with your books, right will you say that they are like user friendly and like they're easy to follow and like the recipes are simple.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean for the most part. Yeah, I mean that that's what it, you know, kind of has to be. I have, in the past, picked up cookbooks that were very complicated but the end result looks so amazing and then I found myself just pulling my hair out because I didn't thoroughly read it and understand. I was supposed to do step A before step B. It just wasn't clear, and so I think that there is a need for people to have something that is, you know, a an example for them to do and B a really clear guide as to how to do something, so they can say, hey, you know what, I thought I couldn't cook and I made this delicious recipe. Or I made something with four simple ingredients and, look, that was good, I can do this. So I think, empowering people to be able to use someone else's resource but to be able to, you know, cook for themselves because I think anybody can be a good cook it's about understanding, following directions and eventually building a skill set, like you do with anything.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, I love that and I think it's important, you know, even if you're older now, to if that's something that you want. Right, being able to learn those skills specifically for our younger population. Right, being able to have those skills and it's something that you're gonna use for the rest of your life. So having these cookbooks are such a great resource. Yes, absolutely yes, awesome. So February, as I mentioned, right February is National Lactose Intolerance Month and many people are looking for ways to enjoy food without discomfort. What are some easy swaps or additions for listeners who want to reduce or eliminate lactose in their diets?
Speaker 2:Okay, well, first I want to explain that you don't necessarily need to entirely eliminate dairy right. Most people with lactose intolerant can, in fact, tolerate 10 grams of lactose per day. It's not a huge amount, but considering, let's say, a glass of milk is 12 grams of lactose, if you have less than a glass of milk and spread throughout your day say, a splash in your coffee, maybe a splash or two in your oatmeal or cream of wheat, that could certainly be okay. So that is an option. You can still use some dairy products. There are lactose-free products available that do contain dairy but are lactose-free, and so one is lactaid, which is great because it is the real dairy, it is the milk, but they provide the enzyme needed to break down the lactose, which is a milk sugar needed to break down the lactose, which is a milk sugar, and make it digestible. So those who are lactose intolerant can enjoy that milk or ice cream. Other products like Challenge Butter it's delicious, it's spreadable, it's lactose-free, it's the only spreadable lactose-free butter and it's just something I feel like the whole family can enjoy because it does have that buttery taste. It does contain some dairy, okay.
Speaker 2:So, that said, I would also say that you can look toward your vegan products. Anything that's dairy free, very easy. There's a lot of plant-based milks available out there. So we've got what Soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, macadamia and peanut milk, hemp milk, I mean, I can go on, and it's almost crazy to see these widely available options, even in stores like Kroger, ralph's, vons, you know, not just your health food stores like Erewhon or Laysons. So those products are widely available.
Speaker 2:But what I would say is that it's not necessarily direct swaps. You know our dairy, our milk, is high in protein and calcium, right. It's fortified with vitamin D. So if you're swapping for a plant milk say you love almond milk that's going to be very low in protein, right, be very low in protein, right. So you might want to swap for a soy milk instead. You want to make sure that your plant milks are going to be fortified with calcium and vitamin D so you don't miss out on those nutrients.
Speaker 2:If you do enjoy a vegan option, say that doesn't have a lot of certain nutrients, like calcium, then you can fulfill the calcium in your diet through adding in more leafy greens, getting in some more broccoli. Almonds are a source of calcium. Salmon fish, like salmon. If you get canned salmon with the bones, the edible bones. It's also going to provide a source of vitamin D, which is really hard to find in foods. Vitamin D is much, don't you think it's much harder to find that vitamin D? That's why a lot of foods, like certain cereals and like orange juices even, are fortified with vitamin D, as well as maybe calcium. So, yeah, those are just some ideas. There's so many vegan, dairy-free items on the market and then, of course, there's like that challenge butter that's lactose-free and tasty and spreadable and still has that element of dairy. That is quite appealing.
