lactose monohydrate

[thedell19]

So I am still on my journey to find a casein free and gluten free medication- but I have run into a few problems.

First off, most pills contain some kind of lactose and in many cases it is lactose monohydrate, which is lactose in a crystal form. Some articles that i read said that there is little to no casein in lactose and therefore only people with severe allergies should maybe not take it. But how does that pertain to us MCers that cant tolerate casein?

Also there is only 12 millagrams of lactose in a pill, roughly, and there are 12,000 millagrams of lactose in an 8 oz cup of milk- so 12 millagrams is very very tiny...

So there should be little to no casein in lactose and the amount of lactose in a med pill is 12 millagrams which again is very small amount. So should I conclude that the lactose in the pill should not bother me?

Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, all contain lactose... but do they contain casein?

[tex]

Hi Andrew,

Most pharmaceutical grade lactose should be pretty doggone pure, so for most people, it shouldn't be a problem, as far as casein is concerned. If someone is reacting, though, they are also likely to be lactose-intolerant, and 12 mg per pill, compared with 12,000 mg per cup of milk, is a pretty significant amount, actually - it's 1,000 parts per million, (ppm), and by comparison, the legal standard for a GF label, for example, is less than 20 ppm. A thousand ppm would be 50 times as much.

So should I conclude that the lactose in the pill should not bother me?

Yes, that amount shouldn't be a problem, even if you are lactose intolerant. Most doctors will tell you that most people who are lactose intolerant, can handle up to a cup of milk without any problems, (IOW, they are producing lactase, it's just that they are not producing enough of it to handle larger quantities of lactose). That suggests that if you are lactose intolerant, and you're no more lactose intolerant than a typical lactose intolerant individual, 12 mg of lactose should present no problem at all for you. You should be able to handle about a thousand pills with 12 mg. each, before the lactose would become a problem. Note that it's not possible to be allergic, (sensitive), to lactose, since it's not a protein.

Since January 1, 2006, any product that contains casein, must list casein on the label.

Tex

[thedell19]

Thanks Tex!!! I had read a couple of places that the small amount of lactose in meds wont bother most people- but then in other sites and sources it says that even the smallest amount of lactose should be avoided and lactose free meds should be the way to go...

I had the asacol way back when that had lactose in it and they didnt help what-so-ever - but I dont know if I got sicker when I took the asacol- it just didnt help any...

So the label should actually say that it contains casein?? I have seen lables that says contains milk products but nothing about casein in general... I might have to look more closely... Do you think a carton of milk will say contains casein?? I hope so!

Thanks again Tex.

[tex]

So the label should actually say that it contains casein?? I have seen lables that says contains milk products but nothing about casein in general... I might have to look more closely...

Well, yes and no. Actually, the FALCPA law don't apply to pharmaceutical products, (yet), because the FDA has never worked out the regulations for that part of it. Technically, they are still exempt from even having to list any of their inactive ingredients, but most pharmaceutical companies are beginning to voluntarily use more comprehensive ingredient lists. If it says that it contains milk products, I would assume that it could contain casein.

Do you think a carton of milk will say contains casein?? I hope so!

I doubt it, because of the way the law is written. Products that contain milk ingredients, or derivatives of milk, are required by law to have milk listed on the label. They are not required to list anything else, because it is assumed that if it says milk, it might contain any and all components of milk. For products that contain only lactose, or only casein, some companies do list those individual components, because by doing so, that might allow someone who is not intolerant to the listed ingredient, to use their product, anyway. Even if they list the individual components, or derivatives, though, they still have to list the word "Milk" on the label. The law says that if a product contains any derivative of wheat, then the word "Wheat" must appear on the label. Therefore, wheat gluten does not have to be listed, only the word "Wheat". Sadly, if the product contains secalin, (rye gluten), or hordein, (barley gluten), or avenin, (oat gluten), there is no legal requirement for listing anything on the label, so it's still possible to get glutened accidently, even with the new law.

Tex