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A2 milk stops some dairy intolerance symptoms - study

A special type of milk containing the same amount of lactose as conventional cow's milk prevents some symptoms of dairy intolerance and eases others, New Zealand research has suggested.

Sold mostly in Australia, New Zealand, China, US and the UK, A2 Milk comes from cows that naturally produce only the A2 type of beta-casein protein, which itself makes up around 25 to 30 per cent of total milk protein.

Conventional milk contains both the A1 and A2 types of beta-casein.

While it was originally thought that all cows produced only the A2 protein type, the A1 mutation appeared in European herds 5000 to 10,000 years ago.

The latest findings, being presented at a major conference in Chicago this weekend, found a "strikingly different pattern" of digestive symptoms in people identified as lactose intolerant after drinking A2 Milk compared to conventional milk, study leader Dr Amber Milan said.

"A2 Milk was at least as effective as lactose-free milk at preventing or easing some of the symptoms of lactose intolerance, including nausea, stomach pain and bloating, but didn't improve ratings of 'overall digestive comfort', suggesting other symptoms over the course of 12 hours were unpleasant enough to not shift overall digestive comfort."

Milan, a research fellow at the University of Auckland's Liggins Institute, said the lactose intolerant women in the study reported the same levels of flatulence and gastric reflux on average after drinking A2 Milk as after conventional milk.

"There is some evidence that the symptoms of lactose intolerance may be influenced by the proteins in milk," said study co-author Matthew Barnett, a scientist a Crown research institute AgResearch, which has been carrying out the research alongside Liggins.

"We wanted to investigate this more closely."

Globally, about 70 per cent of adults consider themselves lactose intolerant, and experience bloating, nausea or other unpleasant symptoms after consuming it.