As it turns out, heavy cream DOES have lactose

Jan 28, 2010

Ever since Christmas when we went to visit relatives, and I forgot my lactase pills a couple times, I've been having much more frequent BMs. To the point where I went from my usual 2 or 3 times in the morning only, to another couple times in the afternoon/evenings, AND, the worst, having to get up in the middle of the night to poo. So a total of 6 or 7 poos daily. Ridiculous at nearly 9 months out.

It was starting to drive me nuts. But I didn't connect the increased frequency with anything I was eating, 'cause nothing much had changed diet-wise. There was some increased cramping right before I went, but nothing else.

I had started drinking more shakes to try and move my protein numbers up, and I use egg protein shake mix. I mixed it with heavy cream, on the theory that there isn't any lactose in cream--people say that a lot in the DS Forum, and it made sense to me that since the cream separates from the milk, the offending lactose would be left in the milk.

Well, to make a long story slightly shorter, I found out that there is indeed lactose in cream--about the same amount as there is in cheddar and other aged/hard cheeses. While many people with lactose intolerance can tolerate cheeses and cream, I am not one of them!

I found a great site about lactose intolerance, and it includes a page about the amounts of lactose in many foods. http://www.stevecarper.com/li/list_of_lactose_percentages.ht m. So after taking lactase tabs with my shake for two nights in a row, I have gotten through the night with no poos! And I've started taking lactase even with my coffee, since I tend to put a decent amount of cream in it. And voila! I'm back to the usual 1 to 3 poos when I get up.

So if you're having any funky poos issues, here's another assessment tool to put in your arsenal.

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