Can you eat frozen yogurt if you are lactose intolerant?

In this article, we will answer the question “Can you eat frozen yogurt if you are lactose intolerant?”, and the factors that are involved in yogurt lactose content, and what to focus on, when you have lactose intolerance.

Can you eat frozen yogurt if you are lactose intolerant?

Yes, you can eat frozen yogurt if you are lactose intolerant, most people with lactose malabsorption tolerate yogurt well, that’s because most of the lactose has been digested by bacteria (1), regarding if it’s frozen or not.

But you must be aware of the yogurt brand, there may be some yogurts that have more lactose than others, depending on how the yogurt was made, so you may experience symptoms with one yogurt brand and not with another (2).

Is frozen yogurt safe, if you are lactose intolerant?

Yes, frozen yogurt is safe if you are lactose intolerant, even if the benefits of fresh yogurt may not be present at all when it’s frozen, like the live lactic acid bacteria that has the ability to digest lactose, or the solely presence of lactase from the bacteria (2).

Frozen yogurt may also have small amounts of lactose, but that doesn’t mean a risk to your health if you can’t digest lactose,  in fact the consumption of lactose in small concentrations may contribute to lactose tolerance and ameliorate symptoms in the long term (2).

Besides the low amount of lactose in yogurt, remember that yogurt, even if frozen, is an important source of protein, vitamin D, B and calcium, so, if you are lactose intolerant and you’re craving frozen yogurt, well, go ahead, just pay attention to the brand and if any symptoms appear, avoid the brand, but not yogurt.

How much lactose does frozen yogurt have?

Frozen yogurt may have between two to six grams of lactose for each 100 g of yogurt (3-4), but that would depend on brands or types of yogurt.  

The lactose content in frozen yogurt and mainly in yogurt, the starting point to get a frozen yogurt, varies depending on the manufacturing process and even transportation and storage (2), due to the viability of bacteria and also the activity of lactase.

But remember, that if your main concern is to avoid lactose intolerance symptoms, yogurt consumption, frozen or not, has proven to be well tolerated in lactose intolerance and even as part of the management (5).

Is everyone equally lactose intolerant?

No, everyone is not equally lactose intolerant, it’s been established that 12 g of lactose may not represent a concern if you are lactose intolerant (5), however there’s no fixed recommendation, each person may have different sensitivities

Lactose tolerance may depend on biological, genetic and environmental factors, or even by the perception of intolerance when consuming food with lactose, so no generalization of lactose exposure is final when it comes to lactose sensitivity.

How can you manage lactose intolerance?

You can manage lactose intolerance in many ways, from avoiding foods with high lactose content, taking lactase supplements, for enhancing the metabolism of lactose or even taking probiotics, like L. acidophilus or B. bifidum (6).

Certainly, lactose intolerance requires management only if you have symptoms, don’t mind if you have a positive lactose tolerance test, but if you have symptoms, the first step should be avoiding the consumption of lactose , until symptoms disappear (5).

Lactose intolerance may be due to lack of lactase enzyme or any other gastric underlying disease, so you must get professional advice to know better what’s causing your intolerance and get special treatment if necessary (5).

Once you have looked for health professional advice,  you may start with small amounts of foods with lactose, that may help to increase your tolerance to lactose, unless your lactose intolerance is congenital, in that case you should avoid this recommendation(5).

What food should you avoid if you are lactose intolerant?

You should avoid high amounts of milk, unless it’s lactose free, in that case thanks to food technology, you may have a regular diet, even with cheese and yogurt, that have proven to be well tolerated and even help in lactose intolerance.

If you want a glass of regular milk, then a cup of milk according to science may be tolerated (5), nonetheless each body is different and you must try with small amounts to know your tolerance.

If you’re wondering about the types of cheese that you may eat, cheese due to its elaboration process is low in lactose, however matured cheeses are more likely to have lower amounts of lactose, because bacteria use lactose during maturation process (5).

You may also find free-lactose milk products which are for sure a good option, because of all the other nutrients that come with milk like protein, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 (5).

Regarding plant based products, that seems like an adequate option for a free lactose food, just look for the nutritional label, most of them may not have the same nutritional value like dairy o milk products, but that doesn’t mean that you may not reach that nutritional goal (7), surely a nutritionist could help you.

If you want to know more about lactose intolerance, you may visit here.Conclusion

In this article, we answered the question “Can you eat frozen yogurt if you are lactose intolerant?”,and the factors that are involved in yogurt lactose content, and what to focus on, when you have lactose intolerance.

References

1.  Paige DM. Lactose Intolerance. Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition. 2012 Jan 1;3–4:67–73.

2.  Savaiano DA. Lactose digestion from yogurt: mechanism and relevance. Am J Clin Nutr [Internet]. 2014 May 1 [cited 2023 Jun 18];99(5):1251S-1255S.

3.  Chandan RC, White CH, Kilara A, Hui YH. Manufacturing yogurt and fermented milks [Internet]. 1a ed. Chandan RC, White CH, Kilara A, Hui YH, editores. John Wiley & Sons; 2008.  

4.  Forbes, M. S., Jeon, I. J., & Schmidt, K. A. (1996). Probiotic frozen yogurt containing high protein and calcium.

5.  Santos GJ, Rocha R, Santana GO. Lactose intolerance: what is a correct management? Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992) [Internet]. 2019 Feb 1 [cited 2023 Jun 18];65(2):270–5.

6.  Ahn S Il, Kim MS, Park DG, Han BK, Kim YJ. Effects of probiotics administration on lactose intolerance in adulthood: A meta-analysis. J Dairy Sci. 2023 Jul 1;106(7):4489–501.

7.  Facioni MS, Raspini B, Pivari F, Dogliotti E, Cena H. Nutritional management of lactose intolerance: The importance of diet and food labelling. J Transl Med [Internet]. 2020 Jun 26 [cited 2023 Jun 18];18(1):1–9.