Review: LactoJoy lactase supplements
A while ago, I was contacted by the German company LactoJoy. They recently started to sell a new lactase pill and they asked if I wanted to test it*. Of course, I wanted to do that. I am lactose-intolerant myself and I use lactase supplements often. I think they are very handy when I eat outside or when I go for a coffee with friends. At home, I always use lactose-free products, but with a lactase pill, I can also enjoy a cappuccino or an ice cream in a restaurant. My blog with information about lactase supplements is one of the most visited pages on my website and therefore I was very curious whether LactoJoy would have advantages on the other lactase pills that I have tried and tested before.
The story behind LactoJoy
The people behind LactoJoy noticed that a lactose-intolerance often caused surprised reactions by other people. Not being able to consume dairy products is still seen as abnormal or as a disease. However, in Germany already 1 out of 5 people is lactose-intolerant and worldwide this amount is constantly rising. Not everybody tolerates dairy and that is something we must learn to live with.
Because there are more and more people lactose-intolerant LactoJoy thought it should be possible for them to be able to enjoy dairy products just as other people do. Not having to think all the time about avoiding certain products or to feel uncomfortable when you have to discuss your dietary issues with restaurant staff. They developed LactoJoy as a product that helps you in your daily life and they found it important that the lactase pills don’t look like a medicine.
The lactase pills come in a cute tin that you can slide open. I definitely think that they succeeded in not making the pills look like a medicine. The package reminds me of a small tin of sweets. I really like the look of LactoJoy, but more importantly: do the lactase pills do what they should do?
Ingredients
The ingredients of LactoJoy are: lactase (maltodextrin, lactase), separating agent: magnesium stearate, potato starch.
Compared to the other lactase pills I have tested, I think LactoJoy has a very clean ingredient list. All lactose pills contain separating agents, but other pills I have tested also contained unnecessary additives such as gelatine or maltitol. The pills are free of histamine, gluten-free, fructose-free, of course, lactose-free and vegan. You can take a maximum of 10 pills a day, but this is a very large amount that you will, most certainly, never take in one day.
FCC
The strength of a lactase pill is expressed in FCC. The higher the amount of FCC’s the more lactase the pill contains. Most pills that I have tested in the Netherlands contain from 2300 to 4500 FCC and Lactaid, for example, contains 9000 FCC per pill. The pills from LactoJoy contain 14.500 FCC.
LactoJoy pills are the strongest lactase pills that I have seen so far (on the Dutch market) and what is very nice about them is that you can break them in half. When I drink a cappuccino a lactase pill of 4500 FCC is sufficient for me, so for this, I would have enough if I take half a LactoJoy pill. For a bowl of yoghurt, I usually take 2 lactase pills of 4500 FCC, for this an entire LactoJoy pill would be good.
Before I used to use pills that had a strength of 2300 FCC and those were way too weak for me (or I had to take 3 at a time), so I am very happy that there are stronger pills available now.
Price
The LactoJoy pills cost €12,99 for 45 pieces of 14.500 FCC. If you break them in half, this would mean 90 pieces of 7.250 FCC for €12,99. Because lactose pills from other brands are less strong for a similar price, LactoJoy is one of the cheaper options around.
Testing
Currently, I have been using the lactase pills from Body & Fitshop for a while (this is a Dutch webshop). These pills work very well for me, even though they contain maltitol, which is a FODMAP.
With one pill (4500 FCC), I can drink a cappuccino without having problems and when I want to eat an ice cream or yoghurt, I usually take two pills. I decided to test the LactoJoy pills in the same way.
Test 1. A bowl of yoghurt – 250 g
1 LactoJoy pil – 14.500 FCC
This test was a complete success. I didn’t feel my stomach at all after eating the bowl of yoghurt!
Test 2. Instant oats with milk powder
1/2 LactoJoy pill – 7.250 FCC
I didn’t have a cappuccino this week, so I tested 1/2 pill in a different way. I didn’t have much time to have breakfast, so I took a package of instant oats with me to work. I only had to add hot water to the package and the instant oats contained milk powder. Also this test was successful. The instant oats contained way less lactose than the bowl of yoghurt and therefore half a LactoJoy pill was enough.
This test was successful too. The instant oats contained way less lactose than the bowl of yoghurt and therefore half a LactoJoy pill was enough.
Conclusion
LactoJoy is a good lactase supplement. The pills are strong, don’t contain weird additives and are one of the cheapest on the market. I also like the beautiful packaging! I would definitely recommend them to people with a lactose intolerance. You can order the LactoJoy lactase pills from their website (where you can buy through Amazon Germany).
Update 2018: I still use the LactoJoy lactase pills and I am still very happy with them, they work very well for me.
*I received these LactoJoy pills for free to test. Read my disclaimer for more information about reviews. This article contains affiliate links. You can read more about affiliate links and why I use them at the bottom of this page.
11 Comments
I take lactase pills too, and they work quite well for me. I can’t go crazy, but a Greek yogurt, a bowl of ice cream, or a creamy sauce all work pretty well for me. It’s nice to have that option. 🙂
Yes I have that too 🙂 It is so nice to be able to eat some of these things sometimes, without having to think about it too much
I have to say that these pills made me sick for days. Had to vomit all the time and my doctor told me to stop taking them immediately.
I would stay with the products you used before. Really bad experience.
That is not good. Any idea what in the pills you reacted on? I have been using them for a year now and I never had any troubles
First day using them I have been dying for some chocolate cake so I have had 2 tablets then had chocolate cake so just hope they work lol
Lactojoy works very well for me.
I just wonder if I eat yoghurt and take a lactojoy tablet, and a hour after that drink coffee with milk, does that tablet still work? At the moment I take another tablet to be safe. Does anyone know for how long the tablet works?
I have always heard that it is max half an hour. So I would take another tablet, like you are doing now 🙂
I’ve just recently bought a tin of lactojoy, though I’m a bit sceptical wether these will do the trick ! How many of these pills would you say I should have if I was going to consume a whey weight gaining shake which would be incorporated with 600ml of whole milk? And how long before should I take them?
Thanks in advance.
Mark
Hi Mark, that is difficult to say because everybody has a different tolerance level for lactose. I think for 600 ml milk I would need at least two, but this is really something you should test for yourself.
I usually take half a pill for small amounts of lactose, such as a cappuccino and 1 or 2 pills for larger amounts. For me they work really well.
How long does the pills last? I’ve used many different lactose pills, from one that you take 2 per day, to the usual 45 minutes per pill that you take with your first bite or sip of lactose so I need to know how long the protection last.
You can best check that with LactoJoy to be sure. I assume it will be 30 minutes.