Speaker 1:Right. Thank you so much for sharing those thoughts and those alternatives to you and for speaking on the importance of making sure that they're fortified, or that if we're not getting enough protein from these other sources to choose the soy milk, you know, if you're already not getting it from anywhere, right, there could be a deficiency there. But also calcium, right, and more so for our younger population, right. I do see that a lot with, like teenagers or younger kids that are not drinking milk, right or not adding fortified calcium and vitamin D foods, and so if we're not getting them right, there could be a deficiency there. So I think finding these alternatives is really helpful.
Speaker 2:And that's where my concern is is, like with elimination diets, and even with, you know, because my focus is on gut health and GERD, you know my patients will have to go on a temporary elimination diet. Yes, it is temporary, and the reason it is temporary is because it's hard to get all the nutrients you need when you're cutting out all these certain foods that could possibly be causing you issue. And so I think the key thing that I really want to share about Lactose Intolerance Month is that you don't necessarily have to cut out that dairy, that particular type of food, from your diet If you choose not to. I mean, that's another thing. If you really enjoy the plant-based alternatives and you really don't need the dairy, and you can certainly get your calcium from a variety of sources in your diet and you can certainly get the fortification of the vitamin D. So it's, you know, for me, I like to express that eating should be from a wide variety of foods and not cutting out particular foods or types of foods unless it's absolutely necessary.
Speaker 2:Lactose intolerance is not a milk allergy. It's something that you can control, and it's something that you can definitely how should I say, manage, you know, by consuming less of the lactose, or breaking it up into smaller portions, amounts, getting less lactose throughout the day. So, like I said, breaking that milk into little splash here and then a little later a little splash there, or maybe enjoying some cheese. Cheese is generally hard, cheeses are generally lower in lactose because the whey, the liquid whey portion, is filtered out, strained out, and that's what contains most of the lactose in the dairy product. Is that liquid whey. So you can opt for things that are going to be low in lactose. You can opt for things that are lactose free and you can. You know, stated, claimed and shown to be lactose free. Right, because they have such insignificant amount that's not likely to affect you. Can, you know, stated, claimed and shown to be lactose-free? Right, because they have such insignificant amount that's not likely to affect you. Or you can choose to go vegan, choose vegan products or yogurts, yogurts oh my gosh. Yogurts are great. Right, because they have all those beneficial probiotics which the body break down and digest and reduce incidence of gas and bloating. Furthermore, if you get a Greek, a highly strained yogurt, like Greek yogurt or like the yogurt style, the skier right, much of that whey has going to be strained away. That's what contains much of the lactose, so it's going to be much lower in lactose.
Speaker 2:So these are things that I just want to emphasize, that it's not black and white like, wow, no dairy products, no lactose altogether. It's finding a balance and finding the amount that you know that's tolerable for you. Everyone's different. Some people are so sensitive, and I get it you know that even the smallest amount might affect them, and I get it that even the smallest amount might affect them. And the same thing with people who have incidents like with acid reflux, gerd, gastroesophageal reflux disease. It's like, yeah, some people, absolutely forever, may have to eliminate maybe certain things or really monitor the amounts of, say, something like garlic or tomato, and some people find that they're able to eventually add those back into their diets and have a little bit more not too much, but a little bit more moderate amounts. So, again, everyone's different, but in general, lactose intolerance does not mean you need to eliminate dairy altogether.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, thank you so much, and I love that how you made it so personalized, right and unique to each individual person, because that's essentially how it is right.
Speaker 1:It doesn't just like one recommendation is not for every single person. I think, really understanding you know what are the issues, right, or what are the symptoms or what the individual person is struggling with, and then working with them in figuring out a balanced, well-balanced plan that is going to benefit them and make sure that they're not having potential deficiencies and such. And I love that you also provided so many ways to still add those lactose. Well, not so much lactose containing, right, but if they still want to have dairy right, they can still have it, but maybe separate it or choose more of, you know, like the Greek style yogurt that provides so many benefits, right, or the Greek yogurt. So it's awesome that for the listeners to understand that right, that you have options, right, it's not. Yet if someone says, oh, you're lactose intolerant, eliminate it all, completely, right, but not replace it with anything else, because now we can get in trouble, right, right right, you don't want to just like swap it out and go oh well, you know this milk is creamy, it's plant-based, I'll just swap that.
