Lactose intolerance can affect people with lactase deficiencies after the consumption of food containing lactose and manifests itself in gastrointestinal symptoms. In Central Europe about 15-20 % of the population suffer from lactose intolerance, worldwide the percentage is about 75 %. A possible lactose intolerance needs to be verified by diagnostic methods such as breath tests, lactose exposure test, biopsy and gene tests. Until now there is no medical therapy available to cure lactose

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... ance. Thus, it can only be treated with the help of nutritional therapy. The treatments range from excluding lactose containing foods completely from the diet to consuming lactase in the form of tablets or in yogurt. Further, diary products which have been pretreated with lactase are available to replace conventional products. Since even people with a pronounced lactose intolerance can normally tolerate certain amounts of lactose it is not necessary to completely exclude milk and dairy products from the diet and consequently risk severe nutritional deficiencies. Milk and Dairy products are important sources of calcium, and the recommended intake of 1000 to 1200 g per day is difficult to achieve without ingesting them. If calcium intake through nutrition is deficient, the organism has to use calcium from skeletal storages to assure the function of important calcium dependent biochemical mechanisms. In combination with a vitamin D deficiency this can lead to disorders of bone metabolism, which are characterized in deficient mineral integration or increased calcium depletion, such as osteoporosis, osteomalacia, rickets and osteopenia. The risk of suffering from cancer is enhanced by multiple factors, such as a deficient calcium intake. An increased intake of calcium can reduce the risk of (for) colon- and colorectal cancer. There is also some evidence that breast cancer and premenstrual syndromes can be significantly improved by calcium supplementation. Summing up, people suffering from lactose intolerance are advised to assu [...]