>The nomad Masai in Kenya drink/eat almost exclusively raw cows' milk
>,blood and meat. Tests done on them show they have extremely healthy
>blood lipid profiles. They are tall, slender,muscular and athletic. They
>have also been shown to have lactose intolerance amongst them, in
>numbers that are surprisingly high. The speculation for their apparent
>health is that they consume milk in large enough quantities to offset
>the intolerance, and thus get the nutrients they require.

>Maybe there is another reason, you are implying?  Maybe the raw milk >does
>not trigger lactose intolerant reactions?


Here is one reference. It would be interesting to know what the
autoimmune disease incidence is among the Masai and what other diseases
they may get. It would also be interesting to know what they die of and
how long they live. Maybe this research is already too late as I am not
sure to what degree they are already consuming "western" foods. This
obviously applies to other hunter/gatherers. Now with the renewed
interest in Paleo diets, it seems the few modern oppertunities we have
to study these people are fast fading. There may be some useful studies
that have already been done. I would love to see them.

Gary

Lactose malabsorption among Masai children of East Africa.
Author
     Jackson_RT; Latham_MC
Source
     Am J Clin Nutr, 1979 Apr, 32:4, 779-82
Abstract
     There is much disagreement about milk and its use in feeding
programs both in the United States and internationally. A few authors
suggest that milk consumption should not be
     encouraged in lactose intolerant populations due to adverse
symptoms. Others suggest, however, that small or modest quantities of
milk can be tolerated and can be nutritionally
     useful to such groups. Data are presented in this paper that show
that 1) the Masai regularly drink considerable quantities of milk
without apparent symptoms, 2) milk is an
     important constituent of the Masai diet, and 3) 62% of 21 Masai
examined were malabsorbers of lactose as measured by the lactose
tolerance test. This finding of lactose
     malabsorption in a nomadic cattle raising and milk drinking people
is interesting and is contrary to the views often expressed by
anthropologists and others. An ability to drink
     nutritionally useful quantities of milk does not, however,
necessarily mean that milk production or imports should be encouraged in
the Lesser Developed Countries.