According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 50 million Americans show signs of lactose intolerance, the inability to make enough of the enzyme lactase to digest the sugar in milk products. Lactose intolerance occurs across the population, but certain ethnic groups are particularly at risk: 90% of Asians and 80% of blacks and Hispanics report lactose intolerance symptoms which can range from mild discomfort to severe nausea.

Taking extra lactase is the traditional solution for lactose intolerance but is not always very satisfactory because it only works when the lactose is in the upper digestive tract or stomach, so has to be taken each time you want to consume dairy. This is not only inconvenient, but confusing as so many manufactured products contain dairy products without obviously saying so on the pack. A better solution would, obviously, be a pill that could be taken in the morning and protect you throughout the day.

And now Ganeden Biotech, a Cleveland-based biotechnology company, has created just that: a product called Digestive Advantage Lactose Intolerance combining a probiotic strain of Bacillus coagulans and the lactase enzyme. Studies conducted by the Dutch research firm TNO demonstrated that the combination was able to increase lactose digestion throughout the digestive tract not just in the upper tract as with traditional lactase.

Ganeden Biotech is delighted with the product as they say that their customers love our product because it works, and because they don't need to take it with every meal.

Courtesy of Medical News Today

First published in May 2010

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