Speaker 2:You know you're going to be missing out on certain nutrients that you know. Milk is stronger. Strong in, right. Like I mentioned, the calcium, the vitamin D, the fortification of the vitamin D, you know, and I think it's great when they can fortify products or products still have available dairy in them, but not too much, where they can still have that available calcium and vitamin D. Challenge Butter does have calcium and vitamin D.
Speaker 2:It's not like you're going to be eating a whole stick or getting a whole lot of it. But remember that our nutrients, we can get a little here, a little there and eventually those good things can add up. We don't always have to punch in a whole ton of like that all at once. So, just like knowing that lactose can build up and even a little bit here and a little bit there can eventually add up if you don't watch it, the same thing is to remember that you can get a little protein here, a little protein there, and through a wide plant rich diet you can still get a good supply of protein. Yeah, awesome, works both ways right. The adding up works both ways.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, amazing. So for those that maybe are, who are new to lactose free eating, what advice would you give them to make the transition easier or enjoyable?
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said, I think like one thing is to be able to use a little bit of what they love here and there, Right, so just breaking it down into smaller amounts throughout the day, you know, managing that amount. I think it's really fun to explore the variety of plant based options. I mean, we've got what? Kite Hill ricotta cheese? I mean that spreadable, meltable, ooey gooey shredded cheese. Right, we have chive and onion cream cheese. I mean, I think it's fun to be able to explore the possibilities out there and also remember that you can get creamy, rich flavor using things like avocado, making cashew cream or I'm sure they sell cashew cream, so you don't have to make it yourself. It's not that hard to make, but it is a process and I can understand why some people don't want to sit there with their food processor and mix the cream. We can edit that out. I don't know why that happened. I should turn my phone off. Let's start again. So let's see when were we?
Speaker 1:I think we can. Let's do from the cashew the cashew cream, and then I'll put it together.
Speaker 2:Okay, so cashew cream is certainly an option that you could make yourself. I'm sure that you can buy it. There are various cashew based ice creams that are so rich and flavorful. I think it's like exploring the culinary possibilities A B, knowing that you can still have a little bit of those dairy products here and there, learning which items are more likely to have more lactose than others, knowing that milk is going to have more lactose than cheese, right, that yogurt, especially Greek strained yogurt's going to have less lactose, and the fact that it has its probiotics. Yeah, so I just think that, just exploring possibilities, having the alternatives that are there.
Speaker 2:If milk is certainly something you want to continue to use and not have to worry about adding it up, there's lactaid, so you've got that possibility that you can use that. They also have ice creams. So I think, when possible, swapping out for something very comparable right, and most of the time we can, usually for the flavor and the texture. When swapping out, just being mindful that if something doesn't contain a lot of protein, get your protein, add it into your diet. Elsewhere, some protein powders there's vegan protein powders, even protein powders that have whey isolate. They're not necessarily going to be super high in lactose. And so again comes down to the idea of like okay, let's just simplify it, not worry about so much about counting, maybe lean a little bit more toward some vegan sources until we get a better understanding and we can really suss it through and go like if you want to and go. Yeah, you know I'm going to have the real deals, but I'm going to limit it because there's just so much alternatives available these days that it's almost ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Right, you had so many options nowadays, right, when we look at even you know, as I think, about our plan-based options before the pandemic to after the pandemic, right, it's almost like it grew exponentially. So there's so many options now for plan-based products that we you know that were not available before the pandemic, and so I think it's great that there's been a higher demand, which helps right industries to be able to develop more user-friendly products that taste good.
Speaker 2:There's a competition to make things taste better. Some things that came out weren't necessarily great-tasting yogurts like coconut yogurts Maybe a particular coconut yogurt wasn't that great or almond yogurt Maybe that particular coconut yogurt wasn't that great, or almond yogurt. And these days, you know, they're expanding the well-roundedness and the creaminess and the textures and making things like a little bit closer to, I feel, like what is highly desirable, almost to the point like this is really good, and I'm not even feeling like I'm swapping something out. This actually tastes like something I just want to use. Anyway, it's a creamy, delicious spread.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, without having the symptoms, right, and so I want to talk a little bit about how more so, like, if someone is having maybe some of these symptoms of lactose intolerance, that if they continue because sometimes I get clients that say, you know, I know that I cannot have milk, but I still have milk anyway, or cheese, or ice cream and I know I'm going to pay for it later right, how essentially, how damaging can that be for, like, their gut health if they continue to do that, as opposed to what you're suggesting, right, like breaking it down and like just having a smaller amount so you don't have those symptoms?
