Blog
Supporting seniors with low lactose dairy
Lactose-sensitive consumers can now enjoy the goodness of dairy.
07 Aug 2019
3 min
Worldwide, the population is growing older
The United Nations have determined that the number of people over 60 years of age will surpass two billion by 2050 with over half of these seniors located in Asia.
The World Health Organisation has noted that loss of independence in our senior population is associated with a higher healthcare burden. Optimising nutrition to support bones, muscles, and digestion in middle-age can provide a productive way to encourage independence well into later life and support a longer health span.
Physiological changes from ageing ramp up around age 50, and people are searching for options to stay mobile, independent, and vital in their later years, and so an opportunity for innovation appears in the way of supporting the over-50 generation.
Maxing out your muscle mass
Muscle mass naturally declines as we age – this phenomenon is called sarcopenia. Studies show this starts happening around age 40. Resilient muscle mass is required for strength, to retain a normal walking pattern, and therefore to maintain independence into later life.
Ensuring high quality, complete protein intake and enough daily exercise to work the muscles can help fight the muscle decline, enabling healthy seniors to continue doing activities they love the most.
This indicates a strong opportunity to encourage good protein intake in a variety of formats for middle-aged people to support good health and extended independence, even in later life.
Making no bones about it
Osteoporosis in our senior population leads to increased morbidity and mortality, which is a burden on the healthcare system.
The Osteoporosis Foundation America encourages dairy consumption in the form of milk and other dairy products, for the most readily available dietary source of calcium for bone strength. Also mentioned is the importance of Vitamin D.
In older age, the ability to absorb calcium from food diminishes, therefore additional Vitamin D fortification can have a significant impact on bone health to ensure a strong framework.
Ageing in a healthy way requires a varied diet with nutrition to support not only strong muscles but healthy bones too.
A gentle protein source with impact
The ability to digest lactose declines in later life and seniors may experience lactose intolerance symptoms with heavy dairy consumption. These symptoms vary from skin rashes and headaches, through to gastrointestinal disturbances and stomach pains.
This may put people off consuming dairy products, but products such as butter and hard cheeses are naturally low in lactose. For liquid milk or milk-based beverages, companies are producing low lactose dairy products to capitalise on the trends driving low lactose demand.
Low lactose dairy products deliver the goodness of complete protein and natural micronutrients for bone and muscle health, providing optionality for consumers who prefer a low lactose diet.
This information is intended for B2B customers, suppliers and distributors, and is not intended as information for final consumers.
