On Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Phosphor wrote:

> >Know what bugs me about this argument, though?  >Hypothetical availability
> ain't the same thing as regular >consumption.  It hasn't been shown to my
> satisfation that our >ancestors regularly consumed dairy in any form.
>
> depends how far you want to go back, since the Auroch was domesticated about
> 8,000 years ago. adapting to it means to simply keep producing lactase into
> adulthood, which 80% of caucasians do. so in terms of using it for food it
> was a relatively simple genetic adaption.

If the argument is sound that cheese, but not milk, was consumed
by paleolithic people then lactose wouldn't be much of an issue,
since most of it is fermented out.

I wonder, though, if there is much difference in lactose content
between cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, etc.

Todd Moody
[log in to unmask]