#25 What is lactose intolerence?

I think we should start with defining some things first. Lactose is a type if sugar found in dairy products. Lactose intolerance is a word that is often misapplied to a wide variety of conditions from dairy allergies, milk fat intolerance and the actual intolerance of the lactose sugar. Commonly people will apply the term lactose intolerance to anyone who has difficulty with milk products.  All of these conditions have varied intensity depending on the body.

Does dairy cause lactose intolerance?

No. Dairy does not cause lactose intolerence.  Any of the above definitions of lactose intolerence have a biological and often genetic deficiency in the body that interacts with the presence of milk. The condition itself is not caused by milk.

What is lactose intolerance?

Someone who has lactose intolerance either doesn't produce enough lactase or produces no lactase at all. Lactase is an enzyme that breaks down lactose. Someone who doesn't produce enough may just feel a little nausea when dairy is consumed. Someone who produces no lactase may have severe symptoms such as vomiting,  fever and diarrhea.  Several over-the-counter medications exist to help individuals consume dairy without issues.

More info on Lactose Intolerance as a Digestive Disease 

What is an intolerance to milk fat?

There isn't much research on milk fat intolerance but the research available suggests that approximately 5-9% of those who believe they have lactose intolerance may have both lactose and milk fat intolerance or just a milk fat intolerance. Since research is very limited it is hard to say much more about this condition.

What is milk allergy?

An allergy means your immune system has labeled an otherwise harmless substance as something that is dangerous to the body. In the case of dairy allergies it is usually one of the proteins that trigger the allergy. When a non - allergic person consumes dairy the body simply digests it.  When an allergic person eats dairy they digest it but one or more compounds in the dairy triggers an immune response. This immune response can be mild, sometimes termed milk or dairy sensitivity.  In some the immune response can be so intense that it can cause severe illness or even death.

Milk allergies are also most common in children. Most often the milk allergy develops before one year of age and most children grow out of the allergy by 4 or 5. Findings have shown that some infants produce large quantities of antibodies that are related to one or more types of milk...cow and breast milk allergies are the most common.

Sometimes the allergy persists into adulthood and allergy tests are required to determine which components of the dairy (sugars, proteins or fats) are causing the reactions do that diet can be more appropriately managed.

Common allergic symptoms include swelling of the lips, tongue or face or rashes, hives or skin irritation when one comes in contact with the allergen. In some cases anaphylaxis occurs or other life threatening symptoms such as airway constriction from the swelling.

Casein reactions and intolerance.
Casein is a large group of phospoprotein found in all mammalian milk. These proteins make up about 80% of cows milk and 45% of breast milk. Casein is present in many foods including dairy,  breads, pancakes, margarine,  non - dairy creamers and many other foods. Casein is present in higher quantities in dairy which means there will be a greater reaction to dairy products. This can often lead individuals to believe they have lactose intolerance. Casein allergy and intolerance is very uncommon some studies suggest 1% or less of the individuals who have reactions to dairy are reacting to casein.

Milk and other conditions
As a sugar lactose can interact with diseases where sugar is concerned such as diabetes. Other conditions such as Cerebral Folate Deficiency which interacts with the antibodies present in various types of milk, including breast milk. In addition some medication interact with or are less effective when taken with milk or with milk in the stomach. If you are ever concerned about any of these interactions you should be sure to talk to your doctor and pharmacist.

 More information:

Research on milk fat interactions with Lactose Intolerance

Information on Milk Allergy

Milk Allergy site geared toward helping children understand their allergy

Kid's Site about Lactose Intolerance

How to manage diet with a milk fat/Dairy/Dairy Protein Allergy

Huge list of sites, books, cookbooks, blogs and forums for lactose intolerance, milk allergies and casein allergies

Question #11: What does it mean to be Vegetarian? All the terms confuse me.

You are not alone in the confusion. Due to the wide range of diets considered "vegetarian" it can be difficult to sort through what people mean. I will try to define as many of the terms as I can to help you sort through this mess.

Vegetarian in general means that the individual avoids eating meat.

