There seems to be some confusion about the difference between lactose and casein intolerance. You may have heard of lactose intolerance, and those that avoid lactose or casein but what are these two substances and what is the difference? Allergy and intolerance information can be confusing and can leave people worried about what a person can eat. Often people will simply stop eating all dairy when in fact, for some, that may not be necessary. People often react to one or the other of these two substances in milk but not usually both. Lactose is the sugar in milk that needs the enzyme lactase to beak it down so that it can be absorbed by the body. Babies usually produce this enzyme in abundance but after the age of weaning the production of lactase declines as our dependance on milk declines. This is actually a normal process although many of us now possess a gene mutation that allows lactase production to continue past this time. Lactose intolerance while miserable for many is not a serious condition, but merely your bodies reaction to undigested food. Most people will experience diarrehea, bloating and gas as a response to undigested lactose.

AlfaLite has less than half the lactose found in cows milk. Casein (calcium caseinate or the curds) is one of the protiens found in milk but not in AlfaLite. Many people are intolerant or allergic to casein and the symptoms can be far worse than those of lactose intolerance. Symptoms can include eczema, asthma, hives, hay fever, sinus, hyperactivity, excess mucus, phlegm, obesity, diabetes or hypertension and gastrointestinal symptoms similar to those of lactose intolerance. Casein allergies are more serious than lactose intolerances, A small percentage of those that have an allergy to casein may be at risk of anaphylactic reactions where the immune system floods the body with chemicals anf the body can go into shock. For those with lactose intolerance it is relatively simple to avoid lactose and the majority of people can tolerate differing amounts of lactose. It is not necessary for those with laactose intolerance to avoid casein and most lactose intolerant people can consume milk with the lactose removed or reduced. Casein is much more difficult and it tends to be in many milk products often called milk solids.

Over the past 26 years we have found that 85% of those people who drink mill but get the previously mentioned problems, remain symptom free when changing to AlfaLite as it contains no calcium caseinate. The whey may however have traces remaing in it, so for the very small number who have extremly severe intolerance, eventraces of caein can cause anaphylactic reactions. For those people no dairy is acceptable and they should not use AlfaLife.