Hey Holly,
From what I understand, lactose intolerance is your body's inability to break down milk sugars. Is this compounded by drinking alcohol?
While doing research for a Psych. paper on caffeine I stumbled onto your site (the page on Guarana). I'm also taking a pre-chem course; going back to school to learn more about nutrition and Biochem. As a beginner, I find complexity of the subject daunting and I'm not sure if I'll finish the major.
I just wanted to say that I like your easy-to-understand approach and find your passion and integrity inspiring! I own Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" but, for now, it's a bit dense. I'm going to buy your book and I feel renewed to learn and dig in deeper!
Keep up the good work,
R.W.
Hi R.W.,
Thanks for the kind words about my book! About the chemistry learning, take it one step at a time, and my trick (which I still use!) is to STOP reading every time I come across a word or idea I am unfamiliar with. Then, I look it up in numerous sources, until I am more comfortable with it, and go back to reading the text. Even words as simple as "molecule" and "atom" get confused by my (gasp) graduate students.
It's crucially important to be familiar with the most simple definitions of things and have a clear picture of them in your head. Especially since you can't see a lot of chemical things with your eyes (they are too small!) you have to use your imagination a lot.
I also tend to write down notes of things I want to learn. Even if I never read my own notes, ever, the act of writing it down helps cement it in your brain.
Finally, be patient with yourself, and realize it takes a lot of practice to imagine this real world of small molecular objects moving around and doing things.
About the lactose intolerance question--I have never heard of alcohol influencing the condition, one way or the other. I also can't think of a mechanism by which alcohol would affect the digestion of lactose. In lactose intolerance, you don't have enough lactASE, the enzyme that turns lactose into the digestible sugars glucose and galactose. The lactose remains in the gut, attracting water, and the water must leave along with the lactose out the bitter end. Not so nice!
Feel free to ask more questions as you go along. In the back of my book I have a big section on chemistry and biochemistry, which might help chemistry or biochemistry students--I hope someone reads it and finds it useful, anyway. I never know if anyone looks at my appendix!
All the best!
Holly
From what I understand, lactose intolerance is your body's inability to break down milk sugars. Is this compounded by drinking alcohol?
While doing research for a Psych. paper on caffeine I stumbled onto your site (the page on Guarana). I'm also taking a pre-chem course; going back to school to learn more about nutrition and Biochem. As a beginner, I find complexity of the subject daunting and I'm not sure if I'll finish the major.
I just wanted to say that I like your easy-to-understand approach and find your passion and integrity inspiring! I own Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" but, for now, it's a bit dense. I'm going to buy your book and I feel renewed to learn and dig in deeper!
Keep up the good work,
R.W.
Hi R.W.,
Thanks for the kind words about my book! About the chemistry learning, take it one step at a time, and my trick (which I still use!) is to STOP reading every time I come across a word or idea I am unfamiliar with. Then, I look it up in numerous sources, until I am more comfortable with it, and go back to reading the text. Even words as simple as "molecule" and "atom" get confused by my (gasp) graduate students.
It's crucially important to be familiar with the most simple definitions of things and have a clear picture of them in your head. Especially since you can't see a lot of chemical things with your eyes (they are too small!) you have to use your imagination a lot.
I also tend to write down notes of things I want to learn. Even if I never read my own notes, ever, the act of writing it down helps cement it in your brain.
Finally, be patient with yourself, and realize it takes a lot of practice to imagine this real world of small molecular objects moving around and doing things.
About the lactose intolerance question--I have never heard of alcohol influencing the condition, one way or the other. I also can't think of a mechanism by which alcohol would affect the digestion of lactose. In lactose intolerance, you don't have enough lactASE, the enzyme that turns lactose into the digestible sugars glucose and galactose. The lactose remains in the gut, attracting water, and the water must leave along with the lactose out the bitter end. Not so nice!
Feel free to ask more questions as you go along. In the back of my book I have a big section on chemistry and biochemistry, which might help chemistry or biochemistry students--I hope someone reads it and finds it useful, anyway. I never know if anyone looks at my appendix!
All the best!
Holly
