Lactose is the primary sugar found in milk. Digestion of lactose requires the enzyme lactase, which breaks lactose into simpler sugars. When the intestine produces little or no lactase, milk sugar is not digested. New-born babies require high intestinal lactase levels for survival. Later in life though about two-thirds of all people lose the ability to produce lactase. Most of the people who keep producing it throughout adulthood are those of European ancestry but in other ethnic groups - Mexican, Jewish, African, Asian and Native American – 75 to 100 percent of adults are lactose intolerant. Primary lactose intolerance may begin at any time but usually develops in early adolescence and continues through life. Lactose intolerance means avoiding foods such as cream, butter, cheese, yoghurt, and ice cream as well as many prepared foods to which lactose is added such as bread, cereal, salad dressings, cake mixes, frozen meals. The Everyday Dairy-Free Cookbook explains all you need to know about this condition, how to tackle the problem and where to go for help and advise. As with the other titles in this best-selling Everyday series the book contains 200 recipes for family meals and there is a special section on catering for children. There are recipes for soups, dips and starters, light meals, main dishes, fish dishes, vegetarian dishes, savoury sauces and accompaniments, salads and dressings, puddings, sweet sauces, sweets and treats, baking, pastry, breakfasts, and beverages. If someone in your family cannot tolerate lactose this book will make catering for their needs simple and straightforward with so many meals to choose from.