Speaker 2:having a smaller amount so you don't have those symptoms. Yeah, I mean, honestly, you know, anything that impacts like with bloating and gas is going to. It's impacting your digestion, your ability. You're not going to be eating as well. If you're feeling constantly bloated, you probably might be losing weight. Whether or not you're losing weight. Some people they don't feel well and they continue to eat and they gain weight.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it impacts how you feel about eating, how you're going to be eating, because the way that you're feeling, I feel like if you're having these symptoms and there's this distension and there's this excess gases. Excess gases can also, causing that distension, press up on the lower esophageal sphincter and so which, in the case of GERD even though lactose intolerance does not cause GERD the incidence of that bloating can affect and cause the reflux, which can affect your health, right? Because then in that case you've got excess acid coming up the esophagus, sometimes up through the throat, so this causes health scare, right? This irritates the passages, causes some irritation, makes it difficult to say if you have silent reflux swallow. So there are always health implications when you're having digestive discomforts, whether it's diarrhea or just gas or pain, and that certainly affects your health.
Speaker 2:So I think it's very important to be mindful. So, on one hand and that certainly affects your health so I think it's very important to be mindful. So, on one hand, not feeling a restrictive mindset, but, on the other hand, not like, well, you know, I know I'm not supposed to be having it, I'm going to get the consequence later, but I'm going to have it anyway. You know you've got. You have to educate your patients to find a middle ground and educate them that hey, there's other ways to enjoy this type of food that you like, or get that same creaminess that you do get from, say, that cream that you generally use in whatever it is. Or if you're making a smoothie, I can use avocado to make it creamy, right? Or I can use cashews. So, just, I think it's a lot about education and encouragement and showing people that there's other delightful ways to enjoy food.
Speaker 1:Right. Yeah, I love that. There's no like you don't have it at all, right and you're miserable, versus like you have it and you're miserable anyway. There's a middle ground and a way to incorporate these things right in a way that are going to help you, and your gut health is going to be safe as well, right.
Speaker 2:Well, it's so super important, right? It's super important to be able to digest well. If you don't digest things well, then you know you're not absorbing the nutrients properly either. So that's true.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely Awesome. All right, Lauren, if you could share maybe three actionable tips for our listeners to improve their gut health today. What would they be?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh three, just three, wow. Well, you know, I could go the whole dodge and say, oh, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Speaker 2:Just you know, I think it's more like exploring the wide variety of fruits and vegetables that you can enjoy. I think that there's so much out there and there's so many websites and recipes and blogs that show how well you can enjoy that wide diversity of vegetables. So I think that's key of importance. So I think that's key of importance. I think that not only the phytonutrients, but the plant fibers these are so necessary for your gut health. I think another thing is focusing on not eliminating foods when possible and making sure that you get plenty of protein. Protein is essential for like every element of your life, from like your cells and everything. Everything needs protein, whether it's your hair and your nails. Protein is necessary for many metabolic reactions. So, ensuring that you do get enough protein as well, and, you know, obviously, fortification. I think I'm going on and I'm just going to give you like all these tips, but I'm just going to say key things. And I'm just going to give you like all these tips, but I'm just going to say key things.
Speaker 2:Use the wonderful resources that we have and see the wide variety of delicious recipes that we have available. Lots of vegetables and fruits, I think, mediterranean type diets when I say that when I'm speaking to like Middle Eastern, there's a lot of flavors and foods and I've been seeing lately a lot more Middle Eastern influence. I mean, I know we've had hummus available for so long and we've had packages of like the eggplant dip I forgot what it's called, but baba ghanoush, right but there's also, like other things, that we're exploring in our culture and we're constantly getting things from you know, whether it's Middle Eastern or Spanish or European, but things that do focus a lot on plant-based foods, and I think we're very fortunate to have cookbooks like Orlingi, which really gives you a great Middle Eastern influence, with a lot of tasty, zesty, rich, well-flavored dishes.
