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A vegan roommate used to get really worked up about drinking cow's milk, pointing out that humans were not evolved to do so in nature. He would say, "Can you im
by ilamont 5y ago
A vegan roommate used to get really worked up about drinking cow's milk, pointing out that humans were not evolved to do so in nature. He would say, "Can you imagine crawling under a cow to drink milk directly from the udder?"
The idea seemed to frustrate him more than the concept of humans eating meat or wearing leather shoes.
- Finnucane 5y agoDid you say, we evolved to do that after we started domesticating cows?
- throwawaycities 5y agoOver 50% of people are lactose intolerant, and assuming the current timeline for agriculture is correct evolution doesn’t work that fast.
- imtringued 5y agoI'm not going to pretend to be an expert but lactose intolerance depends on gut microbes which doesn't require evolution to change. You can alleviate symptoms of lactose intolerance with probiotics/kefir.
- throwawaycities 5y ago> lactose intolerance depends on gut microbes which doesn't require evolution to change. I was responding to a comment that expressly said we evolved to consume milk after domesticating cows.
- twobitshifter 5y agoFrom what I’ve read the evolution of adult lactase was almost instant. Humans naturally produce lactase as babies, but what had to happen was to extend that production into adulthood. This is really a straightforward mutation then, what had changed was the non silencing of the gene that is already active at birth.
- failrate 5y agoWow, that is a thing that you do not want to do. Milk straight from the udder is full of e.g. chunks of fat. It goes through multiple steps before it is recognizable as the same stuff we buy in the store. Plus, the cow would probably step on you.
- jobigoud 5y agoStill not sure what went through the head of the first human that tried this. If it weren't considered normal it would be so gross.
- Grustaf 5y agoWhy would it be gross? Breast milk is the first thing we drink, it's an almost perfect food. Drinking cow milk isn't very far fetched, especially when you keep cattle for meat. Seems like the most natural thing in the world frankly.
- adhesive_wombat 5y agoFor a lot of human history (and even up to the present in some places), but certainly around the time cattle were domesticated, starvation was only ever just one bad harvest away. When last year they were deciding whether it's better to eat their own kids, let the kids eat them or just all die painfully together, drinking cow lactate was probably the least bad thing that happened to Grog and Grag this year.
- semi-extrinsic 5y agoWhat do you mean "chunks of fat"? Do you mean the fact that milk naturally separates after some time? I'm pretty sure chunks of anything in a cow's milk that is only a minute old is a serious sign of disease. Ask basically any dairy farmer, and they will be happy to tell you they drink the milk straight from the cow. They probably have a couple of jugs in the fridge.
- throwawaycities 5y ago> Ask basically any dairy farmer, and they will be happy to tell you they drink the milk straight from the cow. Not modern dairy farmers with cows loaded up with antibiotics, which generally all accumulate in the fat (cream). Even for organic farmers drinking unpasteurized milk would be an exception not the rule, it’s just an unnecessary health risk.
- watwut 5y agoI am pretty sure humans evolved to use cups shrug.
- imtringued 5y agoWe evolved to use vessels! Vessels! Not cups!
- adhesive_wombat 5y agoAh, that explains why I can so rarely fit my fingers though the handle of mugs. Not sure if my coffee gourd will go in the dishwasher or not, though.
- rhinoceraptor 5y agoApparently he'd never heard of the Maasai?
- imtringued 5y agoAnts have cattle (aphids), they even drink the honey dew straight off the behind!