There is a lot of misinformation about lactose intolerance and what LI is or is not as well as considerable confusion as to how it is treated.  Lactose intolerance is not a disease nor is it an allergy; in fact lactose intolerance is a normal part of aging much like getting gray hair. Lactase the enzyme that digests lactose reaches its peak production when we are babies and then begins to decline soon after weaning.

Whether you will be lactose intolerant depends on your genes, either you have the gene that keeps lactase production turned on or you do not. This gene mutation as it has been described is fairly new in terms of human history first showing up about 9,000 years ago.

Another myth about lactose intolerance is that you do not need to be tested; you can tell if you have it or not by your symptoms.  Lactose intolerance symptoms are very similar to many other symptoms including milk allergies, celiac disease and other truly serious diseases. Self diagnosis is dangerous, if you think you may have lactose intolerance see a doctor and obtain a diagnosis so you know for sure.

There is no cure for lactose intolerance unless it is a secondary condition to a primary disease or infection. Primary lactose intolerance again is a normal state for an aging human body, increasing lactase production is just not possible.

The federal government requires labeling for lactose on food package is another myth, since lactose intolerance is not a life threatening serious disease; it seems the government simply does not take it very seriously. In addition to that the FDA has been quoted as saying that lactose intolerant consumers know how to avoid milk and milk products so do not need to be advised in labeling of the presences of lactose. Since most lactose intolerant consumers must measure and balance their consumption of lactose it becomes important for them to have some idea about the amount of lactose in a product.

Finally the last myth about lactose is that if a product states that it is 100% lactose reduced it is not always so, often these products still contain a small amount of lactose in these products, for those that are highly sensitive to lactose this can be a bad thing, but for most lactose intolerant individuals this is usually not a problem.