On Thu, 31 Jan 2002 11:27:59 -0600 Jim Swayze <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> stage in life.  I've not seen in this thread a discussion of the
> nutritional differences between human milk and cow's milk

Lactose intolerance is a separate issue from any other argument about
humans consuming the milk of other animals at any stage of life.

Lactose (an disaccharide composed of glucose and galactose) is the
natural sugar the occurs in ALL milk, whether human, cow, or bat.  In
order for it to be digested, the enzyme "lactase," breaks it down into
its monosaccharide components (which are digestible by humans).

When a human's digestive system stops producing lactase, or the levels of
production drop, they lose some, or all ability to consume lactose from
ANY source without digestive effects ranging from mild distress, to
extreme flatulence, to severe abdominal pain, to explosive diarrhea, or
all or the above...

The condition can happen at any stage in life, but it seems that in the
normal course of events, infants produce lactose so that they can survive
on their mother's milk, and after weaning, the production gradually
drops.  As we've touched on earlier, in comparison with other adaptations
to a "technological" diet, this one would seem comparatively trivial.
Sustain milk consumption (from any source), and lactose production would
be gradually prolonged into adulthood.  Even so, only limited human
populations seem to have made enough adaptation to make lactose
intolerance rare.

Yes, this means that if an infant is born lactose intolerant, or becomes
intolerant (aside from "natural" causes, it can also be caused by drugs
or disease, in which cases it's not always permanent), then they cannot
consume even their mother's milk without severe digestive disruption.
Without a substitute form of food, not involving the milk of ANY animal,
they would die.

It's not an allergy, it has nothing to do with "paleo" issues of foreign
proteins, or hormones, or anything else.  It's just a simple, well
understood medical condition involving a specific "sugar" and a specific
enzyme.  The fact that it's so widespread would certainly seem to bolster
the paleo position that humans were not "intended" to consume milk into
adulthood, but that's about as far as the connection goes.  The other
issues about proteins, allergies, hormones, etc... remain more
controversial, but once you're lactose intolerant, you tend not to care
much about such trivia  :-).
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