I must have looked a bit surprised, as the lady raised her eyebrows and said, “He’s gone to get some soy juice. He thinks he’s lactose intolerant.” (I have to admit that I put in the word ‘juice’, because for me, ‘milk’ it certainly isn’t.)
I was intrigued by her statement. “What do you mean he thinks he’s lactose intolerant?” I asked.
“Well, he once drank some milk and it made him sick,” she replied. “He went on Google and concluded that he was lactose intolerant.”
“You don’t agree then?” I asked.
“No, the milk was a bit old and it was off, that’s all,” she said.
I think about that incident quite a lot and have often wondered how many people self-diagnose in this way. A few years ago, Victoria Beckham (ex-Spice Girl and wife of footballer David Beckham) said that one of her children was lactose intolerant. I have no reason to disbelieve her, but soon after, the Dairy Council (or a similar body) reported a huge upturn in the number of people declaring they had the same allergy.
The cynics among us couldn’t help but wonder if this was a bit of a ‘fashion’ thing. After all, the Beckhams were the fashion icons of the time.
The irony was that, at the same time as this was happening, David had just appeared in the US ‘Got milk?’ Milk Moustache campaign.
But don’t get me wrong – I do sympathise with anyone who has a food allergy. I have witnessed its effect on a family member on more than one occasion, but the power of the internet – Google, Wikipedia and so on – means that people can very easily self-diagnose all manner of illnesses.
It reminds me of a chapter in one of my favourite books, Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome. The narrator perceives that he is ill, but doesn’t want to trouble his doctor, so he goes to the reference library at The British Museum and works his way through the medical encyclopaedia from A to Z.
His eventual conclusion was that he had every illness listed except Housemaid’s Knee! This troubled him far more than concern about the original illness that led to his visit to the Museum library in the first place. So he ended up going to see his doctor after all, who told him, “Don’t stuff up your head with things you don’t understand”.
So, what is all this literary persiflage leading up to?
Allergy UK – a national charity dedicated to supporting allergy sufferers in the UK – has warned that thousands of people in the UK could be at risk of nutritional deficiency by self-diagnosing themselves as dairy intolerant.
The national charity is expressing concern after new research reveals that 44% of individuals who class themselves as dairy intolerant are self-diagnosed, relying on the internet and non-conventional methods of diagnosis.
Allergy UK has highlighted an urgent need for more credible information and guidance from qualified health professionals. It said that 72% of those suffering from dairy intolerance symptoms have removed all dairy sources from their diet, the main source of calcium in the UK, and a further 25% have cut out some dairy food groups.
While this report covers the UK, I suspect that the story is repeated in many other countries. And in many countries, of course, there are dairy companies who have introduced a wide range of lactose-free products – companies such as Valio, which led the way over a decade ago, and Arla Foods and Omira Milch with their ever-expanding Lactofree and MinusL ranges.
So, the message must be to beware self-diagnosis. And if you are lactose intolerant, you don’t necessarily have to ditch the dairy.
DIY Health is increasing. Consumers seeking out own solutions w abundance of online info, better guidance is needed @foodbev @consumer_mel — Portia Tse (@Portia_Consumer) March 15, 2013
DIY Health is increasing. Consumers seeking out own solutions w abundance of online info, better guidance is needed @foodbev @consumer_mel
— Portia Tse (@Portia_Consumer) March 15, 2013
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