First let’s take a quick refresher course on lactose and what it is. Lactose is considered a compound sugar consisting of glucose and galactose. In the normal digestive process this is split up by the enzyme lactase. If the body does not produce enough lactase then the lactose is not digested and the result is lactose intolerance.

Fortunately for those people who suffer from a lack of lactase in their bodies there are ways to replace it. According to studies only one third of adults retain sufficient lactase in their bodies to properly digest dairy products. In order to combat this problem researchers have found that several one celled creatures like yeast create an abundant supply of lactase. This lactase can be put into pill form and used to help people who have lactose intolerance.

Lactase has become a product that is being used on a widespread basis in the dairy industry in such products as ice cream, sweetened flavored and condensed milks. They have found that when they add lactase to these products it hydrolyses approximately 50 percent of the lactose in the milk and results in a much sweeter product that will not crystallize when it is frozen or condensed. This might explain why some people who cannot drink a glass of milk may be able to tolerate a small dish of ice cream.

It also has been used to save some of the whey that would otherwise be a waste product and use it to replace some or even all of the skim milk powder that many regular ice cream recipes call for making it creamier in texture and much easier to scoop out of the bucket.

While the human body is not really designed to digest milk products in most people it is capable of producing sufficient lactase to cope with limited quantities. In cases where the body does not produce enough you can replace it with outside natural sources to help ease the suffering caused by lactose intolerance.