Your doctor might suspect lactose intolerance based on your symptoms and your response to reducing the amount of dairy foods in your diet. Your doctor can confirm the diagnosis by conducting one or more of the following four tests:

A Hydrogen Breath Test

This tests for increased levels of hydrogen in your breath after having lactose, this is a sign of lactose intolerance.

Blood Test

A blood test will check whether your blood glucose levels increase after consuming lactose.

The Elimination Diet

Elimination diets involve removing suspected trigger foods from your diet for up to two weeks, before reintroducing the foods to see how much you can tolerate. This diet has been used by many to discover a food intolerance.

Food Intolerance Test

This test involves sending a sample of hair to a lab, the scientists in the lab will then check your sample against lactose to discover if you have a reaction.

What is Lactose Intolerance?

If you have this intolerance, it means your body doesn’t make enough of an enzyme known as lactase. Lactase is needed to break down lactose from milk into simpler sugars in your bowel, which can then be absorbed into the bloodstream. This intolerance is usually developed during childhood or early adulthood, but it can happen at any point in your life.

Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance

Symptoms of a food intolerance can begin from a few minutes after eating lactose to a few hours. This can include bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea. More mild symptoms such as fatigue and aching joints can also appear.

Treatment

To avoid the discomfort of lactose intolerance it’s important to follow a lactose-free diet. You can begin by limiting milk and other dairy products, including small servings of dairy into your diet, or add a liquid or powder lactase enzyme to milk to break down the enzyme. Nowadays, there is a huge selection of lactose-free products in grocery stores, making it easier for you to remove the trigger from your diet.