So, my name is Ryan, I'm, live in Palo
Alto, but I'm from Maryland and I am lactose intolerant.
>> For everybody out there, who doesn't know what lactose
intolerance is, tell us briefly what being lactose intolerant means.
>> in briefly, it means I can't have
milk or other dairy products without experiencing some discomfort.
[INAUDIBLE]
>> I see. Discomfort and can you elaborate a little bit on discomfort?
>> Sure. discomfort typically means it's digestive discomfort.
So it's gas, bloating, diarrhea, that sort of thing.
>> is anyone else in your family lactose intolerant?
>> Yes, my younger sister is, but I have
a brother who is not and my parents are not.
>> Okay so do you, do you have any experience with this being a genetic trait?
Like do, does this run in your family, being lactose intolerant?
>> I actually don't know because most of my family lives in the
Philippines and they don't drink cow milk.
They have, they drink powdered milk and
all this and not dairy products. Because it's not as popular there, so it
wasn't until I discovered I was lactose
intolerant that I learned anything about it.
>> And when did you discover that you were lactose intolerant?
>> I would say that would be about two or three years ago. So.
>> Really? That
late in life, huh?
>> Yes. But then when I found I was lactose
intolerant, it kind of explained some things from when I was
younger. because there were times like, when I would have
dairy products and I'd be fine, but then there were times
if I had too much, I'd felt, I felt a
little gassy. But when I discovered I was lactose intolerant, it
kind of made sense that if I was young and overloaded
on it, it made sense that, that I would feel discomfort.
>> I see so when you were young though, you felt like you
could have normal amounts and you were okay.
>> Mm-hm. Right. It wasn't until graduate school. Until, yeah
about two years ago, that I discovered that I was
lactose intolerant. And I think it's because that's when it
kind of just, when it really just kind of shut off.
>> Right, right. How did that make you
feel to sort of discover this about yourself?
>> Well, I guess that it kind of made
sense to me because I, it explained a lot
of things about why I'd randomly feel sick some
days. And why I wouldn't other days, just depending
on my breakfast. But, it was kind of annoying to find out
mostly, because I knew I'd have to either change my diet or.
>> Right.
>> Other things also
>> So, what are the kinds of food you actually
have to avoid if you are a lactose intolerant person?
>> if you are lactose intolerant and you're not
taking any type of supplement. Then you basically have
to avoid anything that has appreciable amount of dairy
products in it. So, obviously I'm not going to to be
drinking a lot of straight milk, ice cream, pizzas with a lot of cheese on it.
taco, taco, American-style tacos, oreos, all those things, cake, cheesecake.
>> so what you're saying is that there's a lot of food restrictions?
>> Yes, it is there's a lot, a huge part of the diet that is, has diary
products in it. And so discovering lactose intolerant kind of, makes it more
difficult to get that so.
>> So do you find yourself in situations, I
guess social situations where you see a food come
out and you're like oh gosh, I really want
that. And you're like oh gosh I can't eat it
>> Yes. especially I do, I do try to carry around lactase
pills lactase enzyme pills, but if I don't have them then yes.
If someone's like. Let's go out for ice cream. I go, oh,
I guess I can't. Or you know. Or if there's pizza. Especially if
people you know, at the last minute want to get
pizza or certain, go out for dinner and we haven't
decided. If they suggest pizza, I got, I have
to go, oh, I don't, I can't really eat that.
>> Are people receptive to this when you tell them, like
if you tell a group of friends or even new people. Like
hey, I'm lactose intolerant, you know, can, you know, can we
do something else, can we get something else? Are people normally receptive?
>> Yes. especially in California actually, because in California
a lot of people are, know people with various
dietary restrictions or go on different diets and so. It's definitely, it hasn't
really effected my social life. It just means that we do something else.
>> You mentioned lactase pills. What exactly is a lactase
pill? Where do you get it? How much does it cost?
>> A lactase pill is just a little pill about a little less than an inch big,
by a quarter inch, that is just a number of units of lactase enzyme. So lactose
intolerant means my body doesn't produce lactose any more, which is
the enzyme that breaks down the lactose sugar into two different
sugars. So this pill I eat it, I always buy the
fast act pill, so I can just eat it with my first
bite of food and it kind of dissolves. And has to break
down all the sugars in my stomach. And so I take
that with my first bit of dairy and then I'm usually
good for about 45 minutes before I have to take another one.
>> Well how much do they cost?
>> I would say it's about $0.10 a pill. So
120 would be about $12 to $13 at Safeway, for example.
>> is this a trait you would ever want to change about yourself at all?
>> Definitely. I just feel I mean, being lactose intolerant just means,
I can live my same life and eat the same amount of. Eat
the same foods and do the same things I want to. But I
just have to spend more money to do it, because I buy the
lactase, lactose free milk and I buy
the lactase pills to supplement other meals.
>> Have you ever gotten your own personal
genetic information done from a company like 23andMe?
>> Yes I have.
>> And did, what did that tell you about
you being lactose intolerant? Did it confirm this or?
>> it confirmed I have the geno-type that is likely lactose
intolerant. Because since lactose intolerant
can also depend on environmental factors,
like your actual gut bacteria that breaks down the lactose.
It means I have the tendency to be lactose intolerant, but
it doesn't mean I am. The only way you can confirm
that you are is to kind of know that you are.
>> What would you say if you could give advice to
somebody who is, let's say we're talking to Ryan three years
ago before he found out he was lactose intolerant. And he,
you know, just discovered that you're lactose intolerant, what advice would
you give that person?
>> I think the first advice would be to
test your limits on lactose tolerance. So I can have
a bite of ice cream, or one nacho with cheese,
or, but then won't bother. So, like, knowing your limit
on what you can have without any kind of supplement
is useful. And also to just make the decision whether
you're going to change your diet or buy the pills,
or some kind of combination of both. Just kind of,
figure it out. Or I'm looking to lactose free alternatives
to milk, or they even have lactose free ice cream now, but it's very expensive.
>> Sure.
>> So it's like Is it worth it to buy the ice cream? So you
don't have to take pills, or do you want to take pills every single time you
eat ice cream, sort of thing. It's kind of just, decide all the different ways
to manage your lactose intolerance and figure out which way is the best for you.
>> Well, thank you for coming in and chatting with us.
>> Yeah thanks for talking with me, I don't get to talk about this that often.
[LAUGH].