OP says it right there: allergy vs intolerance
Fiancée thought she had lactose intolerance, told she had since a young age. She cut out dairy for more than a year and then accidentally ingested some. Turns out it was an allergy and she had to go to the hospital.
People who are lactose intolerant don’t usually die from it.
People with peanut allergies very quickly die from it.
Don’t think these are really comparable.
This is the real difference.
One is an allergy hypersensitivity that triggers the release of histamine that (in this scenario) closes the throat and causes the person to die.
The other is a lack of an enzyme in the stomach to break down a specific component, so instead bacteria break it down. When they break it down, gas is released, which causes the stomach to be irritated.
So one is your throat literally trying to kill you, vs your stomach being irritated (possibly very bad). Not downplaying lactose intolerance, but its not the same as a type 1 hypersensitivity
Edit - as pointed out, most the stuff for lactose intolerance happens in the intestines not the stomach
Small correction: the stomach does not break down lactose, it’s in the small intestine where lactase breaks it down into glucose and galactose which are then absorbed. The irritation that occurs in lactose intolerant people is an irritation of the colon due to the gaseous bloat allowing more liquid to enter, the stomach is unaffected by all of this.
This is also how you make a bomb that will leave your SO questioning their life choices
My ex-roommate was like that.
There were not enough windows to open in that place we lived in. Not nearly enough.
I just glug down my chocolate oat milk. Hits the same spot, without the explosive side effects.
I was lactose intolerant as a child. I insisted on eating ice cream anyways. One day, I realized I was no longer lactose intolerant.
As someone that eats a moderate amount of dairy despite being lactose intolerant, my intolerance has gotten much worse with age.
There are also a ton of great dairy alternatives now too! Except cheese. The final frontier.
Not the op but when I use the lactase pills in the US, the fake sweetener gives me more stomach trouble than if I just get eat the ice cream. I have no idea why a pill needs to be sweetened when it does t require chewing.
Live fast, diarrhea
When I was a kid, I was diagnosed as being lactose intolerant as well. The thing is, I’m not lactose intolerant at all. I’m actually gluten intolerant. It’s very hard to diagnose without cutting gluten out of one’s diet. And I only figured out because I started making bread a few times each week and got very sick.
The thing is, I always used to think I’d outgrown my lactose intolerance, too. If you have the time, maybe give a gluten free diet a try. My life is so much different now after cutting out gluten. At one point I was going to the gym for 2 hours a day, trying to lose weight, but I just couldn’t. Now, I’m the skinniest I’ve been in years and I mostly sit around.
Unfortunately, the diet really does have to be totally gluten free. Even cross contamination will give me noticable problems for days. The body basically cripples its ability to intake nutrients after having any amount of gluten and it takes time to heal. On the bright side, it’s a pretty easy diet to follow when eating at home and a lot of restaurants now have gluten free options, too.