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> "asians are said to have a near 90% adult lactose intolerance rate" I'm very skeptical of this. I was born and raised in Asia, and all of my peers were raise

> "asians are said to have a near 90% adult lactose intolerance rate" I'm very skeptical of this. I was born and raised in Asia, and all of my peers were raised on a diet with regular milk consumption. So either we were a huge cohort of statistical outliers or that number is way, way off. I do know that lactose intolerance rates for Asians is much higher (and consequently, less socially troublesome due to the fact that dairy is generally not a core part of cuisine), but 90% is way, way, way out there.

gingerjoos 14y ago
+1 to that. Among all the people I've ever known (in India) only 2 people are lactose intolerant. Indian society has, historically, placed a lot of importance on the cow and milk. Indian mythology has rich references to milk and other dairy products for eg. Samudra Manthan [1], Krishna the cowherd [2]. If we were to consider the level of medicine practiced in India (see [3] and [4], for eg.), one would imagine that any real problem of such widespread nature would be heavily studied and discussed about. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Krishna_with_flute.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Krishna_with_flute.jpg [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaka_Samhita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaka_Samhita [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita
- kingsley_20 14y ago
  This is an American usage of the word "asian", which excludes subcontinentals. Interestingly, my wife and I grew up on milk in India (to adulthood), but found ourselves mildly lactose-intolerant to American milk. Edit: changed "includes" to "excludes".
  - whatusername 14y ago
    And Australian. "Asian" to me has always meant: China/Japan/Malaysia/Indonesia/Korea(s)/Thailand/Vietnam/Phillipines/PNG/Timor/Laos/Cambodia and maybe Burma.
iopq 14y ago
the bacteria in your stomach can handle some of the milk, so anyone can drink a glass the difference is I can drink a quart of milk (a little under a liter) without any side effects

gingerjoos 14y ago

+1 to that. Among all the people I've ever known (in India) only 2 people are lactose intolerant. Indian society has, historically, placed a lot of importance on the cow and milk. Indian mythology has rich references to milk and other dairy products for eg. Samudra Manthan [1], Krishna the cowherd [2]. If we were to consider the level of medicine practiced in India (see [3] and [4], for eg.), one would imagine that any real problem of such widespread nature would be heavily studied and discussed about. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra_manthan [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Krishna_with_flute.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Krishna_with_flute.jpg [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaka_Samhita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charaka_Samhita [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushruta_Samhita

kingsley_20 14y ago
This is an American usage of the word "asian", which excludes subcontinentals. Interestingly, my wife and I grew up on milk in India (to adulthood), but found ourselves mildly lactose-intolerant to American milk. Edit: changed "includes" to "excludes".
- whatusername 14y ago
  And Australian. "Asian" to me has always meant: China/Japan/Malaysia/Indonesia/Korea(s)/Thailand/Vietnam/Phillipines/PNG/Timor/Laos/Cambodia and maybe Burma.

iopq 14y ago

the bacteria in your stomach can handle some of the milk, so anyone can drink a glass the difference is I can drink a quart of milk (a little under a liter) without any side effects