When most people say vegetarian they are referring to what is often called a Lacto-ovo Vegetarian. Lacto refers to lactose or milk and ovo to eggs. This is someone whose diet consists of plant foods and non-meat animal products. Non-meat animal products include milk products, eggs and honey. (There is a debate about Jello and gelatin though. As a product made of collagen from bones and other animal parts some vegetarians steer clear of it and others do not.)

Two closely related and more narrow diets fall under the traditional term vegetarian. These are vegan and raw food diets.

Vegans are those vegetarians who choose to eat no products derived from animals. These diets do not include eggs, milk products or, in most cases, honey. Vegans rely solely on plants for nutrition.

Raw Food diets can be vegan, vegetarian or in the gray area I will discuss below. Those on raw food diets choose to limit or eliminate cooking of foods because they believe this maintains the nutritional integrity of the food. As you can imagine, most of those on raw food diets avoid meat though some will eat sushi, kibbeh and/or carpaccio which are raw meat dishes. Many raw food diets also include honey and milk. In essence, raw food diet describes food preparation styles and not necessarily what types of foods are taken in. For example, someone who consumes only grains and raw fruits and vegetables would be on a raw food diet... another who ate raw fruits, raw vegetables, milk, yogurt, honey and grains could also be termed on a raw food diet. Yet the first individual is vegan and the second is a lacto-ovo vegetarian. (Hope that is not too confusing.)

Then there is a gray area. These are diets termed vegetarian but that do not fit the traditional (Standard?) definition of vegetarian. Many refer to these diets as semi-vegetarian diets.

Pescatarian are individuals who have the diet of a lacto-ovo vegetarian (or vegan in some cases) and in addition include fish and fish products in their diet.

Related there are diets where it will include all the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet plus chicken (and sometimes fish).

Venn Diagram of diets

These gray area diets spark a lot of concern for many vegetarians because it makes it more difficult to make themselves understood when it comes to discussions of dietary requirements. I have heard from many vegetarians (and have had this happen to me as well) express their dismay when they comment about being vegetarian only to have someone ask them if they would like fish or chicken.

Hope this clears up some of the terms associated with a vegetarian diet. Here at the end I've included  great resource from Harvard University that discusses all sorts of diets and diet concerns.


Resource: Harvard's The Nutrition Source

Question #6 Why doesn't ice cream melt when you fry it?

This is a question I get asked a lot so I figured I would answer it now.

The first thing we need to discuss is freezing temperatures. For water it is 32 F (0 C) but milk is a little different. Due to the fact milk has solids dissolved in it, fats, proteins, etc. the freezing point of milk is 31.028 F or -0.5400 C. A little aside, one of the ways they determine if milk is watered down by a supplier or if the cow producing it is sick is they check the freezing point of the milk. If the freezing point is 32 F (0 C) then there is something wrong with the milk. Back to the ice cream. Ice cream freezes solid at about 5 F (-15 C). Most home freezers keep ice cream at or near this temperature. 

When we think about a scoop of ice cream melting that means that the temperature of that ice cream has raised from whatever temperature it was in the freezer to something between 5 F and 31 F. The higher the temperature the more milk like it is. The trick with fried ice cream is figuring out a way to dunk a scoop of ice cream into 160-190 F (71- 88 C) boiling oil in a fryer. How can we do this without the temperature of the ice cream reaching a point where it will melt?

There are a few things going on with fried ice cream.

First, most establishments that make fried ice cream chill the scoops of ice cream to a temperature that is colder than the ice cream they serve without frying. This gives a few extra degrees before melting starts. Sometimes extra large scoops of ice cream are also used to help have more of a core to keep the ice cream solid.

Second, the pie crust like shell on the ice cream insulates the ice cream from coming into direct contact with the hot oil. (Other possible crusts are tempura batter, corn flakes, nuts, cookie crumbs, tortillas,

Finally, the time that the ball is in the hot oil is just a few seconds. No more is needed because the shell is thin and cooks quickly.


Basically. you have extra cold ice cream in insulation (the crust) dipped in hot oil for an incredibly short period of time. This allows the ice cream to stay solid. If you let your fried ice cream sit too long the heat from the shell will reach the inside and begin to melt the ice cream. This is why fried ice cream is a dessert to eat immediately.