I finally figured it out: I’m lactose intolerant.
You may wonder why I’m so happy about this finding, but trust me, knowing the problem is a lot better than feeling generally bad after each meal. When I first moved to Winnipeg, I always felt bad that I had to excuse myself from the Hamilton dinner table after the meal (sometimes during the meal). I though I just wasn’t used to “white food”. But now I see I had been drinking a tall glass of milk with my food, just like all the other Hamilton kids. Before Winnipeg life, it wasn’t a big deal, because I didn’t drink much milk growing up, and didn’t have a taste for a lot of lactose rich products (cheese, ice cream, yogurt, etc).
So it became clear today, hours after downing a tall glass of strawberry Milk 2 Go. By noon, I had been sick more than twice and needed “alone time”. This happened a couple days go, also after drinking milk in the morning. A coworker suggested that maybe I was lactose intolerant, like she is, so I Googled the symptoms and found that I was experiencing all of them in exactly the time period it predicted.
So there you have it, folks! I fit the Asian stereotype; I’m lactose intolerant!
Jun 11, 2004 @ 16:20:04
ohhh…life without ice cream…I’d go crazy!! But I do like chocolate soy milk!!
Jun 12, 2004 @ 01:28:15
I’ve been lactose intolerant for nearly as long as I can remember, though I used to be a lot worse. It used to only take about half a cup of milk to cause severe “symptoms”. Nearly three years ago I started drinking milk in small doses (usually with cereal) and slowly increased the dosages over a year. Nowadays, my tolerance is about triple what it used to be, and is probably higher if I space it out across the day. It’s nice being able to actually eat a large ice cream cone without getting sick.
Jun 12, 2004 @ 06:23:40
My tolerance level is pretty high. I can drink a full glass of milk in that one Hamilton glass that’s shorter than the rest, no problem. And I’ve never felt bad after a lot of ice cream or a reasonable amount of cheese. So I just have to avoid my recent morning practice of Milk 2 Go and make sure to accept no more than 8 oz of milk at a time!
Jun 12, 2004 @ 21:37:55
are asians usually lactose intolerant? hm, i didn’t know. hey, glad you found out what was bugging you, though. that took a while to figure out. is that what you did a whole bunch of tests for awhile back? i still find it interesting, though that you can have a good amount of milk products. w00t! ice cream and cheesecake. mmm
Jun 13, 2004 @ 08:35:00
Yes, the majority of Asians are lactose intolerant to a degree. It’s probably less predominant outside of Asia though.They do have products you can buy which can help you digest milk (“Lactaid” is the only name I can remember at the moment) . One is either a pill you swallow before the meal, or there’s a liquid that you can dabble into your milk before you drink it. Just don’t ever buy the milk that’s been pre-treated; it tastes awful, like someone just added sugar to regular milk.
Jun 13, 2004 @ 16:37:13
Wow. This just adds to the list of things that make me un-Asian/Filipino.
The list just goes on and on . . .
Jun 13, 2004 @ 18:32:45
You could always rice out a yellow Honda Civic. That gets you honourary membership right there.