You might ask how milk fits into the area of technological conflict – and here would be my view of the connection. Cows aren’t selling us milk, farmers are. And farming, in our world, is a technologically driven industry. It is through the ability of mass farming techniques, mechanical collection, purification, and transportation that we have can distribute milk, in vast quantities, to almost any refrigerator in the world. Remember, milk, without refrigeration, could not be transported any real distance without spoiling. And the combination of refrigeration and transportation, did not exist until the very late 1800’s, barely more than 100 years ago.

But far more importantly:

Of the more than 4,200 species of mammals inhabiting the planet, Man is the only one that does not wean its young.

In north-central Europe, just north of Steppen, but about 5,000 years after his passing, a society arose called the Funnel Beaker Culture. From what DNA analysis can derive, this large connected group of tribes is one of the first to have evolved an active lactase gene which would allow them to digest milk in adulthood. Think of that – for the 3 million years that we have been standing Human Beings (and prior), NO one drank milk as adults prior to the Funnel Beaker Culture – well, maybe some who were facing starvation otherwise, but very few of those survived with the ability to pass the trait on. The FB Culture were cattle raising tribes, and it follows that there would have been experimentation with milk. Especially if other food sources became scarce and they didn’t want to kill their cattle. As a result, almost all Dutch, and 99 percent of Swedes are lactose tolerant. The Chinese avoided milk, but a few of the Mongol (herding!) tribes imbibed.

As you research lactose tolerance/intolerance, you become amazed at how few adults in the world consider milk as a food source at all. In fact, the whole term “lactose intolerance” is kind of absurd. Most of the world’s adults cannot, and should not, drink milk – more than 70% per most sources. The proper reasoning, and “labeling” might be that a small portion of the world is lactose tolerant, and the rest of us are “normal” – weaned.

It just so happens that a large part of North America was populated by North Europeans, many of whom were lactose tolerant (many German farmers came over in the 1700’s). George Washington was a dairy farmer, so was my great-grandfather. The difference being, they mainly sold it to new mothers, for their infants.

Post-WWII big agri-business had other ideas. But when the US tried to expand and export some of its production (through various United Nations World Hunger Projects in the 1950’s), many 3^rd world countries fared worse when the milk arrived – most people contracted severe diarrhea. For years, the cause was thought to be that the milk was just spoiling. Imagine our surprise to find out that most starving countries can’t tolerate it at all! So, the milk marketing industry turned its eyes to dry breakfast cereals – and marketing history was born. Now they are even trying to sell it as a sports nutrition drink!

So, if you are and adult, and you are normal, (i.e. lactose intolerant) and you drink a glass of milk, what happens? Clinical symptoms typically appear within 30 minutes (but may take up to a few hours depending on other foods ingested), and include nausea, cramping, bloating, diarrhea, and flatulence. Interesting…   Why?

The carbohydrate lactose gives milk its sweet taste and contributes about 40% of whole cow milk’s calories. Lactose is a composite of two simple sugars, glucose and galactose. In nature, lactose is found only in milk and a very small number of plants. In an infant, the enzyme lactase is released, which separates the two sugars, and allows for their absorption into the bloodstream. In a normal adult, there is no lactase, so the lactose (sugar) makes it through to the GI tract where it serves as ‘nourishment’ for intestinal micro flora – which then produce copious amounts of gas (by fermentation). Essentially, the internal gas increases the pressure of the colon contents, preventing the colon from reabsorbing water and hence, causing a laxative effect in addition to the gas – so, the bloating, the cramps…

Milk contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein, calcium, and vitamin C. All of these are things that a baby drinks to grow big and strong. An adult eats proteins and fats that bring in calcium and other vitamins. Or, at least that’s the way it worked for 3 million years. Steppen was weaned, milk was not on his list of foods.

If you are lactose tolerant, and like to drink milk, as an adult, especially to boost muscle mass, please remember that it is mainly sugars (with a little whey and casein), and that sadly for you, they will probably store as fat.

The bottom line is that it is just not necessary for any adult – even if you can tolerate it.