Based on what I understand one of the main reasons why Milk is not a preferential source of carbohydrates either during post workout and/or during a P+C meal is due to the fact that Lactose is half galactose and glucose. Galactose functions similarly to fructose in that it is stored preferentially in the liver. Am I right?
If that’s the case, what about lactose free milk? Since it’s lactose which contains galactose, does it stand to reason that if you get lactose free mlik you’ll be able to avoid storing much of the glycogen in the liver? Or is there something in lactose free milk that will end up doing the same thing? I looked over the ingredients for Lactaid fat and lactose free milk and noticed that it had something called lactase. I’m assuming it’s some sort of lactose substitute and am wordering if it too acts like galactose and fructose.
Lactase, aka Beta-Galactosidase, is the enzyme located in the small intestine that breaks lactose down to galactose and glucose. Without the enzyme, bacteria in the large intestine ferment lactose and the end products are CO2 and H2, which cause bloating, cramping, and gas. Maybe the manufacturers add the lactase to the milk to break down whatever small amount of lactose that remains.
Most of the low-lactose milk on the market is low lactose because lactase has been added. Doing so breaks the lactose disaccharide into galactose + glucose. Once again, it is galactose that has the negative effect on body composition for the reasons you specified.
There is actually 100% lactose-free milk on the market in Sweden. They use a special manufacturing process to remove lactose from the milk (chromatographic separation), and the enzyme lactase is added to degrade the remainder. I would imagine there is an American version available. However, lactose-free milk and milk products are absolutely/strictly not allowed for someone who has galactosemia, a genetic metabolic disorder in which an enzyme is missing that metabolizes/processes galactose.
Now that I’ve muddied the waters a bit, I’ll allow you to come to your own conclusions on milk, be it lactose-reduced or lactose-free. (grin) It’s actually a fascinating area to research. Myself, I totally avoid milk, except in my cheat meals when anything goes. There are plenty of milk alternatives, LC Grow being my favorite.
So basically even with “lactose free” milk, there will still be galactose in there which was what I was trying to avoid. My intention was to to use some fat free lactose free milk when overfeeding, but since even “lactose free” milks will still have galactose because all lactase does is help break down the lactose I guess I’ll avoid using milk entirely.