Speaker 2:I love all those steps right rich well-flavored dishes.
Speaker 1:I love all those steps right, and these are tips that you know, things that we can do and we can incorporate slowly, right, and try. And I love that it's addition addition of foods instead of like complete elimination, right, that it feels restrictive. So amazing, where can the listeners find you? Right, like if they're wanting to work with you? Or I guess my question should be who do you work with? What's your niche? And then, if the listeners want to reach out to you or learn more about you and your cookbooks and everything, where can they? Where they can find you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, basically. So my niche is Gut, health and Gurt. They can find me at Nutrisavvyhealthcom, so N-U-T-R-I-S-A-V-V-Y health, h-e-a-l-t-h Nutrisavvyhealthcom. I know it's a big, big, long word, but they can find me there or on Instagram, lauren O'Connor.
Speaker 1:Awesome, and I'll make sure to add all that information in the show notes. So if you are driving or busy, don't worry, just go to the show notes. So if you are driving or busy, don't worry, just go to the show notes and all the information is going to be there in the links. Lauren, any final thoughts? Anything else that you would like to share or that you would like the listeners to know? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Just say listen to Leah Neela. She's a great podcast host. She really makes learning about certain topics you know, very, very interesting and very conversational. And, yeah, I can't think of anything else that I like to say. I don't know that I fully explained what lactose intolerance is, but if you want me to explain it, I can pop it in really quickly right now in a nutshell yes, please. I think that is wonderful and it's going to be useful. Okay, so lactose intolerance is basically when a person doesn't have enough of the enzyme called lactase, and this is what is necessary to break down the complex milk sugar called lactase. Lactose sorry, it breaks down the lactose in milk, milk and so when we don't have this enzyme to fully break it down, that lactose makes it down to the colon where it ferments, producing gases and ultimately causing discomfort, pain, gas, bloating, sometimes diarrhea. So if I mentioned this, delete it, but if I didn't keep it, yeah no, I don't think we mentioned it, so that's.
Speaker 1:This is great it makes sense.
Speaker 2:That way, people can understand that. That's why some lactose-free products might add the enzyme lactase to digest the lactose more fully, and that's why there are lactose-free products because of that issue. Right, but it is not a milk allergy, it's just that inability to fully digest the lactose.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you for bringing that up. I think it's also important, since you then mentioned, right, that lactose intolerance versus a milk allergy or lactose allergy. So for the listeners, right, what is the main difference between a lactose allergy or a milk allergy versus a lactose intolerance? No, lactose is more, it's an intolerance.
Speaker 2:So it's not the allergy, it's just that we can't break it down, you know. So when you consider the difference between an allergy which could be very life-threatening or not, it's not that you have that allergic reaction, not, it's not that you have that allergic reaction. It's just that because it's not broken down fully, it's causing gas and distension, which can be causal for pain and some obvious symptoms which are rather mild or severe. So it's just the fact that it's not broken down. So the great thing about the lactose intolerance is that we have things widely available. You know you can get that lactase enzyme. You know supplement, you can get that included in a certain product that breaks down that complex sugar, the lactose. Or you can choose food items that are much, much lower in lactose.
Speaker 1:Or you know vegan, non-dairy products much, much lower in lactose or, you know, vegan, non-dairy products. Yeah, thank you so much for talking a little bit about that as well. Okay, lauren, thank you so much again for your time and for all your insights and all your tips. I really appreciate your time Again, I'll put all the information where listeners can find you in the show notes. Yeah again, thank you again for everything.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. This was such a delightful conversation. You're so warm, You're so it's just. It's such a pleasure to speak with you, so thank you.
Speaker 1:Absolutely All right, everybody. Thank you so much for your time. Stay tuned for more episodes. Stay safe and stay healthy. I will talk to you soon. Bye-bye for now.