Lactose intolerance can cause severe abdominal pain, bloating and excessive gas after consuming dairy products. In fact, around 11% of Australian adults are lactose intolerant [2]. 

Digestive enzymes can help with lactose intolerance:

They can heal your gut by helping you break down lactose effectively, allowing you to consume foods that you would otherwise not be able to digest, saving you from discomfort and allowing you to enjoy a less restrictive diet.

Read on to learn how to help ease lactose intolerance pain with digestive enzyme supplements. 

Do Digestive Enzymes Help With Lactose Intolerance?

When your body doesn’t produce enough of the digestive enzyme lactase, you may have trouble breaking down the sugars in dairy products, resulting in lactose intolerance.

Taking supplemental digestive enzymes including lactase can help restore this balance and enable you to properly digest dairy products and alleviate painful symptoms of lactose intolerance.

Lactose intolerance can be caused by:

• Your genetics
• Gastroenteritis
• Parasitic infection
• Coeliac disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Antibiotics
• Chemotherapy
  

People who have lactose intolerance may experience:

• Bloating
• Diarrhoea
• Abdominal pain
• Excessive gas
• Nausea
  

Does Lactase Help with Lactose Intolerance?

Lactase is a gut enzyme found in your small intestine. Lactase breaks down the sugars in dairy products (lactose) into absorbable compounds called glucose and galactose.

If your body does not produce enough lactase, the sugars in dairy products will not be effectively absorbed in your gut. Instead, they continue to travel along the digestive tract to the large intestine, where bacteria begin to break it down into acids and gas [1]. This ferments the sugars inside your gut, causing bloating and pain - AKA lactose intolerance.

There are two clinically proven ways to treat lactose intolerance [2]:

1. Avoid or limit consumption of products containing lactose, or
2. Treat the lactase deficiency with supplemental lactase digestive enzymes
   

Treating lactose intolerance allows the gut lining to heal, potentially enabling a person to tolerate dairy products again after several weeks.

Best Digestive Enzymes for Lactose Intolerance

Choosing a dual function digestive enzyme is recommended, containing at least:

1. Lactase to break down the lactose in your gut, and
2. Protease enzymes to break down the protein 

Our top product recommendations:

Side Effects / Precautions / Interactions

Side effects of supplemental digestive enzymes are uncommon but may include [3]:

• Abdominal pain
• Nausea
• Allergic reaction
  

Those with other health concerns, including disease of the pancreas, should consult their GP before taking digestive enzymes.

Due to limited research, it is unclear whether digestive enzymes are safe during pregnancy and breastfeeding, so it is best to avoid taking them at this time.

You should always consult your GP before taking any action regarding your health and to ensure no potential interactions with medications you may be taking.

  
Summary

Taking digestive enzymes, particularly lactase, can help with lactose intolerance by enabling your body to break down the sugars and proteins in dairy products properly.

This prevents a fermentation process in your large intestine which can cause bloating, gas, diarrhoea and discomfort.

Supplemental digestive enzymes can alleviate the symptoms of lactose intolerance, allowing you to function without the need to restrict your diet or feel deprived.

References

[1] Better Health Channel, 2024. Lactose Intolerance. https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/lactose-intolerance

[2] Malik, T., & Panuganti, K. 2023. Lactose Intolerance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532285/

[3] WebMD, 2024. Digestive Enzymes, Side Effects, Uses and More. https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-673/digestive-enzymes-oral/details