10 ms·

I've wondered about this to. Milk seems more widely consumed here in Taiwan than in the US. Milk tea, milk/fruit smoothies, cream-filled pastries everywhere, ch

I've wondered about this to. Milk seems more widely consumed here in Taiwan than in the US. Milk tea, milk/fruit smoothies, cream-filled pastries everywhere, cheese is a very popular fusion with local specialties like danbing. If Asian people are so lactose intolerant, is everyone secretly walking around battling diarrhea?

thaumasiotes 5y ago
Cheese is not popular, as far as I'm aware, on the mainland. But even if it was, it contains almost no lactose. Milk is different. I know the Chinese consume milk, but I don't think any individual person consumes very much. Some anecdotes: - A coworker revealed to me once that he was buying milk to feed to his baby. The baby, of course, would be able to digest lactose in pretty much any quantity. - I shocked a tutor of mine once by having a carton of milk for lunch. She told me it was very important not to drink milk on an empty stomach, or else "it will be diarrhea!" She didn't quite know what to make of my response that that wouldn't happen to me because I'm white. - A friend of mine told me that her parents made her drink one glass of milk per day, which practice she still continues (into her 30s). This tends to imply that it's seen as a healthful practice. - Another friend of mine, younger, spoke of milk explicitly in terms of its healthfulness, and when I asked if she drank a lot of milk herself, responded "maybe not a lot, but at least every 2-3 days".
gilrain 5y ago
> is everyone secretly walking around battling diarrhea? That's my secret. I'm always clenching.
sct202 5y ago
I think people have different tolerances, my siblings and parents all eat some yogurt and milk with no symptoms unless they eat a lot. I on the other hand have a much lower tolerance and carry lactaid pills wherever I go.
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  Yogurt, like cheese, doesn't contain lactose. Fermentation is literally the processing of sugar into alcohol. (Though see cheese_goddess's comment.)

thaumasiotes 5y ago

Cheese is not popular, as far as I'm aware, on the mainland. But even if it was, it contains almost no lactose. Milk is different. I know the Chinese consume milk, but I don't think any individual person consumes very much. Some anecdotes: - A coworker revealed to me once that he was buying milk to feed to his baby. The baby, of course, would be able to digest lactose in pretty much any quantity. - I shocked a tutor of mine once by having a carton of milk for lunch. She told me it was very important not to drink milk on an empty stomach, or else "it will be diarrhea!" She didn't quite know what to make of my response that that wouldn't happen to me because I'm white. - A friend of mine told me that her parents made her drink one glass of milk per day, which practice she still continues (into her 30s). This tends to imply that it's seen as a healthful practice. - Another friend of mine, younger, spoke of milk explicitly in terms of its healthfulness, and when I asked if she drank a lot of milk herself, responded "maybe not a lot, but at least every 2-3 days".

gilrain 5y ago

> is everyone secretly walking around battling diarrhea? That's my secret. I'm always clenching.

sct202 5y ago

I think people have different tolerances, my siblings and parents all eat some yogurt and milk with no symptoms unless they eat a lot. I on the other hand have a much lower tolerance and carry lactaid pills wherever I go.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
Yogurt, like cheese, doesn't contain lactose. Fermentation is literally the processing of sugar into alcohol. (Though see cheese_goddess's comment.)