The Nutritive Value of Lactose in Man

Abstract

The average blood sugar values in sixteen normal young adults after ingestion of 1.5 gm. lactose per kilogram body weight showed no important changes, although considerable individual variations were noted. The secondary hypoglycemic effects were lacking. There was frequently a lactosuria present. The ingestion of 1.5 gm. starch per kilogram caused nearly as much of a peak rise in the blood sugar as obtained after the administration of glucose. The total hyperglycemia after starch is greater than after glucose. The average blood sugar values in sixteen obese individuals showed a slight but definite elevation after lactose ingestion. The blood sugar changes after lactose ingestion in the diabetic were marked and of nearly the same magnitude as after glucose ingestion. In the diabetic cases studied, lactosuria was never noted. The average recovery in the urine of intravenously injected lactose was approximately the same (89.3 to 93.2 per cent) in normal, obese and diabetic subjects. Ingested lactose caused a small fall in the inorganic phosphate content of whole blood.