MOST HUMAN BEINGS ARE LACTOSE

INTOLERANT: HERES WHY

ARJUN WALIA APRIL 3, 2013

Lactose intolerance is when the body does not produce enough lactase to break down lactose, a sugar found
in milk and many other milk derived dairy products.

The enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose is lactase, an enzyme found on the wall of the intestines.
Lactase breaks down lactose (the sugar found in milk) into galactose and glucose. The activity of lactase
becomes reduced after breastfeeding, at that point the body no longer needs as much lactase. Not to mention
a human mothers milk is much different from the milk of a cow.

The reduction of lactase activity after infancy is a genetically programmed event. Approximately 75% of
Earths population is lactose intolerant for a reason, because its perfectly natural.

The statistics vary from race to race and country to country but overall they show an abnormal amount of
individuals who qualify. In some Asian countries, 90 percent of the population is lactose intolerant.

Interestingly, we are the only species on the planet that drinks milk from another species. Since lactases only
function is the digestion of lactose in milk, most mammal species experience a dramatic reduction in the
activity of the enzyme after weaning. Lactase persistence in humans has evolved as an adaptation to the
consumption of non-human milk and dairy products consumed beyond infancy.

Every other species weans and then never drinks milk again for the rest of their lives, and because of that
they dont have an enzyme to break down the sugar in milk. With over 75 percent of humans on the planet
unable to properly process lactose, it is evidence enough that we are not doing what is natural and in
accordance with our bodies.

Our natural state is to be lactose intolerant. Undigested lactose in the small intestine acts like an osmotic
agent, causing water and electrolytes to be pulled into the intestines, which results in diarrhea, bloating and
gassiness. The body struggles and compensates, as well as protects itself by developing coping methods for
our unnatural habits.