Gut Check #8: Why Milk Might Upset Your Stomach But Yogurt Doesn’t

Welcome to Gut Check by Beny Yogurt 👋If you’re new here, you can check out previous editions on our site anytime. 

Whenever Kiki and I wear our “lactose tolerant” hoodies people always do a double-take, initially thinking it says “lactose intolerant”, which isn’t surprising given most people on the planet have some form of lactose intolerance. 

However, despite what you may assume, Beny (and most highly fermented yogurts) actually contain little to no lactose, meaning many lactose intolerant folks can still enjoy yogurt. 

To understand why you might be able to eat yogurt without issues, let’s first unpack where those issues stem from.

Why Some People Can’t Tolerate Milk

If milk gives you trouble, it’s usually due to one of these two conditions:

1. Lactose intolerance, which affects ~65% of people globally

2. Milk allergy (typically to casein or whey), ~2% of people globally

People with milk allergies have an immune system reaction to protein found in cow's milk, typically to the casein (found in curd) or whey (found in liquid). Depending on the severity of the allergy, consuming milk can lead to an urgent allergic reaction or less acute gastric discomfort. 

Lactose intolerance occurs when one’s body produces little to no lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (found in milk). Lactase production is a spectrum - some can produce enough to handle a full glass of milk, while others might require a lactose supplement to support lactose breakdown. 

Why Yogurt is Easier to Digest

Fermenting milk to make yogurt both denatures milk protein structures into smaller peptides and amino acids, and breaks down most of the lactose into lactic acid, glucose, and galactose – making the two primary milk intolerances much less problematic in yogurt. 

That said, if you have a severe milk allergy or are unable to produce any lactase naturally, we still do not recommend eating any form of dairy yogurts without consulting a doctor or supplementing with lactase enzymes. 

So next time you hesitate over a bowl of yogurt, remember: fermentation might just be your gut’s best friend 🫶

Top of Mind 

☕️ Georgie’s Pop Up: Next Sunday March 23rd we’re hosting a pop up at Georgie’s Cafe on the Lower East Side where you can come try our yogurt and we’ll have a limited number of jars to purchase! 

🎤 Interview @ Expo: In the midst of running around Expo West trying to spoon feed yogurt to 65k people, we were also interviewed by BevNET & Nosh on the origins of Beny, check it out here.

🐄 Factory Tours: Last week we headed upstate to tour another potential factory to help increase the production of Beny. Finding the right partner to scale up production is our top priority so we can get Beny into more of your hands! 

Hope to see many of you next Sunday!

Elan and Kiki (The Yogurt Girls)